Head Lice
Get rid of those nasty critters

Oh no, Head Lice!...This is what probably happened: your child came home from school scratching its head and complaining about the itch. You feared the worst carefully searched its head and…yes you saw those creepy, crawly, itchy, parasitic, tiny little critters (did we leave something out?) running around and having a good time and...oh no...oh yeah, THEY are having a good time yes. Because they are exactly in the right place; on the head of a human being, feeding and being kept nice and warm

Here we'll try to explain what they are, how you get them and how to recognize them

In the next section we have some

powerful and effective home remedies against head lice together with useful tips on how to prevent getting infested by our creepy friends

But what exactly are head lice?

You probably saw them, they are those tiny, crawling, wingless insects found on the heads of people. And that's exactly the only place they live, human heads. They need our blood which they suck from our scalp. Another reason they live close to the scalp is because they need our body heat to keep themselves warm

Life cycle of a louse

The life of a louse is divided in three stages:

First there is the egg or nit as it is also called
Then the nymph
And finally the adult

Nit, Nymph? A little explanation please...

Nit is another name for a louse egg. They are very tiny and oval shaped. It can be hard to spot them. They are attached to the hair shaft very firmly close to the scalp. There the temperature is exactly right for them until they hatch which is after 7 to 10 days

When the nit hatches, out comes a nymph, which is a baby louse. It is smaller than an adult louse but it looks more or less the same. It's about the size of a pin head. The nymph needs our blood to survive so it sucks our scalp to get to it. They mature into adults about 7 to 10 days after they have hatched

An adult louse is between the size of a pin head and a sesame seed. It has 6 legs with hooked claws that hold on to your hair and lives up to 30 days on your head

Its favorite hang out is on your scalp behind the ears, near the neckline at the back of the neck around what is called the nape of the neck. There it also needs your blood to survive so it feeds a few times a day

A louse that falls off a human head and doesn't find a new human home within 2 days will die because it can't feed on blood

Symptoms of head lice

Sometimes you don't even notice you have them until you take a closer look. So please do take a closer look
The most important symptom is of course itching. This is caused by an allergic reaction to the saliva from the louse when it bites you
It feels like something is moving through your hair, which might tickle a bit
Red spots on the scalp. These are caused by lice bites, so look for these as well
Sores on your head which are caused by scratching

How do you get head lice?

This is very simple; the most common way is when you come into contact with an already infested person. They spread very quickly and easily. They don't jump or fly but simply hook onto your hair when there is head to head contact, which of course happens a lot during play time at school or at home

You can also get them by wearing clothes or hats that are worn by an infested person or when you use their towels, brushes or combs

They can also get to you when you lay on a pillow, couch, bed, carpet or use a cuddle toy which has been in contact with an infested person. Only these ways of spreading are not as common as you may think, but still possible

By the way lice do NOT spread diseases and can NOT be transferred by animals, just by humans

Nothing to be ashamed of

It is also nothing to be ashamed of; everybody can get them, no matter what age or social class. They even prefer the cleaner heads to the more dirty ones so the idea of bad personal hygiene has absolutely nothing to do with it

Commercial treatments

Yes there are many lice treatments available in your drugstore or pharmacy but there are a few things that should make you think twice before you buy them

First of all they contain pesticides. Now the fact that you are looking for home remedies for head lice probably means you don't want to spray your kids with these nasty chemicals
Doctors agree that if your child is 2 years old or younger, you should not use medicated lice treatments anyway, way too dangerous. We think so too, there are many natural ways to get rid those pesky parasites
It is known that with repeated use of these pesticides they lose their effectiveness. The lice have become resistant
They are unpleasant to use; the chemicals are rather aggressive and can irritate the skin and your airways
Because of their chemical properties, breastfeeding or pregnant women or people with allergies and medical conditions should also not use head-lice medications
Finally they are expensive, especially compared to natural home remedies for head lice which use only ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen or medicine cabinet

Natural Home Remedies for Head Lice

After reading this last part it is easy to tell why WE prefer natural home remedies to get rid of head lice. If you're also convinced, or maybe you need some extra convincing, that home remedies are more powerful, more effective, more affordable and most important SAFER, read on

Chances are pretty big that there is a natural home remedy for head licethat will do the job for you

We have put together quiet an extensive list of home remedies that have proven their power in combat against these obnoxious little creatures

We recommended them to many people and invariably get a very thankful and positive response after they have used it