Recently, many anxious parents have turned to natural home remedies to treat their children for head lice as a safer alternative to over-the-counter and prescription pesticide shampoos and creams. One of the most popular and easily accessible remedies is the olive oil treatment for lice.

Before we look at ways to effectively use this simple daily product to get rid of lice, you need to know exactly what type of parasite we are dealing with.

lice are insects they are about the size of a sesame seed that live on the human scalp. For them to survive and thrive, they only need 2 things; heat and small amounts of blood. They get both from your head!

When they bite you to feed on your blood, their saliva leaves small deposits that can cause an allergic reaction on the surface of your scalp. This reaction appears as small, reddish, raised areas of skin that become extremely itchy.

Having an uncontrollable urge to keep scratching your head is often one of the first and most obvious signs that you have head lice.

But how can this be? My children have clean hair.

If you thought that only unhygienic people and homeless people had these pesky little beasts, then you’re not the only one who believes this. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Lice do not choose who they decide to make their home with.

Long hair or short hair. Dirty hair or clean hair. It makes no difference to a louse. All they want is a warm host to reside and feed on.

The way to get rid of lice for many years has been to use a medicated shampoo of some kind or a prescription chemical-based pesticide. But over time, these types of treatment have become less and less effective, as lice have developed a resistance to many of their constituents. Some of them have even been shown to have dangerous health side effects.

While chemicals seem to be less effective, natural home remedies still achieve fantastic results.

One of these simple home remedies is olive oil. It doesn’t have to be an expensive first-press virgin olive oil, in fact cheaper base oils seem to work better.

The effective use of the oil to get rid of lice has been scientifically proven.

A study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health concluded: “When the lice were completely covered with olive oil for two hours, they died by suffocation..”

How to correctly apply a treatment for lice with olive oil.

You must apply this treatment correctly to get the best results. The key to applying the oil is to make sure the hair is completely covered.

The easiest way to do this is to divide your hair into small sections of about 1 inch and carefully brush the oil through one section at a time.

When you are sure that the hair has been completely soaked in the olive oil, you should place a plastic wrap over all the hair trying not to get air. Leave on for at least 2 hours and then shampoo your hair.

Once shampooed, you should comb the hair with a lice comb to remove any lice and nits that may have been present.

To make sure you avoid reinfestationYou must repeat this treatment several times over a period of 14 to 21 days to ensure that you have killed them all.