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anybody got a organic/herbal remedy for head lice ? It's not for me it's for a friend of mine

Yeah, shave your head and paint it with creosote. As far as I can tell that's the only way to get rid of them for sure.

You could pick up Delacet at the chemist... it STINKS but it's very effective.

You could use conditioner and a nit comb - this will need doing for a couple of weeks to ensure you get everything out including the tiny eggs. Put the conditioner on hair and scalp (it slows the wee beasties down) and then comb through carefully - your friend might need the help of another friend!!

Neem oil is supposed to be good - We used neem shampoo after my son had caught them a few times from school... once we'd got rid of the last lot and started with the neem shampoo he NEVER caught them again. That works for me :)

I comb thru my kids hair with tea tree conditioner once a week to check they haven't been infested. You have to use a proper lice comb with really wee teeth or the buggers don't get caught.

Apparently they hate tea tree - no idea why - but I bought some tea tree essential oil and after I have washed their hair, I rub a couple of drops between my palms and ruffle their hair. This leaves a very faint coating of tea tree oil on them, not enough to irritate anything but the lice.

You *have* to use conditioner (preferably tea tree) to comb thru otherwise the hair will tug and the kids will fight you, giving the bugs the opportunity to skitter away, and believe me - they are quick! Also, the nits (eggs) really stick well to the roots of the hair (right down by the scalp) but they can't stay stuck under the onslaught of a good whack of conditioner. However, if you don't comb out the nits they will just adhere again to the hair further along the folicle.

If you look at head lice under a microscope (which I did as an educational opportunity for the kids and regret to this day!) you will see they have really grippy claws that can hold on like nobody's business to a hair follicle. The conditioner stops them gripping - a bit like trying to climb a greasy pole :)

I seem to recall something about tea tree oil not necessarily being the best for asthmatics though - I personally can't STAND the smell at all.

My daughters are sprayed with a solution of White Vinegar and water everyday, before school, And once a week they have a little olive and tea tree oils combed through their hair. Neither have had head lice for a couple of years.

I've stopped recommending Delacet at work because we had so many treatment failures with it. Ditto neem I'm afraid, sorry Shirlz but I did try it. The delacet home page claims the thing is clinically proven, but I checked on this and the trials were done by one physician in the US, paid for by the manufacturers. Their page is US based, and wouldn't be legal if hosted in the UK.

(People confuse treatment failure with reinfection often, but hey)

Currently I'm recommending Hedrin which is based on simethicone, a surface-active agent that clogs up the lice breathing pores. It's not a drug or pesticide, is safe for asthmatics and is kind enough to use on broken skin. Also, it doesn't smell and actually dries on the scalp without leaving a sticky residue, although you do have to leave it on overnight. I've not had a single treatment failure yet.

One drawback though - it's very slippery if you drop any!

No matter what manufacturers say it's ALWAYS advisable to retreat after 14 days, although if you don't want to you could just keep up head checks for three weeks instead. It's not uncommon to find head lice still moving for a day or so after treatment, btw.

That's interesting Hedgie.. so it's yet again a case of what works for one might not work for the other. The delacet did work for us.. but it stung my son's head and he didn't like the smell.... so when he got reinfected we used the neem... and be it luck or otherwise, once we started using the neem shampoo we never had a problem with the little blighters again but yet the other kids at school were still having the problem.

I've got all this to face again anyway as little one is about to start nursery - joy!

The Hedrin sounds interesting! I'll bear that one in mind:)

Now why do I feel itchy

I've tried everything pretty much, including Neem. Neem smells nice. But that is about all I can say in its favour.

Conditioner and nit comb is the only effective way in my opinion.

we have tried many of those before thought there might be a cure, yes we always found conditioner and a nit comb to be the best option, had a friend with dreadlocks who used patchouli oil and tea tree and it seemed to work

Why are head lice so common at schools these days? I remember having our heads checked once at high school. I didn't have any and never have had them, but it seems to be practically the 'norm' these days. ?

Millymollymandy wrote:Why are head lice so common at schools these days? I remember having our heads checked once at high school. I didn't have any and never have had them, but it seems to be practically the 'norm' these days. ?

As far as I am aware it's because they've become resistant to the chemical slop that's been poured over children's heads over the last x years.

I haven't mentioned the nitty gritty comb - this is a very good comb to use and is available on the NHS as a prescription item (I think other nit stuff is too but I've always bought mine) (if you choose the .com option of the nitty gritty website you end up on the website of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band :D)

LOL Dibnah - I can't imagine you'd get much success with any comb on dreads

One guy I knew had to shave them off because of the little buggers

Millymollymandy wrote:Why are head lice so common at schools these days? I remember having our heads checked once at high school. I didn't have any and never have had them, but it seems to be practically the 'norm' these days. ?

I reckon its cause chemicals don't work anymore and most parents are spending so much time trying to raise enough money to keep their kids in game consols, mobile phones, and all the rest of it (not to mention trying to save a penny or two so they have a hope of going to university and maybe not coming out owing hunreds of thousands of quid) that spending the time trying to comb the little buggers out only to find them re-infect two days later from someone at school.

I reckon we should do a national head-shave, where every man, woman, and child gets their head shaved, the lice killed, then everytime someone enters of leaves the country we do the same.

However, I'd be suprised if anyone voted for me on that platform... :-)

I used to have to get two busses to work when I lived in NOttingham both full of school kids and I have long hair. Needless to say I was always gettting nits.

I bought a 'bug gone' kit from boots (the chemist not the forum member) for about £5 as it was the chepest on treatment there and I was skint. It was the only thing that really worked, it was just a selection of combs and a plastic apron that you wore to catch the little buggers. After washing my hair twice and combing everything off the scalp they would go.

My house mate just shaved his head instead that worked too.

anyone else itching just thinking about it