daughter 7 Yrs with long thick hair, is now suffering with lice. Takes off to pus and blood in her scalp which is paining while combing. For the past 6 years, i did not have any problem, pls.advise.

First, dress your child in old clothes as olive oil can leave oil stains. Tuck a paper towel collar around your child’s neck to catch drips. Sit your child in a high seat (perhaps using phone books or plastic covered cushions to raise seat height) over the sink. Then, slowly saturate hair with oil working on one small section at a time. The scalp must be very oily.

Then, leave the oil on the hair for about 30 minutes. The oil covers the lice and eggs, preventing them from breathing. Unlike pesticides, suffocation does not seem to be something lice can build up immunity against! If you are working with long hair, you may want to put it up in a clip during the wait time.

After 30 minutes, comb hair with a regular plastic comb. If you are working with long hair, section it and put the sections up with clips. Then, with a metal nit comb, (found in most drugstores) comb through the hair in one-inch sections. Rinse your comb often in very hot soapy water. Watch for lice trying to escape the oil by coming to the surface or hanging out around the hairline.

After combing completely with the nit comb, wash hair in Dawn dishwashing liquid to cut the grease. Rinse hair and then wash with regular shampoo and follow with conditioner. Repeat the oiling every other day for two weeks. You will not need to use the nit comb during these subsequent oilings.

At the end of two weeks, repeat the first olive oil process, complete with the nit comb. If no live lice are found during this comb out, you can consider your problem cured. You will need to eliminate any possible infestation of pillows, bedding or soft toys also. Lice cannot live away from a host for more than 48 hours, so toys can be treated by placing in a large plastic bag and secured tightly for two days. Also, lice can be killed in pillows or bedding by washing in hot water and drying in a hot dryer for at least 30 minutes.

Check children weekly for possible re-infestation from contact in school. Early detection makes lice killing much easier. Teach you child not to share hairbrushes, combs and hair decorations or hats…but if lice do happen, don’t panic, just get oily.

Dr. Coleen Murphy, ND

answered by Dr C M N

Itchy scalp, a typical symptom of lice infestation should be immediately taken care of. Try these simple remedies:

1. Apply margosa oil on the scalp and leave for an hour. Rinse it off.
2. Mix margosa leaves, basil leaves and 8-10 cloves and grind to make a thick paste using beer and leave it overnight. Shampoo off in the morning.
3. Mayonnaise, vaseline or olive oil is applied on the head and covered with a shower cap and left overnight. Rinse in the morning.
4. Combing the hair in small sections after applying oil is beneficial.
5. Mix regular shampoo with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil and 1 teaspoon of eucalyptus oil. Leave on for half an hour and wash.

answered by r k