Most effective methods how to get rid of lice at home

It is wrong to assume that lice can only appear at the houses where people do not bother about their personal hygiene and health. Such disease as lice is familiar unfortunately for many parents. And many are trying to get rid of lice at home. Do not think that lice only appear at homes where people have difficult life conditions. Lice infestation can occur quite suddenly sometimes simply after visit to school and sitting at a desk with already infected child. What to do if a child brought home from school or kindergarten lice in their hair? How to get rid of lice quickly?

How dangerous are these parasites? It is important to get rid of parasites as soon as possible because female lice lay a couple of hundred eggs at once. They hatch in ten days and if we will not start treatment on time we will struggle a lot more.

The first method: Combing
The second method: Shaving
The third method: Medicines from pharmacy
The fourth method: All types of oils
The fifth method: Natural juices
The sixth method: Vinegar
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The first method: Combing

In order to get rid of lice with the help of this popular method we will not need any professional help or visits to the hospital. Also it is very affordable and not that expensive. Everything you need is a special tool. This special tool is a lice comb which is specially made for the purpose of combing lice and lice eggs from our hair. The comb is made from plastic and metal and can be used plenty of times.

Combing procedure:

It is necessary to kill parasites by moving tool along the hair starting from the roots.
Lice will stuck on the comb and then you will need immediately to remove them from the tool with the towel.
In order to achieve some visible effect you need to use this method at least few times.
After that observe the effect during next month.
You can actually get rid of lice without any medicine but using simple balm and conditioner followed by any natural oil.
When your hair is covered with any oil (along the whole length of hair) it will be much easier to separate lice from the hair.

This method is safe for use for pregnant and lactating women and basically everyone who is contraindicated to use any herbal and chemical treatments for health reasons. Moreover such mechanical method of removing the lice has great benefits: daily massage has a positive effect on the quality of hair.

Warning: This mechanical method of removal is very difficult for those who is lacking experience as it does not guarantee anything. Basically it must be repeated every day until all the parasites will disappear or at the end of each week (up to two weeks) when on the 7th day the incubation period ends and new individuals of parasites are born.

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The second method: Shaving

This method is quick and not dangerous. This method however will not be an option for those who spend years growing beautiful long hair. Shaving is most safe and actually 100% effective method of removing lice. You shave once and completely solve the problem.

This method does not always mean shaving off all the hair. Sometimes it is enough to cut it till the shoulders and sometimes unfortunately it should be shaved completely. Girls and women usually are not ready for such method. However it has no side effects. There is no risk of reappearing of lice after shaving and lice is removed completely within minutes as soon as you finish shaving infected area.

Warning: If you have a daughter and she came home after school or camp with lice you better try some other methods instead. Self-confidence is quite often connected to the hair length when it comes to children.

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The third method: Medicines from pharmacy

Nowadays diversity of medicines is so huge that we can spend hours in the pharmacies choosing the option for our personal case. Visit to the pharmacy today is similar to the trip to the supermarket where the diversity of trademarks and colorful packaging is bringing our attention from what is really important: the ingredients and contraindications.

We can find a whole diversity of pharmacological means against lice and all of them are meant to solve our problem. Depending on the condition of the problem and age of the infected person specialist will easily recommend you one or few remedies from possible options. Today you can choose a treatment in a form of a shampoo, spray, aerosol, gel, ointment, solution, emulsion or lotion. Additionally, if you suspect a lice infestation, consider lice screening as an important step in identifying and addressing the issue promptly.

Lice removal procedure:

Apply the treatment (that one which you carefully chosen in the pharmacy according to your needs) on the hair.
Allow the medicine to stay on the hair. Usually time needed is described on the box (from 10 to 45 minutes).
Wash the medicine off the hair using water, vinegar, shampoo or soap.
Always wear rubber gloves. Do not use the same gloves twice.
After washing your hair with the help of chemical treatment from the pharmacy usually dead parasites should be combed out from the hair with the help of steel comb.
For the combing purposes you will need to buy special comb with very sharp laser incisions.

Unfortunately chemical treatment from the pharmacy do not promise us 100% or even 90% guaranteed lice removal result. For that reason the whole procedure should be repeated 2-3 times. Interval between the procedures is 7 days. Basically we will need to have a procedure on 8, 15 and 22 day.

Warning: When you are healing your hair at home using chemical agents from the pharmacies pay attention to the air. Make sure that room is very well ventilated.

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The fourth method: All types of oils

The whole idea of using oil against lice may sound ridiculous but it is an option giving such a good results that it is worth talking about it. Basically we need to understand the main idea of using oils.

