Head lice are those horrible little insects which infest your hair and cause itching and irritation to the scalp. Between 1 and 3 mm long, they live for around one month, and in that time the female lays about seven to 10 eggs, known as nits, per day. The lice attach the eggs to the hair follicle close to the scalp and live by sucking blood from the scalp.
Who Gets Head Lice, and Why
Kids Health says that lice are a common problem, especially for kids ages 3 years to 12 years, and girls are more prone than boys. This is because the lice move from head to head via contact, and children in this age group are most likely to have their heads together when playing.
Properties of Manuka Oil
Manuka essential oil (Latin name Leptospermum scoparium) is found in New Zealand, and it has long been used by the Maori people for medicinal purposes. Manuka has antibacterial, antiviral, antiseptic and antibiotic properties which means that it can be used for a number of different health benefits. It is thought that the manuka either paralyzes the lice or kills the lice by suffocation. While there is no scientific evidence for this, there is some popular support for the idea that it helps, and using an essential oil is often used as an alternative to insecticides, to which many lice have become resistant.
How Manuka Helps to Prevent Lice
Manuka is thought to kill lice by coating their hides and penetrating their bodies, so that they die from asphyxiation. This means that the aroma also acts as a powerful deterrent. Using three drops of undiluted manuka oil in your usual shampoo or conditioner once a week may deter lice from crossing onto the head and may dispose of any which may have infested the hair in the previous week. The texture of the oil also makes it difficult for the lice to attach their eggs to the hair.
Using manuka oil may also help prevent bites from becoming infected and calms the itching and irritation. According to HomeRemediesWeb.com, manuka has been used not only to treat lice, but dandruff, itching scalp and fleas as well.
What to Do if Infected
If you are infected, immediately wash the hair, using your regular shampoo and conditioner. At the conditioning phase, add three drops of manuka oil to a blob of conditioner, and massage into the scalp. Leave it on for 10 minutes, and then comb the hair, carefully removing all the lice and any eggs, which you can see between the teeth of the comb. After that, rinse the hair and repeat daily until all the lice and eggs are gone.
To help prevent reinfestation, it's also important to comb the hair daily in the weeks following treatment, using a nit comb, to check for lice or nits.
Some Precautions
Manuka is very strong, and if your child is under 2 years, then medical advice should be sought, or use the combing method only. For older children, use one to two drops of oil, and make sure that it is all washed out, and only use once a week.
