The topic came up recently on The Compact Yahoo Group and this was my response. Happy to take your questions by email. I can help you put together a kit and will look through your family's hair here if you like.
Lice are epidemic here because of resistance to pesticides.
We get them annually throughout pre school and elementary school.
This method uses oil to suffocate live lice and loosen the glued on nits (eggs).
It uses lice combing to removed the nits.
It uses lavender essential oil to repel and kill live lice.
It uses repetition of steps because this is ALWAYS required!
We use a nit comb made from bamboo ($.99) but you may prefer a metal comb. Thus kind works http://www.pestid.msu.edu/Portals/0/dnnPhotoGallery/967/643TN.jpg . This kind in plastic or metal tears your hair out and is otherwise infuriating to use http://www.ladyjayne.co.nz/img/categoryimages/NitComb_Plastic.gif Here's the simple non toxic method most folks here use:
1. Soak hair overnight in any vegetable oil, making sure the oil is all over the scalp and first 2cm of hair.
Tie a plastic bag over the hair, then put on a towel turban style to sleep with and the pillow cases won't get greasy.
2. In the morning, comb the hair into the bath tub using a lice comb. Nits are glued to the first 1cm of the hair shaft, but the vegetable oil will have loosened them. Comb away, then rinse with apple cider vinegar. Wash a few times with dishsoap or shampoo with citrus oils in it. The hair will dry soft but will not be greasy.
3. In bright sunlight, meticulously comb out the hair with a nit comb section by section. Nits look like clear or brown raindrops glued to the hair shaft within a cm of the scalp. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/images/ency/fullsize/19835.jpg http://www.fractalfairy.com/lice/nitHead.jpg When it is "clear", you are probably rid of them.
4. OPTIONAL FOR A CHRONIC PROBLEM: To kill any live lice http://www.mpsaz.org/kino/gen_info/departments/healthoffice/images/liceh... http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/images/ency/fullsize/17207.jpg, and to fend off and kill any new arrivals from the 6 million friends your child has who still have lice, mix 10ml of lavender OR TEA TREE essential oil http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/87 with 100ml of jojoba oil http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/539 (this is really good for the scalp and identical to the skin's own sebum) or other vegetable oil and put drops of this oil mixture on the scalp along the hair part, behind the ears, at the back of the head and wherever you found nits, lice or bites.
5. I like to keep up the nits combing regularly for a few weeks, checking the hair meticulously if itching returns and 2 weeks after the first treatment. It only takes 2 nits to hatch and start a new community!
NO NEED TO LAUNDER EVERYTHING!!! Just bag up any clothes, linens used before the treatment and put them away for two weeks. Live lice can't live more than a few days without a warm head and blood. I just put them in a laundry basket and forget about them for a few weeks, changing the pillow cases until after the treatment. Then I just launder everything normally.
Anyhow, lots of info on the oil method on the internet.
BEWARE OF LICE KILLING ESSENTIAL OIL CONCOCTIONS! Please consult a registered aromatherapist if you are planning on using any essential oil aside from lavender or tea tree http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/107. LOTS of essential oils, perhaps most, KILL LICE but that doesn't mean you want to be absorbing it through your scalp with sores in it! The oils used need to be safe for skin AND safe for children AND safe in quantity!!!*
Happy to take your questions by email.
Best, Tracey
Tracey TieF
Certified Natural Health Practitioner
* For instance, peppermint is a great insecticide because it's neuro toxic. So the first time I got lice I used it on my scalp for months while my commune mates slowly broke up with their head lice. Well, it's potent stuff. It affected me in many ways. It was kinda like turning into a minty man on speed. http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/598 The next time, unschooled in herbalism still, I used an herb that caused me to detoxify rather abruptly from every orifice. Yes, the lice were killed... but what kills tiny animals in large doses can make big animals sick!
Cinnamon http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/160 or http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/604 kills lice and burns skin! Pine needles http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/457 repel lice in pillow cases, but pine oil is irritating to the skin! Rose geranium http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/106 is lovely to kill lice if you also need to balance your hormones, but this is (I hope) obviously not good for children, youth or pregnant or lactating women! Finally, yes, oil of oregano http://www.anarreshealth.ca/node/556 will kill lice. It would probably kill anything smaller than a bread box in short order. Hitting a louse with a hammer will kill it. I don't recommend you hit your kid's head with a hammer to kill lice.
So please just email me for info on safe herbs and essential oils! It's free!