Oil applying procedure:

For the beginning you can start with any type of oil you happened to have in your kitchen. Basically we can use olive, corn, sunflower or mustard oil and all of them will give us good results.
Oil is applied on the hair.
Head is covered with the plastic bag for approximately 1-2 hours.
What is happening during this time is that oils are blocking airways of lice.
Additionally oils are making combing easier via creating sliding effect on the hair.
Usually procedure should be repeated few times in order to make sure that we succeeded with treatment. Recommended time to repeat the procedure is in 7-8 days.

Almost all the methods which should be repeated (basically that means all the methods except of shaving off the hair completely) must be applied again in exact day after the procedure. The reason for such a schedule is the incubation period of lice eggs. Thus we will make sure that eggs which lice laid a week ago will also not survive (and believe me it worth repeating because lice at once is laying a couple of hundreds of eggs).

Also we can use essential oils for the same purpose. Essential oils of anise, tea tree or lavender scare and kill the lice. Essential oils are acting as an antiseptic on the skin, they soften skin a lot and relieve itching feeling. Those who experienced the lice infection know how terrible is itching feeling and how much we are ready to give in order to solve at least that horrible itching.

Essential oils should be rubbed into the hair roots properly. Oils should be distributed throughout the length of the hair and left on the head for 2-3 hours. Procedure is followed by combing and washing.

Warning: If you do not have allergies than essential oils can be even applied in the amount of a few drops on the head skin for prevention and their flavors will discourage parasites. Before applying essential oils make sure you do not have allergic reaction on the skin.

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The fifth method: Natural juices

Surprising fact is that natural juices may help us with curing the lice infection. You definitely cannot use any kind of juice in order to get rid of lice but you can use juice of onions, garlic and cranberry. Onion and garlic juices burn the adult insects. The main idea is to put the juice on the hair and hair roots and cover with some plastic bag. In such a way insects will die. Also it is recommended before the procedure to cut 2-3 centimeters of the length in order to make combing procedure easier.

Cranberry juice application:

We should apply the cranberry juice on the entire surface of the scalp and on the entire length of the hair.
Make sure that you are not leaving any places or spots without the treatment.
Twist your hair and cover your entire hair with the plastic bag. Fasten the plastic bag tightly around the head in such a way that air will not be able to get under it.
When the plastic bag is secured properly than hair will stay wet longer and we need exactly that.
Throughout the procedure make sure that juice is not dripping down. Move and massage hair properly in order to make sure all the cranberry juice is staying on the hair and scalp.
If the cranberry juice will stay for a long of the skin it can cause irritation so immediately rinse it with the water in case some juice is on your neck or shoulders.
During the procedure (20 minutes is the whole time of the procedure) it is recommended 2-3 times to add some juice on the hair and skin of the head.

Twenty minutes later we should wash the hair with water and carefully comb hair with the special comb. In order to get the best possible result it is highly recommended to repeat the treatment with cranberry juice in 2 days.

You may find an information that lemon juice (basically treatment with boiled lemon juice) can be also used against lice. Remember that effect from lemon juice is significantly less effective so do not waste your time.

Warning: The only thing which can stop you from using this simple method with cranberry juice is an allergy. Also very carefully this method should be used for people with sensitive skin as prolonged contact with the juice may lead to skin irritation.

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The sixth method: Vinegar

Vinegar is a well-known home remedy for head lice. In order to prevent possible side effects before you try to get rid of lice with the help of vinegar make sure you get acquainted with the peculiarities of the substance (9% vinegar solution) and the process in general.

Vinegar treatment procedure:

Vinegar solution is applied on the dry and comber hair. 1 part of 9% vinegar solution is mixed with 2 parts of water.
Perfect way to apply the vinegar solution is to wipe the hair with the towel soaked in the solution. In such a way we are making sure that the least possible amount of vinegar will get on the scalp.
Wear a plastic bag or special plastic cap on the hair for half an hour. This will ensure that vinegar is not evaporating.
Remove the package and carefully comb the hair. Preferably use the special lice comb.
Combing should be happening in the bath or on some special surface in order to make sure that parasites are not falling on the clothes, floor or bed sheets.
After combing wash your hair few times in a row in order to get rid of the vinegar smell.

One week later the whole procedure should be repeated again. This will ensure that the remaining parasites will not multiply in few month. Vinegar is less effective than shampoos containing various insecticides. If pharmacy is close enough and you are not familiar with vinegar application you should better skip this method and buy some medicine in the nearest drug store.

Warning: Be very careful when applying this method. Long application of vinegar on the skin causes burns and sometimes even hair loss.
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