The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Denorex Shampoo
Posted by Kristy (Lansing, Michigan) on 11/01/2008
★★★★★
My daughter and I both wound up with a 'rash' on our necks, upper backs and shoulders. Our doctor prescribed some cream that didn't work. Other people suggested heat rash, since it was summer and we both had really long hair. And still others thought it might be a shampoo allergy.
During the two months this lasted, I had gotten a lice comb and checked her hair, just as she checked mine, but we didn't see any bugs or eggs. (I think they just didn't show up in her hair and she wasn't sure what she was looking for in mine!)
Anyway, I read something online that lice move very quickly but that hair conditioner will paralyze them temporarily so I finally got some and tried it and, sure enough, my daughters hair was chock full of bugs! So was mine!!!
We tried lice shampoo, we tried oil and I don't even remember everything else, to no avail.
Finally I found something about Denerox and thought, why not.
We scrubbed it in, left the shampoo in our hair and wrapped our heads with towels for 30 minutes, per the instructions. And the lice was gone, never to return.
I believe that it worked because Denorex on your towel wrapped head gets REALLY warm. Almost uncomfortably warm. And my theory is it not only 'cooks' the bugs, it 'cooks' the eggs, too! Kind of a disgusting thought, but whatever!
So I wouldn't mess with anything else, should this ever become a problem for my family again.
Olive Oil, Vinegar and Tea Tree Oil
Posted by SoCal (Orange County, CA) on 06/23/2008
★★★★★
Lice: I have found that olive oil, vinegar & tea tree oil works great. I soaked my daughter's head in Olive oil with a shower cap on it for 2 plus hours as soon as we discovered she had lice. We then used the metal nit combs to comb through her hair. You have to be very thorough doing this. It's best to section off areas of the hair. Using magnifying glasses and working in the best light - the outside sun - is the best way to be thorough about getting the nits. After combing through her hair the first time I then soaked her hair in vinegar for an hour or more with a different shower cap on. Then we combed through her hair again - with the tiny metal toothed combs - very very thoroughly. I rinsed the comb often in a bucket so the nits would be dislodged. Go over and over the sections of hair to get those nits and any left over lice. Most people get the lice but aren't thorough enough about getting the nits. The nits are eggs and they will hatch if you don't get rid of them. The whole cycle can start over if you aren't thorough with nit picking. She then shampooed with her regular shampoo that we put tea tree oil in - about 10 drops in a typical bottle of shampoo. We did the same in her conditioner but added twice as much tea tree oil. While the conditioner was in her hair she combed it through to dislodge any loosened nits/eggs. We continue to use the tea tree products and comb it through her hair periodically to ensure she no longer has lice. We have found this method to be better than using the chemicals.
Denorex Shampoo
Posted by Kimberly (Fairmont, West Virginia) on 03/31/2007
★★★★★
Denorex shampoo it must be the Denorex that has coal tar. The salicylic acid one does not work. This kills live lice on the first time you are lice free. I wash my hair in it and let it set a few minutes maybe 5 then rinse and wash once again. I then use it once a day for 14 days just to make sure I did not miss any or eggs that may have hatched.
Vinegar
Posted by Candice (Victorville, U.S.A) on 03/20/2007
★★★★★
Hello. I just wanted to let you guys know of a remedy that worked for me as a child. I had super thick hair and unfortunetly got head lice IT WAS LIKE THE PLAGUE! I went to the doctor and got the perscription TWICE but like Ted said, I simply didnt work! So after spending my summer vaction battling these nasty bugs my grandma told my mom to try distilled vinegar to rinse (wash my hair) leave it on for a tiny bit while in the bath/shower. Then conditon with a coconut conditioner thick so that you can comb out the eggs afterward. After you treat your hair with Vinegar you will see MANY dead lice rinse out. Its really gross! This is the only thing that worked for my family after spending nearly a 1,000 dollars on over the counter and perscription medications. My mom also never had to treat my little brothers hair because she simply baby oiled his hair and he never got lice! So I suggest using oil, vinegar (as a rinse) and a good conditioner. Also lice hate tea tree oil so you can dillute some in a spray bottle with water and use it to spray on head rests in cars, bedding, anything that your hair comes in contact with. *Dont use if you have cats though* Be sure to also clean bedding, clothing, etc. throughly! This is the most important!!! Make sure to iron mattress' daily and if your tired of washing your bedding and clothing daily then throw them in the dryer while you clean the house for at least 30 minutes to kill the eggs! Good luck!
