For more information about lice and how to recognize it, please also visit this FAQ page: I think I might have lice! What should I do?
OLIVE OIL SUFFOCATION LICE TREATMENT
Treatment designed by The Crazy Lice Lady
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 c Olive oil
3-4 drops of Tea Tree oil
(make more as needed)
STEP 1 – KILL THE ADULT LICE: Mix & massage oil liberally into scalp. Be sure to thickly coat the entire scalp with the oil mixture. Don’t apply oil to the dreadlocks anymore than 1 – 2″ from the scalp . Pile dreads on top of head using rubber bands or anything that will keep them up & you don’t mind getting covered in the oil mixture. Saran wrap head tightly (but make sure it is comfortable enough for you to sleep in). The olive oil & saran wrap help to suffocate the live lice and the tea tree oil helps to kill them. Leave on overnight.
STEP 2 – REPEAT TO KILL LARVA/EGGS: This treatment does not kill any eggs that have been laid and not yet hatched at the time of the treatment. They must hatch to kill them this way. Repeat oil & saran wrap every 3 days for 2 weeks to be sure to kill ALL lice.
EXTRA TIP (THE DIRECTED HIGH HEAT METHOD):
Don’t want to wait for more of those bugger to hatch before you can kill them? It’s not particularly fun (although neither is lice!), but one method to kill the eggs and most of the larva is also the use of high heat. To use this technique, use a blow dryer on high heat and hold 1 – 2″ away from the scalp on one side and then the other of EACH dreadlock for 30 seconds (that’s 60 seconds total!).
If you choose to use the Directed High Heat method, as this method is called, the suggested schedule of treatment would be to do the oil suffocating first, then the high heat dryer three days later followed immediately by another oil suffocating, then 3 days later with the oil again. To really be sure doing the oil treatment 1-3 more times for a full 2 weeks will make sure any critters left hanging out on your head are good and dead!
