Tea tree oil to kill head lice

On September 04, 2007 in Head Lice

If you have kids, chances are they’re going to get head lice at some stage. There are many different products available for removing head lice or nits, but did you know you can use tea tree oil to kill head lice?

Tea Tree Oil is a natural way to get rid of head lice and a great way to prevent lice infestation.

Lace to leather has some great advice on making your own tea tree oil shampoo to kill head lice.

If you don’t want to buy any of these shampoos or conditioners, you can make your own rinse. First shampoo the hair. To a base of five teaspoons of pure olive carrier oil (or Pure Coconut Carrier Oil), add five drops of Lavender Essential Oil, five drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oil, five drops of Rosemary Essential Oil, five drops of Tea Tree Essential Oil, and five drops of Peppermint Essential Oil. Add five drops of this mixture per 8-ounce glass of water or to the bottle of shampoo or conditioner. This is the last rinse. Lice just hate it and will stay away!

You can add these essential oils to any shampoo or conditioner containing coconut oil or olive oil when your child is near an active outbreak of lice (to keep the lice away and start killing any one that might be brave enough to climb aboard). In between outbreaks, you can use any shampoo as is, add these essential oils to any conditioner, and skip the final rinse mentioned above (to keep lice away). Simply add five drops of each essential oil to five teaspoons of shampoo or conditioner.

Hints and things have some great info from their readers about using tea tree oil to remove headlice

“To kill the head lice without poison, use a thick conditioner to which has been added Tea Tree Oil (about 2 oz. of Tea Tree Oil to a 32oz. bottle of conditioner. Put the conditioner on the hair real thick, then put on a swimming cap. Leave on for at least 4 hours (or overnight). The conditioner will suffocate the head lice and the Tea Tree Oil will loosen the glue on the eggs, making them easier to get out. As an added bonus your hair will be soft and manageable after this treatment.”

Beauty and lace talk about some great headlice prevention using tea tree oil

The oil can be used to wash the hair, but this requires a lot of oil if the hair is thick or long. In some warm water, it can be used as a rinse for hair as a regular treatment. Alternatively, soak cotton wool in tea tree oil and wipe the infected areas - this should kill lice it contacts and prevent infections of scratched bites. Leaving the oil in the hair for half an hour with a towel wrapped around it all gives a better result that rinsing it straight out.
Tea tree oil can also be added to your normal shampoo and conditioner so that it acts as a preventative each time hair is washed. This will reduce the chance of parents and other children catching live from an infected child before anyone realises lice is in a school child’s hair.
There are some commercially available lice shampoos based on natural treatments like pyrethrum. These can be a foam for dry hair or a shampoo and can be highly effective with less risk of side effects.

So as you can see using tea tree oil to kill headlice works, is effective and is a natural way to keep your heads and scalps free of head lice and nits

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