Vinegar
Posted by Amanda (Tampa, FL) on 05/09/2007
★★★★★
I got lice a few days ago and began to panic. I had decided it would be smart to look on the internet and see what it said to do. I had tried those CVS brands of lice shampoo and they didn't seem to work. I read about vinegar and thought i would try it. It works well and all pharmacists say that it is a splendid way to get rid of the lice. I also wanted to add in that while using vinegar or whichever treatment you chose and leaving it in your hair for a while try wrapping saran wrap tightly around your head and it is an easy way to keep your hair up and out of your way while letting the treatment work.
Olive Oil
Posted by Ann G. (Tampa, Florida) on 04/23/2007
★★★★★
In Florida head lice are almost a certainty if your children are in public school.
Beware of head sets in the media centers and sharing MP3 headsets...it's just like sharing your comb.
After getting the head lice that wouldn't die, the kind that are resistant to the OTC stuff they tell you to buy, I found out that the cure of the desperate was petroleum jelly. Yes, that certainly did work however, it is just awful to try and get out of your hair! The next time the kids brought lice home from school, we tried olive oil. Generously douse the hair with it...work it in and put a shower cap on their head and leave it on as long as you can stand it, sleep in it if you can. The next morning, shampoo it all out, go over their hair with a nit picker comb and you are done with the lice. Check back every day or so to make sure none of the eggs are still in the hair. The oil simply suffocates the bugs. I have never had to reapply the olive oil. Added benefit, the olive oil leaves their hair really soft and shiny. While the hair is being treated of course, wash all the bedding in HOT water and spray the lice spray on the bed. Pack all their stuffed animals and pillows that can't be washed in a trash bag, tie it up tight and put it out in the garage for about two weeks to kill off the lice. They can't live without biting and they die of starvation!
EC: And if we might add -- people should always avoid using shared headsets, especially the ones found at the music stores that let you sample CDs before buying them.
Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Chris (Denver, CO) on 12/07/2006
★★★★★
Tea tree oil works great. My son had lice last year that he brought home from his tennis class (he also had gone swimming a lot). We mixed tea tree oil with olive oil (about 50:50), rubbed it on his head and then used a lice comb. We did several more applications of oil and combing, but after the first combing we only found one more dead louse. We kept combing the nits out and after one day everything was gone. As a side note, weâ€TMve always been using shampoos containing various essential oils and a few years ago, my son's whole class got lice, except for him. I think that last summer all that time in the pool had eliminated all the essential oils from his head, so it was "inviting" to the louse population. Our neighbor wrestles as a sport, and he said his coach told them to put a few drops of tea tree oil into their shampoo to avoid lice.
Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Lisa (Cheyene, Wyoming) on 06/09/2007
★★★★★
My daughter used to get lice when she was younger from kids at school. because she had the dish water blonde long hair they seemed to be atracted to, I would spend hours getting them and the eggs out. I used tea tree oil with her shampoo at first once a week, then once a month, then every so often. She never got another outbreak again. ( be sure to just use a couple drops it is very over powering. Hope this helps someone else
Tea Tree Oil
Posted by alisha (mineral wells, wv) on 09/04/2007
★★★★★
we are a family of 5 and if one of the kids bring home head lice, its costly and not effective. this works. cover scalp in tea tree oil, let sit 10-20 min. covered if possible. it takes only 1 treatment and it works.cost around 5.00 for the whole family. tip is to put some oil in a spray bottle & some water and spray on. can also add small amt to shampoo to use as prevention.
Coconut Oil
Posted by Dianna (Sapulpa, OK)
★★★★★
My daughter came home with lice, and a friend told me to use some coconut oil overnight to suffocate the lice and the nits. I had no trouble getting the nits out, and there didn't seem to be any bugs when I combed through her hair. The only problem I had was getting the coconut oil out of her hair. I used the coconut oil conditioner, which I think is different than liquid coconut oil, but it worked so well I had to share the tip.
