It’s time for kids to go back to school. That means your kids will be shoved together with a bunch of other kids. They’ll learn a lot more, but because they’re packed in rooms and sitting closer to more people, their risk for catching a cold and flu increases. But so does their risk of getting lice.
Their little legs aren’t built for wandering around on anything except hair so it can only be transmitted head to head, or via a hair brush. Consider hair like little highways for them.
Getting Rid of Lice
Lice are notoriously difficult to get rid of thanks to their small size and how plentiful their eggs are. The usual way to get rid of them is to soak your child’s head in chemicals to either kill the lice or get them so drunk on chemicals that they fall out of the hair. The chemicals also help to make the hair too slick for the lice to move quickly. Hopefully the chemicals also kill the eggs while they’re at it.
But some of these shampoos are so dangerous that you can only use them twice. There’s got to be a better way.
The Most Natural Way
After you soak your child’s head in chemicals, there’s still an important step that can’t be overlooked. You’ve still got to go through his/her hair with a fine-toothed comb. Ideally, the comb will be fine enough that it’ll pull out the eggs too, but it never is. However, it is generally terrific at pulling lice out of his hair. I say generally because there’s a trick to it.
Don’t pull too fast or the lice will just slide off and you’ll never see them. You should also angle your comb slightly up. If it’s angled down, again, they’ll just slide off and you may never see the little buggers.
While you’re doing this, keep an eye out for the eggs. They’re tiny and may be the same color as your child’s hair.
You’ve probably figured it out already, but the most natural way to get rid of lice is to skip the chemical step and just pick them out. But this process can take hours and will not be effective without proper lighting. Just try getting your kid to sit in a chair for an hour while you go through her hair.
A Better Natural Way
In addition to being a complete nuisance, lice are now being more resistant to permethrin (the main chemical used to get rid of lice). A recent study found that a combination of coconut oil and anise was a much better way to kill lice.
At the first sign of lice, use coconut oil as a leave-in conditioner. Just take about a half tablespoon, rub it in your hands to turn into liquid and run it through your child’s hair. Use more or less as necessary. This will help repel lice and is good enough to use if you don’t have time or anise yet.
Once you’ve got your anise, mix 3 tablespoons of coconut oil and 1 teaspoon of anise oil. If your child has long hair, double the recipe.
Work the mixture into your child’s hair making sure to massage it into the scalp and that it gets down to the ends of her hair. Put a shower cap on and let sit for two hours. Go through the hair with a fine-toothed comb to remove any lice and eggs you find.
To make sure you got all the lice and eggs, you’ll need to repeat the process every 5-10 days until you’ve gotten rid of all the lice. Between the coconut oil and anise shampoos, keep using coconut oil as a leave-in conditioner. It won’t hurt your child and it’ll make his hair shiny and thicker.
References:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19343362
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