Finding a way to kill head lice in a child, often poses a serious question to the concerned parent. Should a parent be desperate enough to use harsh chemicals and industrial toxins to kill the head lice on a child's head which would kill the lice no doubt, but may also cause tremendous harm to the child? In the search for a means to eradicate head lice, many of us tend to concentrate more on how quickly to get rid of the infestation than on what we are subjecting our children to in the name of head lice treatment.

The message is loud and clear. If the child's safety is the main concern, a parent should think twice before picking up that fancy looking bottle of lice killing shampoo or lotion from the shelf. It may contain chemicals or agents that will pose a much greater threat to the health of the child than the lice themselves.

Fortunately, there are many excellent options available in the natural treatment of head lice. When one opts for a head lice natural treatment course, one can stay assured of its safety and benign action while effectively getting rid of the lice. Head lice have been around for ages and people had been getting rid of them since long before synthetic lice-killing agents were invented.

So what were they doing? Nothing more than using just a few simple home remedies that did the trick without causing any harm to the infected person. And even if home remedies are not used, the idea is to use a natural solution.

To begin with, if one wants to shun chemicals completely, the most effective head lice treatment involves removing the nits and live lice with a lice comb and/or a pair of tweezers. Just provide for some means to keep the child entertained while sitting through the session. A good book, or playing a movie on a television is among the easiest of options. Incidentally, this is the method advocated by The National Pediculosis Association as well.

Natural Treatment Options

If the manual removal of live head lice is not possible, there are other more convenient options to choose from. Most of these remedies involve covering the child's scalp and hair with some natural agent to 'smother' the head lice, kill them and ultimately, allow for their easy removal. These agents include kitchen fresh mayonnaise, olive oil, and Vaseline. The general rule of thumb is to apply any one of these substances in liberal amounts to cover the affected areas completely, cover the head with a shower cap (to avoid messy dripping) and leave overnight. The next day, the dead lice and their eggs are simply washed off with a regular hair shampoo. Manual removal with a comb is also facilitated by the fact that the lice are no longer clinging to the hair strands and have become loose.

If these don't produce satisfactory results, a simple, natural yet effective lice shampoo can be made at home. Typical ingredients include a few teaspoons each of Pure Olive Carrier Oil, Tea Tree Essential Oil, Rosemary Essential Oil, Lavender Essential Oil, Peppermint Essential Oil and Eucalyptus Essential Oil. To these is added a small amount of regular shampoo. A thorough application of this shampoo will do wonders in removing head lice.