Get Rid of Head Lice Without Chemicals: Tips and Tricks for Eradicating Head Lice

Fridays are supposed to be fabulous.  Our past Friday was anything BUT fabulous.  Little Sister stayed home from school for the third day in a row with a tummy ache and a slight fever.  Big Sister was 5 minutes away from heading out the door to the school bus when she called me over to her.  We are working really hard to get the girls to ask the parent in the room for help (rather than going upstairs to find the other parent).  Big Sister insisted she needed me and when I saw what she held in her hand there was no denying what she was holding or that I would be the problem solver in this situation.  Head Lice had invaded her head….and our home!  We were able to get rid of head lice without chemicals.  In 2013 Big Sister had head lice and we paid quite a bit of money to have someone else remove them all.  I paid attention knowing that head lice does not discriminate – both boys and girls get it, adults and children, and people from every financial background.  We were likely to get head lice again…and we did.

Get Rid of Head Lice – Tips and Tricks for Eradicating Head Lice

Use a Nit Comb on damp hair.  This comb will become your best friend.  I am not even kidding.  When combing the hair you will need to apply pressure.  This is not a gentle process,

• Brush all the hair to the back.
• Between brushing wipe the nit comb on a white paper towel so you can see what you are pulling out of the hair.  Viva paper towels work the best for this.
• Starting above the right ear, comb the hair in a downward manner.  Work through the hair all the way to the left ear, coming the entire front hairline.  Perform this step twice.
• Hold the hair as if pulling into a ponytail and comb the back hair in an upward direction.  Work from the nape of the neck to the cheek above the right ear.  Repeat this step working in the opposite direction.
• Follow the same pattern on the left side of the head.
• Part the hair down the center of the head from the forehead to the nape of the neck.  Secure into fourth.  Comb the right quadrant from top to bottom then bottom to top.
• Repeat this process with the left quad of hair.
• This takes quite awhile to do.  Some sort of television show or movie is an excellent idea for everyone involved to keep their sanity.

Use a Natural Head Lice Treatment. I used Head Hunters Wipe Out with the Head Lice Comb and that did the trick for us.  I used gobs of the Wipe Out (4 ounces for my 9-year-old’s head and another 4 ounces for my head).  This isn’t something to skimp on!  Once you have used the Wipe Out comb the hair.

Once all the head lice and nits are removed perform this head combing once a week for four weeks.

Hair should be kept in a braid or bun for the next 30 days.

Clean the Nit Comb between uses.  Use an old toothbrush, soap, and water.  If there is anything stuck in the comb, use dental floss to remove it.

Use Lice Repellent spray on your children when they are in social settings.

Wash the sheets and pillow cases.

Put the comforter, pillow, and stuffed animals that are slept with in the dryer on high for 30 minutes.

Put hairbrushes, combs, and hair accessories in the freezer for 3 hours.

REGULAR HEAD CHECKS ARE THE BEST WAY TO DETECT AN EARLY CASE.

A louse (AKA head lice bug) will die once it is off the head for 24-48 hours.  A nit is non-viable after it comes off the hair shaft.  Thus, focus your efforts on getting rid of the lice on the head and not the house.

Did you know that lice leave a scent in the hair that essentially says “here is a good host” and your child is twice as likely to get a new lice infestation within the first 30 days of getting rid of lice?  Thus when it seems like you just can’t get rid of lice…..there is a real reason why.

So…..on Friday I also found head lice in my hair.  Yes, 50 percent of our house had lice.  I treated myself as described above and I am head lice free.  I pulled the lice comb through my hair so many times that I felt that I would be bald.  But it worked, and I am free of head lice and so is Big Sister.  She was able to go back to school today after the school nurse checked her head and gave the okay.  You better believe that I will be checking our heads for the next month on a regular basis.

I am so excited that I was able to treat our cases of head lice by myself without any icky chemicals.

Do you have any tips to get rid of head lice that I missed?  This is an area where too much information is not possible.

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