Head Lice and Home Treatments—How Effective Are They?

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, anywhere from 6 to 12 million people get infected with head lice every single year! Many of these affected people choose to go the home treatment route instead of going to a professional to get rid of the critters. While home treatments may not sound bad, they have been proven to be widely ineffective and tedious when it comes to treating head lice.

Common Home Treatments Used:

Mayonnaise Slathering your head with a jar full of mayonnaise has been touted by many home remedy enthusiasts as the best way of getting rid of the pesky bugs. They claim that the thick, gooey liquid blocks lice’s airways, effectively suffocating them. On the contrary, however, lice are able to hold their breath for up to 8 hours! Additionally, their air passageways are far too small to be clogged by something as thick and viscous as mayonnaise. Finally, mayonnaise may be able to kill off adult lice if left in the hair long enough, but it is extremely unlikely to be effective on lice eggs, which will just end up hatching and start the infestation process all over again!

Olive Oil

Many other home remedy enthusiasts claim that putting olive oil in your hair and leaving it in for 6 to 8 hours can suffocate head lice, making them easier to remove with a lice comb. Combing is always an effective method of getting rid of head lice, but requires a lot of time and effort—as well as expertise!—to get rid of all the lice. Additionally, olive oil is expensive, and an olive oil treatment may end up costing you far more than a professional treatment would! Lastly, while combing may be able to remove adult lice after hours of painstaking labor, it is incapable of removing nits, which must be manually picked out. This is a long process. which is prone to human error if conducted by someone who is not a professional.

Over-the-Counter Treatments

Over-the-counter head lice treatments have long been the go-to method for head lice removal. They were cheap, easy. and available everywhere! But like with every antibiotic or pesticide, over years of use, head lice have now become resistant to the chemicals used in these treatments. On the other hand, these chemicals can also prove to be dangerous and can have a number of side-effects if used too often. Over-the-counter treatments are also notoriously ineffective in killing nits.

Go the Professional Route

At Lice Troopers’ head lice removal salon Orlando, we use pesticide free, 100% organic lice products and follow it up with professional, expert manual lice treatment. Our lice doctors are certified and know exactly how to rid your head of the last louse and nit in a single sitting, ensuring a pest-free head! We have clinics in various locations including Orlando, Winter Park, Miami Beach, Brooklyn, Katy and more, in 5 states across the U.S., and conduct house-visits to make our lice removal services accessible to all. Whether you want an in-house treatment or would like to book an appointment for our clinic, we’re always here to solve your head lice problems!