Unfortunately children returning home from school with newfound knowledge often bring unwelcome visitors home in their hair in the form of head lice. Plain white vinegar--available at most grocery stores and supermarkets--may provide an inexpensive way for you to remove lice eggs from your child's hair. But don't expect it to be a stand-alone miracle solution for your child's itchy scalp.
Lice
One of three types of lice that infect people, head lice infest the scalp, spreading rapidly from person to person, especially among school-age children. Also called pediculosis, head lice infestations spread through direct contact, because lice lack wings. Common symptoms of head lice include tickling or itching in the scalp, irritability or sleeplessness at night and scalp sores, which develop as a result of excessive scratching by the affected person.
Vinegar
Rebecca B. Campen, author of the book "The Comprehensive Guide to Skincare," states that vinegar helps loosen lice eggs, called nits, from where they're cemented into the hair close to the scalp. Once the vinegar loosens the eggs, you can remove them more easily from the hair with a nit comb, which helps lower the chances of developing a reinfestation.
Usage
Most people spray full-strength white vinegar directly on the infested hair, working it in with their fingers and leaving it to soak for up to 30 minutes before combing the hair carefully with a nit comb. David A. Friscia, coauthor of "The Complete Guide to Sports Injuries," suggests that you dip the comb in a bowl of hot vinegar before running it through the hair. Careful comb strokes are essential to ensuring that all the nit eggs are removed. Make sure you run the comb through the entire length of hair, starting at the scalp with each stroke and continuing the combing process until you no longer see any signs of nits.
Considerations
Joan Sawyer, coauthor of the book "Head Lice to Dead Lice," notes that anecdotal evidence suggests vinegar may be an effective method of nit removal; organized studies seem to indicate that it has little or no effect on killing the nits. Since vinegar doesn't seem to kill lice, you may want to provide another form of treatment, especially for severe lice infestations. If you'd rather not use a prescription medication, the Mayo Clinic suggests over-the-counter delousing shampoos or lotions.
Warning
Sawyer points out that vinegar may be irritating to the eyes, so be sure to exercise caution when applying vinegar to lice-infested heads, especially when you're treating children. In certain instances, such as when a child under the age of two gets a lice infestation, manually removing lice with a nit comb may be the only method of treatment available, suggests the Mayo Clinic. If this is the case, talk to your child's doctor about the possibility of using vinegar to assist in removing the lice. Don't touch your own hair while combing through the vinegar-soaked hair, as doing so may spread the lice infestation to your own scalp.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Head Lice Fact Sheet
- "The Comprehensive Guide to Skincare"; Rebecca B. Campen; 2009
- "The Complete Guide to Sports Injuries"; David A. Friscia & H. Winter Griffith; 2004
- "Head Lice to Dead Lice"; Joan Sawyer & Roberta McPhee; 1999
- MayoClinic.com: Lifestyle and Home Remedies for Lice
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