Using Essential Oils to control headlice/nits
Homemade natural headlice hair mask, shampoo and conditioner
Apparently, over one million children in the UK have headlice (nits) at any one time, which I find very surprising. People spend millions of pounds on cures from combs and chemicals to oils and professional help. There are some extremely toxic treatments out there, and a child’s skin and scalp are very sensitive to these chemicals, which WILL be absorbed through their skin, so go for the safe natural options, they DO work!
I have been asked if there are some essential oils that will work and to make up some products, so here are my thoughts and suggestions on how you can treat headlice / nits effectively with aromatherapy essential oils. Essential oils can, and will, work if you follow the suggestions and persevere. (Perseverance is important whichever route you choose, chemical or natural).
More importantly, essential oils, on the whole, are safe to use (please ensure you seek help and advice from a qualified aromatherapist though). It may work out more expensive, initially, and the chemical off-the-shelf treatments may be cheap, but what’s the point of getting rid of these parasites (perhaps temporarily) but risking storing up health problems for your children? The chemical based blends actually contain chemicals that are neurotoxins and proven carcinogens.
Any treatment needs to kill the headlice themselves, their eggs and help to be a preventative measure too. Some facts I established are:
The symptoms are itching. You may see tiny red bites on the back of the neck, scalp or forehead.
The lice can live up to 4 weeks on the host.
The lice can live about 2 days without food.
The lice lay up to 10 eggs a day.
The eggs hatch from between 7 and 10 days.
In order to be rid of the lice, you need to kill the adults and remove the eggs. Eggs are stuck to the base or lower part of the hair shafts. You need to ensure your product kills the eggs so they will not hatch out live young.
Remember the eggs and lice will drop onto coat collars, bed linen, towels etc, so to ensure you keep lice at bay, you need to ensure no re-use of these items whilst the lice are being treated, and add essential oils to your wash as well as treating your child’s head.
There are quite a few essential oils recognised as being effective, being;
Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender and Geranium.
Aromatherapy Head Lice Treatment Formulas are best used daily, for at least a week!
Scalp & Hair Mask
50ml (for smal child with short hair) or 75ml of Grapeseed oil, Olive Oil or Coconut Oil
To 50ml add 10 drops Eucalyptus, 10 drops Tea Tree, 15 drops Lavender and 10 drops Rosemary.
To 75 ml add 15 drops Eucalyptus, 10 drops Tea Tree, 25 drops Lavender and 15 frops Rosemary.
Massage the oil into the scalp and try to ensure complete coverage, especially to the nape of the neck and behind the ears, which are favourite egg laying sites.
- Leave on for 1 hour, and then comb through with a fine toothed nit comb (I think the fine toothed nit combs are incredibly important too). The combing out is definitely the most important part!
- Remove the eggs. The oil makes the eggs easier to remove from the hair shaft (again, perseverance and patience is required here).
- Remove the live, dead or dying lice. The lice vary dramatically in size, so ensure you remove the tiny ones which you may need a magnifying glass for.
- Have a bowl of hot water mixed with 5 drops Tea Tree and 5 drops Eucalyptus oils, to wash and clean the comb after each comb through. Do not just wipe the lice and eggs on a tissue as they may crawl off.
- Shampoo and condition (see recipes below).
Apparently, it’s best to empty the water down the toilet and flush as they may crawl back up the drain if you pour the water down the sink.
Shampoo
100ml of chemical-free shampoo, add 10 drops each of Tea Tree, Rosemary and Geranium. Shake well before use.
Conditioner
To help prevent further infestation use more conditioner than normal. Use chemical-free conditioner and use the same quantities of essential oils as for the shampoo.
There are quite a few more oils and ‘recipes’ to choose from but I have tried to make this as easy as possible.
Interesting fact: I kept scratching my head and neck while writing this. Why does that happen??
Let me know how you get on and if you’ve come across any other natural remedies that work please share.
Aromatherapy essential oils are fantastic for all sorts of physical and emotional ailments. If you want any advice on using essential oils, then please just call on 01889 808388 or email [email protected]
Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is for personal information and interest only. It is not intended to offer professional medical advice or treatment for any condition. I recommend you consult your GP if you have any health concerns. My advice has been provided on the basis that there are no known contra-indications to treatment. If you have any health problems or are taking any medication you should seek advice from your healthcare provider prior to using aromatherapy essential oils. I also advise you see a qualified aromatherapist who will take a full case history and offer you tailored treatment advice. Please note I accept no liability for misuse of essential oils or other products or for any reliance on the information provided within.
How Healthy Is Your Home?
What has this got to do with a healthy home? Read on and you’ll find out.
It has been a week of unusual events and emails. Events I wasn’t really expecting but then looking on my vision board, they are events I wanted to manifest.
The emails have been about workshops, asking me to deliver workshops.
I have been asked to deliver 5 different workshops next year, on behalf of Stoke City Council, I have been asked to deliver some workshops for Stafford Council and I have been asked to deliver more aromatherapy workshops to Forever Living Business Owners.
I’m not saying too much about the council workshops at the moment. I want them to be finalised, with i’s dotted and t’s crossed beforehand but they are certainly exciting for me. Lots of work to prepare them and challenges to overcome in meeting their expectations, but that’s what I like.
The Forever Living workshops; Forever Living have started to sell essential oils (I have been using and selling Forever Living products since about 2002). I have been a qualified aromatherapist since 2001 and absolutely love essential oils and their therapeutic properties. My teaching and training, which is always on-going, also means I know how dangerous and damaging essential oils can be, if not used properly. I have decided to stop being angry about people being able to buy essential oils from almost anywhere and use my knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications to educate others about the cautions and how to use essential oils for maximum benefit.
One of the most popular workshops I run is about household cleaning.
I firmly believe that the cleaning products industry is in collusion with the pharmaceutical industry. Off-the-shelf cleaning products are prone to making people very ill, which means people then buy medicines to make them feel well. Win win for the chemical industries.
There is another way!
I make my own cleaning products, using all natural ingredients, of which some are essential oils.
My next workshop is on Saturday 5th December, starting at 10am.
It will be my last one this year and is limited to 6 places so there is maximum engagement and learning for all the attendees.
Testimonials and feedback for these workshops is fantastic! (see below or look here).
If you want to be on the band-wagon of people who want healthy homes, then please book your limited cleaning products workshop place here. You have nothing to lose and only great health to gain!
Best Cleaning Worksop testimonial so far:
“Brilliant workshop with the ‘Green Clean Queen’ Tracey Nixon today! Wholly recommend this…it could save lives! You wouldn’t believe what the commercial products are doing to us…going green IS the way forward and it comes with free health benefits, is environmentally sound and much cheaper than buying ready-made!”
If you would like to know more about the courses and workshops I offer, or just want to know more about natural health, I’m always happy to meet up for a coffee and a chat. Just complete the form on this page and I’ll follow and we’ll arrange a date. Easy.