Coconut Oil
Posted by Angela (Kingsland, GA) on 09/14/2007
★★★★★
My son came home from school the other day, and I was told he had lice. We went out and bought those chemicals, but decided to read about them before using them, and I am so glad we didn't use them. That's when I was told about using Coconut Oil by my mother in law. We bought a jar of the oil, it comes in a solid format, and turns liquid as applying it. We treated my son, my husband and myself just to be safe. We put the oil in his hair, then covered his head with a plastic shower cap and had him sit and watch TV for about an hour. Then we took the cap off and combed his hair out. Getting all the nits was painful to him, but it was VERY SUCCESSFUL. I would definitly recommend this method to anyone. Of coourse there is the little matter of getting the oil out of his hair, it took a couple of washings, but his hair is very soft now!
Neem Oil
Posted by Diane (San Francisco, CA) on 10/06/2007
★★★★★
I have used neem oil very successfully to prevent head lice. My daughter caught them at school. I used an over-the-counter insecticide to kill the lice that were on her head. Then I used the special comb included with the insecticide to remove as many of the eggs as possible. Then I applied neem oil (heated until it was liquid) to her scalp, generously, then massaged her scalp to make sure the oil covered her scalp completely. After this treatment, she had no more lice. The other kids in her class continued to get lice, but she never got lice again. I understand that neem oil kills the eggs and also makes it difficult or impossible for the living lice to drink blood from the veins in the scalp, so they die without laying more eggs.
Mineral Oil and Vinegar
Posted by Charlotte (Federal Way, WA) on 11/16/2007
★★★★★
I have had long hair since I was a teenager and worked for 6 and 1/2 years as a residential counselor with young children. I would freak out every time any of the kids got lice and would immediately use that horrible shampoo from the drug store to try to keep from getting it. That stuff is totally toxic, kills my hair, gives awful dandruff, etc. One day, I was reading a parenting magazine to get ideas for arts + craft projects and noticed an article on lice treatment. Several months later my little sister (who was living with me at the time) came home with lice, and it was bad. I could see them jumping off her head and her hair was also long! I remembered the recipe, used it, and will swear by it from now on.
It consisted of first saturating the hair with mineral oil and vinegar (4-to-1 mix). Leave it in an hour, then lightly rinse it. Do not shampoo or try to remove all of the mineral oil yet. Instead, put on a shower cap overnight. Rinse out after 24 hours and utilize a vinegar rinse again while using a fine comb to remove as many nits as possible. This is a miracle cure for long-haired folks. I believe they said it works because the oil suffocates the bugs and the vinegar dissolves/loosens the glue that holds the nits on. Hope this helps somebody!
Cetaphil
Posted by Rebecca (Gilbert, MN) on 11/30/2007
★★★★★
When I called my pediatrician to get a prescription because RID was not killing the lice he told me that instead of using harsh chemicals to use Cetaphil. It is a face wash, there is also a lotion by the same company, but you have to use the face wash. You saturate the hair and scalp with the wash, comb out the excess and blow dry until hard. Then leave on overnight and wash in the morning. I would not say it has 100% taken care of the problem but we are so far improved in one application that we decided to continue to use this for a few more nights instead of using the prescription. I also bought a Robi Comb. The combs that I bought the first time and that came with the lice shampoo were junk and went right over the eggs, even the metal combs which are supposed to be made for egg removal. The Robi Comb was $30, but it is like a bug zapper, when it detects a louse it omits an electric charge killing the nervous system of the bug. After one use I could not find a live bug on my kids. Between the two methods I think we have this thing licked. Of course we are also doing massive amounts of laundry and we all sleep with plastic mattress and pillow covers now just to ensure we don't reinfest ourselves.
Lemons
Posted by lacey (wilmington, nc) on 12/03/2007
★★★★★
Lemon juice really works for lice. I poured some on my head and 5-7 lice bugs came out!! lemon juice is the key!
