With children starting back at school, many parents worry about the dreaded head lice. We have treated lots of children over the years who are allergic / intolerant to the standard chemical treatments.
A bit more about head lice
Head lice come in groups and are indiscriminate on who they live on. They travel from one person to the other via close contact and spread easier the longer the person’s hair. A louse can live for up to 5 weeks and can survive for 24 hours away from the body. The eggs become glued to the roots of the hair, making it impossible for them to fall out of the hair, these eggs hatch after a period of 8 days. The eggs (nits) are visible as small white specs, where as when they hatch they are pale greyish brown in colour. Both the nits and louse collate in the roots of the hair.
Top Tips to avoid head lice
• Keep hairbrushes, towels, hats and pillows separate.
• Tie long hair back
• Put plenty of conditioner on your child’s hair and comb through with a nit comb at least once a week.
The Natural Head Lice Strategy
The benefits of this easy approach are that it is:
- Effective
- A totally natural approach with no manufactured chemicals
- Appropriate for all the family
- A treatment that does not cause resistance in lice
The two-step approach is as follows:
1) An essential oil treatment balm (100mls at £7.00) (between 1 and 4 treatments depending on hair length)
- Apply balm to the hair at night (approx. 25 – 50mls of balm required, depending on the length of the hair)
- Cover the hair with Clingfilm and leave on for at least one hour (but preferably overnight). Make sure the balm will not get into the eyes if leaving on overnight.
- Wash out in the morning with shampoo, then use plenty of conditioner and a ‘nit comb’ to comb the hair through.
- Wash the conditioner out and then do the final rinse. (using Quassia bark infusion – see below)
2) Quassia bark infusion (£4.20 for 50g) (at least 2 treatments)
- Use 25g of herb to a pint of boiling water, simmer for 10 minutes, strain and cool.
- Use this as a final rinse on the hair after using the balm.
- This rinse will then need to be repeated after 7 days to ensure complete treatment.
