Lice in children and adults: the most effective (and healthy) natural treatments

Lice have been and always will be. Its proliferation does not necessarily have to do with poor hygiene or miserable living conditions. If there are more now than a few years ago, it is because the lice have become resistant to chemical treatments.

For this reason, and especially because insecticides are not safe for children, It is convenient to resort to natural means, although the aversion they cause leads many parents to jump for the deadliest weapon they find in the pharmacy.

Lice: are they dangerous?

Lice, which live for about a month and suck blood every two to three hours, do not jump from head to head as is believed, but instead they walk from hair to hair in the moments of maximum closeness that occur between children and between them and their parents and friends.

A single fertilized female can cause an infestation, because she lays between 5 and 10 eggs a day and can live up to a month, leaving 250-300 eggs on the victim’s head. Are the nits, grayish white, which are the first thing that jumps out at you.

lice do not transmit disease although the itching leads to scratching and wounds that can become infected. On the other hand, chemical remedies to combat them are dangerous, and they are also not very effective.

Anti-lice products: their risks

The most used products are pyrethroidssuch as permethrin, which at high exposures can cause headaches, nausea and muscle weakness.

A study conducted at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital (United States) even links them to the hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit, the incidence of which is increasing.

He lindanea neurotoxic organophosphate pesticide that has been banned in agriculture since 2009, is still found in children’s head products.

Another similar agent is malathion, to which lice have become resistant, but not children. Pharmaceutical products may also contain ingredients such as piperonyl butoxide, which enhances the effect of pyrethroids and is suspected of being a carcinogen.

Is silicone treatment effective?

Treatments based on silicones they are safer than products with insecticides, because they base their effectiveness on suffocating the louse, they do not poison it. Often a spray application is sufficient to kill both adult lice and nits.

Could be the best option if you are not willing to live with lice for a few days while the natural treatment reduces their population until they are completely eliminated. However, they are not biodegradable and leave residues in the environment.

Homemade vinegar anti-lice

When the infestation is confirmed, it is important to act quickly and check the heads of the whole family to treat everyone at once. No treatment guarantees 100% effectiveness; hence it is a good idea to combine several and keep them for a long time.

An effective remedy is wash hair with vinegar:

Mix with warm water in equal parts and massage the entire head with it. Pay special attention to the nape of the neck and behind the ears, because they are the places most appreciated by lice. Also soak a towel with this mixture, leave it wrapped around the child’s head for about four hours. Wash the hair as normal. Immediately afterwards, With damp hair, apply a few drops of olive oil to your hair. Then, with the help of a nit remover, remove both the dead lice and the nits. This treatment should be done for at least eight days.

Essential oils against lice

Natural cosmetics offer other good options, many of them with essential oils with repellent properties against lice. Can be found shampoos and lotions to avoid a new infestation once the pest is controlled.

As part of natural treatment and prevention, you can apply to your hair olive oil with a few drops of pure essential oiland let it act for a few hours before rinsing.

This mixture works in a similar way to silicone, although its effectiveness may not be as immediate. The most recommended essential oils are those of tea tree, anise and ylang-ylang. Be very careful not to get them in your eyes.

Lice and nits: how to use the nit trap

Whichever method is used, having a good nit trap is essential, since you have to eliminate both dead and live lice and nits. And after the unpleasant episode, all we have to do is cross our fingers so that the next one will take a few months to arrive.

The nits are combs with fine and long ribbed teeth. They are capable of catching and detaching nits from the hair. The best are metallic.

To pass it correctly, you see strand by strand, start from the root of the hair, from the skull, and take the nit to the tip of the hair. Pass it twice for each strand.

Repeat washing and nit combing every day. Depending on the severity of the infestation, their disappearance may take several weeks.

Lice in adults: what can be done?

We used to associate lice with children, but They can also affect adults. The only reason why adults have fewer lice is because their group behavior is different: it is much easier for a louse to pass from one hair to another when children play.

But when lice enter the family home, all heads, big and small are exposed in the same way, since the relationships between parents and children are also very close and playful.

Although adults may be slightly less vulnerable to chemicals than children, it’s not worth taking the risk or overtaxing the body (chemical lice products are off-limits to pregnant women). The natural option is always the best, also for adults.

Therefore, wash your head with vinegar and water in equal parts, and nit picking conscientiously It is the recommended natural protocol. You can also apply the same essential oils recommended for children.

Is it necessary to boil clothes against lice?

It is often advised to boil the clothes, sheets and towels of those who have lice, including washing and disinfecting stuffed animals and dolls and freezing them afterwards.

All this only serves to have a clear conscience and to think that everything humanly possible has been done. Actually, much less is enough…

Clothes can be washed normally and stuffed animals, it is enough to leave them for three days in a closed bag. In any case, any of these measures will be ineffective if the head is not treated.