Head Lice Prevention

At my hair salon they have a shampoo that claims to repel lice. It contains rosemary, stating that lice do not like this herb. I don't know yet if this works, but will be buying it at my next visit to try it out since there is a huge lice outbreak in my children's school right now and my daughter has very long hair. Good luck!!!

My family struggled for years literally! The only solution that we found that worked was using Melaleuca products. We soaked their heads in the TeaTree oil and let it sit for 30 mins and then waashed with their shampoo that has the oil in it. We also sprayed the whole house with their Solu-mel. I promise this isn't an advertisement but honestly we tried every solution out there, they even moved to a new house in the middle of the crisis taking extra precaustions not to bring any pillows etc from the old house to the new and still had an infestation in the new house. They were to the point where they were going to have the house tented and smoked out... when I came upon the melaleuca solution. We actually had several infestations with my son who was 3 at the time and barely had any hair to mention. As far as prevention we spray everything here and at my brother's constantly with Solu-mel. It doesn't damage anything and we give it credit for keeping us lice-free for the last 3 years so we are afraid to stop using it. We especially spray their backpacks and any thing that happens to go to school with them.

Adding a few drops of Tea Tree Oil to the kids shampoo is supposed to help. You can find the oil at your local health food store.

It may sounds crazy, but if you are really freaked out, don't wash their hair. Head lice sticks to nice clean hair. The oilier the hair it slides right off. Maybe even put a bunch of 'gunk' ;) in their hair too.

I read that black girls who use the leave in conditioners or stuff that helps to straighten their hair do not get lice. Maybe leave in conditioners are a good idea.

Hair spray - a thick layer of spray will coat the hair shafts and make it more difficult for the lice to leave nits. Won't keep the lice away, but will keep them from spreading.
As has already been mentioned, tea tree oil helps, as does not washing their hair so often. Yes, lice like clean hair much better than oily hair or hair spray coated hair.
Also, anytime one uses a shampoo that supposedly kills lice, one must follow directions, leaving it on the hair for some hours before rinsing out. Then one must use a nit comb, combing through all the hair a little at a time, to make sure all the nits as well as the lice are gone. Any nits left behind may hatch at a later date and start a reinfestion.
As well as not sharing brushes, combs, hats, or any clothing that goes over or even close to the head, it is also important that they don't share earphones, such as in Ipods, walkmans, or the language labs in schools.
M.

We too struggled with this for along time. Some one told me to use tea tree oil and stop washing their hair as much. I also cleaned and sprayed the van and done every thing in the house that could be sprayed or cleaned. I can not say what really helped but the kids have been lice free for a long time now.

Tea tree oil is great for killing lice, adults & nits. I just dilute it 50-50 with water in a spray bottle and spray on dry hair until it's wet. It makes the hair soft, kills everything & smells great (IMHO). I also sprayed the kids bedding with it too. I never have to use poisons on them (but you still pick out the nits) which I really like.

So if you want, get yourself a spray bottle, dilute it & keep it handy. Then maybe once a week you can just spray them.

Tea tree oil can help. Aussie has a spray in conditioner made with tea tree oil. It smells good, leaves the hair soft and tangle free as well.

This is a huge fear of mine, too, since I dealt with it when my then 4-year-old got it while I was on bedrest. I have heard that shampoo with tea tree oil prevents lice, but haven't tried it. My daughter is very cautious about not sharing combs, dress-up clothes, etc., but I think her lice came from a sleepover. Now, when she goes on sleepovers, I wash her hair with lice shampoo as soon as she gets home and keep all of her clothes and sleeping bag in the garage until I have time to wash them. I figure it's a small price to pay in prevention to avoid a huge mess down the road.

That's a good question. I'd love to hear if there are any answers to that one.

www.peoplespharmacy.com has some tried and true suggestions that readers have used successfully, such as using listerine or cetaphil.

I too am struggling with this. My daughter is in First grade and I found a few nits in her hair this morning (my head is itching just thinking about it!). Last time I researched (a few months ago), I found some information indicating that using Denorex once or twice a week was a good repellant. It was said it actually killed and repelled. I hadn't been using it on my daughter in the last month and what do you know...she's got 'em again. They really like her smooth, clean, fine hair. The extra problem for us is that her hair is so fine that the nit doesn't get caught in those combs.

Here we go again!

Good luck and let me know if you have success with other methods.

I don't personally know if this works, but someone told me that their hairdresser told them to keep a little girl's hair in a pony tail and spray it with hairspray, especially during known periods of infestation at school or when being exposed to someone who has had them.

I have also heard tea tree oil works. You can buy a small bottle of it and put a couple drops in whatever shampoo you usually use. Shake it up and it should work just fine.

We use Fairy Tales hair care products (www.fairytaleshaircare.com). We use the line - shampoo, conditioner, leave-in spray on a daily basis. We also use their lice products when applicable. AND they have monthly coupon codes for discounted stuff or free shipping!

We struggled with daycare lice on and off for three years. and then found this. Since my son started school three years ago, we have used Fairy Tales and have not had a single episode of it - even when every other child in his class got it.

Word of warning: Rid and like products are neurotoxins, which is why they worked. But alot of lice are immune which is why you hear of ppl using them three, four, five times before going to something else. But it infiltrates the host's head just as much as the lice.... My sister dealt with a bout of lice at 12 that she got at summer camp. My mother didn't quit using the chemicals until permanent brain damaged developed and my sister is now on daily epilepsy medication to prevent seizures as a result of the nuerotoxins. PLEASE don't use these on your children!

As a last resort (and this has worked for us also), shave everybody's head and keep them bald for at least a month. In addition to the bagging and washing and vaccuuming, etc.

Lice is a nightmare. I hadn't heard of that Solumel...I'll have to investigate that myself.

I've been reading up on this, like you trying to prevent this problem. One remedy I have seen mentioned is to put several drops of tea tree oil into any shampoo you use on your kids. I have done it sometimes, and sometimes I haven't. I don't know if it works, but we have never had lice, praise God!

I don't think there is a preventative method, just be very diligent about combing their hair with seperate comb when hair is wet in area w/ good light so you can see if anything has formed then treat immediately. Had a infestation with one child and did was the others with shampoo and overnight w/ the Cetaphil lotion but only after we felt they'd been exposed to their brother's. They never got it and his went away. Did get heavy duty shampoo for it & did the second washing 10 days later.

My daughter's Kindergarten teacher recommended spraying their hair with lots of hair spray before school, that lice "love" clean hair and the hairspray makes it hard for the lice to latch on. I don't know if it works or not, but she swore by it.

Any shampoo with Tea Tree Oil in it will help prevent head lice. Paul Mitchell, is a good line but anything with the Tee Tree Oil will work. Use it daily or every day. B. E.