Place a few drops of tea tree oil on a small patch of skin and watch for any signs of irritation for 24 hours. If you don't have a reaction, you should be fine to use it on a larger area, such as your scalp. Never apply pure tea tree oil to your scalp without diluting it first.
Tea tree oil plays a crucial role in fighting head lice and is often cited as a great ingredient to find in kids hair products. It's completely safe and 100% natural, so it soothes the scalp without causing any skin irritations.
Tea tree oil contains two major constituents with insecticidal activity: 1,8-cineole and terpinen-4-ol. A study in Parisitology Research has found that a 1 percent tea tree oil solution is capable of killing 100 percent of head lice within 30 minutes.
Tea tree oil appears to be able to kill some live lice (at least when used in conjunction with lavender oil), however we know that over-the-counter lice treatments are far more effective at killing live lice and getting rid of the eggs once an infestation has occurred.
According to a 2012 study, tea tree oil may help kill lice in the nymph and adult stages of their life (1). Tea tree oil treatments may also keep the lice eggs from hatching. Another 2010 study showed promising results while using tea tree oil for treating lice (2).
Lice treated with tea tree oil at 1 % of concentration (A4), caused 100 % mortality after 30 min of washing (Fig. 3a).
Step 1: After you have created your mixture of tea tree oil and either olive oil or coconut oil, saturate the head with the mixture. This should be applied to dry hair, never wet hair.
A more-promising study from 2012 combined tea tree oil with the chemical nerolidol, and found good effectiveness against both lice and their eggs, at least in a laboratory setting (tea tree oil alone wasn't as effective, especially against unhatched eggs.)
Use heat. Wash any items used or worn by the person in hot water, and dry them on high heat. Lice and nits die when exposed to temperatures higher than 130 F for more than 5 minutes. Wash anything that touched the person's skin or scalp, including jackets, hats, scarves, pillowcases, sheets, and headbands.
Coconut, tea tree oil, lavender, eucalyptus, rosemary, lemon grass, and peppermint are scents popularly believed to repel lice. Using any coconut scented shampoo and conditioner is an easy way to increase your defense. At 1% concentration, tea tree oil killed 100% of head lice after 30 minutes.
Vinegar contains properties that kill and get rid of nits and lice. This mixture should be applied directly to the whole scalp. Mix 1 cup of vinegar with 1 cup of warm water. Next, distribute this mixture onto the scalp and cover your hair with a hair cap.
Life Cycle:
Nits take about 1 week to hatch (range 6 to 9 days). Viable eggs are usually located within 6 mm of the scalp. ) and become adults about 7 days after hatching. .
No. The two treatments 9 days apart are designed to eliminate all live lice, and any lice that may hatch from eggs that were laid after the first treatment. Many nits are more than ¼ inch from the scalp.
Permethrin lotion, 1%;
Permethrin lotion 1% is approved by the FDA for the treatment of head lice. Permethrin is safe and effective when used as directed. Permethrin kills live lice but not unhatched eggs. Permethrin may continue to kill newly hatched lice for several days after treatment.
Some essential oils have been tested for treatment of lice. Aniseed, cinnamon leaf, and tea tree oil have shown promising results. Mixing a few drops of any of these essential oils in coconut oil could help kill the lice and neutralize their eggs.
It is not usually possible to get rid of lice in one day, as an infestation needs to be treated. However, there are treatments that can help get rid of lice and symptoms caused by lice more quickly. Lice infestations must first be treated by improving the hygiene of the infected person.
Leave the oil on for 24 hours. If you notice any burning, redness or irritation over the course of the 24 hours, wash the area with mild soap and water. If you do not experience any kind of allergic reaction, you are safe to use diluted tea tree oil on the skin and scalp.
Nits are often confused with other things found in the hair such as dandruff, hair spray droplets, and dirt particles. If no live nymphs or adult lice are seen, and the only nits found are more than ¼-inch from the scalp, the infestation is probably old and no longer active and does not need to be treated.
Infestation timeline
An adult louse climbs onto your hair and lays about 6 to 10 nits a day, which take about 9 days to hatch. So if you look on the scalp and see no visible adult lice and several small nits, it's likely that you've caught lice in the earlier stages and had them for less than 2 weeks.
Typically, 10–15 head lice are found. The number of lice often depends on personal hygiene, for example, how often the person bathes, shampoos, or changes and washes his/her clothing.
Avoid head-to-head (hair-to-hair) contact during play and other activities at home, school, and elsewhere (sports activities, playground, slumber parties, camp). Do not share clothing such as hats, scarves, coats, sports uniforms, hair ribbons, or barrettes. Do not share combs, brushes, or towels.
So, the realistic answer is “No, you can't drown lice.” The best treatment for lice is to get them picked out by a professional – Lice Geeks, for example – using the right comb. Even over-the-counter shampoos and products aren't as effective as a well-trained professional wielding the proper comb.
Machine Wash and Bedding and Clothing.
Use hot water (130°F) cycle paired with a high heat drying cycle. This process will dehydrate and kill any potential surviving lice and lice eggs.
Eucalyptus oil is believed to be an ideal treatment because it kills lice as well as their eggs. One study determined that eucalyptus oil kills 100% of lice and their eggs in just one hour.