Replied by Anonymous (Anonymous, USA) on 05/23/2009
GRAPEFUIT SEED EXTRACT may help your plight. found at essortment: For head lice, mix two quarters shampoo and one quarter of the extract solution (20 drops to one cup of water) and massage into hair and scalp. Then place a shower cap over the hair and allow the mixture to work for about twenty minutes. Rinse the hair well and groom with a delousing comb. More than one application of this treatment may be necessary.Replied by Katerina (Luton, UK) on 06/10/2009
I read in wikipedia that lice and eggs happily die for good when hot air (hand dryer) is applied to the scalp for 30 min (link http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/118/5/1962?) try to put also all your clothes, shoes, etc. to the dryer, seems effective!Replied by Angie (Pomona, CA) on 06/10/2009
About 2 weeks ago I posted a remedy that worked really well for my daughter. I struggled with her for about a whole year and I spent so much money on products that did not work. Right when I thought I tackled the problem I was dismayed to find out that those suckeers came back withing a week, sometimes days. So my sister found something in a website that I did not believe it would work but I was desperate so I tried it anyway. What I did was mix some mayonaise in a little bowl, and I put some apple cider vinegar until I got a pancake mix consistency then I mixed in some tea tree oil. I put it on her hair for about 1 hr. and then I used a lice remover comb aswell as a nit remover comb. Its kind of hard to comb it at first but try using a regular comb to detangle the hair first. Then you can use the lice / nit comb remover. I washed her hair and by the following day when I checked her hair she had no more lice or eggs. It truly was unbelievable. It's been about 3 years since then and I have not had a problem anymore. One thing I did also was i washed all the blankets in the house and bedsheets. I truly recommend this to everyone because I know how devastating it is to go through this.Replied by William Dasher (Perth, Western Australia) on 06/17/2009
Red Wine Spray used for scabies may work on head lice etc. Leave wine in the hair till it dries then wash out.Replied by Jenna (Columbus, Ohio) on 06/17/2009
The most effective method my family has ever used is mayo and dark soda pop. You smother the hair down to the roots in mayo, put on a shower cap, and head off to bed. The next morning, the adult lice will be suffocated and dead. You rinse the hair with the dark soda until the mayo is completely out.... apparently the acidity in the soda dissolves whatever holds the eggs to the hair. Then, you comb the hair with a lice comb to remove any eggs left. Don't wash the hair at all....perform the same procedure again the next night, and wash the hair with tar or mint based shampoos the next day after rinsing with soda and combing. The hair will be sticky, but it couldn't hurt to wear a shower cap all day. Keep in mind to use a fresh cap each time. The tar based shampoos don't smell pretty, but they are the most effective and also make hair thicker in the long run (my dad uses it for balding, and his hairline is no longer receding).Replied by Hope (NYC, New York, USA) on 06/19/2009
Please explain by what you mean about 'tar based shampoo" did it really help w/ thinning hair?Replied by Ray (Athens, Ga) on 06/20/2009
Have you tried using a solution of 2 Tablespoons of Borax (found in the detergent section of most grocery stores) in a 2 liter plastic bottle filled with tap water. After showering or bathing, sponge over the entire body with this solution and leave it on overnight while you sleep. To help you learn more google search health benefits of borax. Also soap down thoroughly with Fels Naptha bar soap while bathing. You can find Fels Naptha on Amazon.com but you might be able to locate it closer and faster by googling "Fels Naptha".
EC: Fels Naptha is also sold in the laundry aisle of most grocerys stores...
Replied by Diana (Pullman, Wa) on 09/23/2009
Hi there. I am not too sure if you are still having troubles. If so you may have already shaved heads.. But I would totally encourage you and everyone here to try Neem. It sort of sounds like you might have scabies or body lice, since you say they are all over your body, and lice is specific to the head. It doesn't really matter though, except to where you put it. (Also you might have bed bugs, and for that I am not too sure) But I have had the same probalem everyone else here seems to be having. Going through months and months of unsuccessful lice treatment with over the counter chemical pesticides which are harsh, expensive and that lice eventually build up immunities to. I was fed up, so I did a lot of research, and talked to my biologist friend here at WSU. Neem is a great way to get rid of pests like scabies and lice. It is non toxic to higher lifeforms, like humans and animals, but it kills the pests. It has something to do with their hormones and endocrine system.
So here is my theory about lice and common over-the-counter products: You buy the stuff when you fianlly figure out your kid(or self) has the problem. By that time they have layed several sets of eggs set to hatch at various times. So you put the stuff on, and spend hours and hours nit picking, somehow missing some. Now you are supposed to wait 7-10 days for them to hatch and then kill them off as babies. Well the can lay eggs 5 days after hatching, so IF you missed and egg set to hatch 1 or 2 days after the shampoo you already have a whole nest of eggs to deal with again, and so it continues. But it is not so safe to be putting this stuff on your kids head every few days. So I recommend to try the neem. You do it every two or three days. Online I have seen the recomendation of full strength oil. I am trying high strength oil (three droppers full) plus two drops of tea tree oil, plus a bit of children's shampoo. Mix it up and put it on, cling wrap the hair, and let sit for one hour. Both of my kids had lice. One's is completely gone, the other one is not showing any signs of new nits, and only had one dead louse to show at the last application, I am only on day three(everything should be gone 3-14 days). Also meanwhile, every time I do the shampoo, I wash their clothes and bedding on HOT with one giant pot of boiling water mixed in, and vacuum their rooms, and common areas. As prevention add one dropper of the neem to your kid's spray in detangler.
Good Luck.
Replied by Janice (Coloma, Mi) on 09/24/2009
My sons both had lice. We bought the prescription stuff to get rid of them but once they were gone I found that if I would rinse their hair with good ole apple cider vinegar (cheap stuff from the grocery store works fine)it would prevent them from getting them again. It seems the school would always have an outbreak of lice after the kids went back after having a vacation. So every year before school started up again in the Fall, I would make sure the kids rinsed their hair with the ACV. I mixed it pretty strong and made sure they didn't get it in their eyes. The same thing after Christmas break and Spring break. They never had lice again. I've told several friends about this and it has worked for them too. Once again, it can't hurt. It may even kill them once you have them but I'm not sure. Good luck!Replied by Srm (Indianapolis, Indiana) on 08/17/2011
I went through the weekend treating my daughter for lice that she brought home after babysitting one day. The first day I put on latex gloves and used a long-handled comb to separate small sections of hair and applied liberal amounts of mayonnaise to her scalp and root area. I covered her hair w/a plastic bag and a shower cap & let it set for 2 hours. After the two hours was up, I did the same thing w/the comb and sprayed distilled vinegar on her scalp and near the roots of her hair. I left that on her for 30 minutes and then she washed her hair w/her regular shampoo. Once her hair was washed I went through her hair again and pulled out any nits that I saw. The second day, I treated her with vinegar only - and again let it set for 30 minutes, and pulled out any nits after she washed her hair. That process started on Saturday and ended on Sunday. I checked her again on Monday and she had a couple of nits left but they pulled off the hair shaft very easily so I know they were dead. I checked her again today and there was nothing at all on her hair or scalp. While I was treating her, I also vacuumed all of the furniture every day, and vacuumed the whole house twice a day. I have heard that it's best to treat furniture w/a steam cleaner but I don't have one so I just vacuumed thoroughly.
