Do home remedies for head lice work?
It would be nice if the solution to head lice lay right in your pantry. But do home remedies for head lice really get rid of the creepy crawlies, once and for all? Here’s a look at some of the home remedies used for head lice and their effectiveness. • The idea behind using mayonnaise, petroleum jelly, food-grade oil, or margarine is that these thick and heavy substances cover the louse’s air holes, effectively smothering them. Although this technique may make it hard for lice to breathe, it likely won’t kill them. • There isn’t any evidence that tea tree oil and aromatherapy are effective treatments for head lice. • Never use gasoline or kerosene. These products are flammable and toxic and can be extremely dangerous. The bottom line? Save the mayo for your sandwich and focus on the methods that have evidence to back up their effectiveness. A technique called wet combing has been suggested as a treatment to remove live head lice. In wet combing, you use a lice comb to remove the lice.
It would be nice if the solution to head lice lay right in your pantry. But do home remedies for head lice really get rid of the creepy crawlies, once and for all? Here’s a look at some of the home remedies used for head lice and their effectiveness. • The idea behind using mayonnaise, petroleum jelly, food-grade oil, or margarine is that these thick and heavy substances cover the louse’s air holes, effectively smothering them. Although this technique may make it hard for lice to breathe, it likely won’t kill them. • There isn’t any evidence that tea tree oil and aromatherapy are effective treatments for head lice. • Never use gasoline or kerosene. These products are flammable and toxic and can be extremely dangerous. The bottom line? Save the mayo for your sandwich and focus on the methods that have evidence to back up their effectiveness. A technique called wet combing has been suggested as a treatment to remove live head lice. In wet combing, you use a lice comb to remove the lice.
