When my beautiful niece came home with a dose of head lice from school, we were all quietly horrified, to say the least. I think we did pretty well to contain how we felt, but in our own way we never expected or were prepared for how much it was going to affect our lives.
In my quest to find the perfect lice cure, I spoke to many mothers at my niece’s school, on forums, and anyone else who would like to talk to me about their lice problems. I made it a point to try these remedies out and discuss them with others so we can all come up with something that works quickly, efficiently, and with the least amount of fussiness.
During this time, I have heard of mothers who have tried some home remedies for lice that have been enough to make my own hair curl.
Many talk about the wonders of Vaseline. The thing to remember here is that another name for Vaseline is Petroleum Jelly. Any petroleum product is flammable and therefore dangerous.
One mother had used ½ cup of kerosene mixed with ½ cup of oil. She had combed it out and she had killed all the insects immediately. She then combed out all the nits and dead bugs.
On further investigation, I discovered that kerosene is easily absorbed through the skin, highly toxic, and can even cause death.
A grandmother had used diesel on her daughter, who was now the mother of two children. She was glad I caught her before she actually used it on her children, to warn her that diesel was not only highly flammable but also extremely toxic.
The scalp is extremely permeable to anything put on it, absorbing up to 60%.
Other mothers had also used isopropyl alcohol, lighter fluid and gasoline, all of which are highly flammable and extremely toxic.
With gasoline, it must be remembered that it is not actually the gasoline that is ignited but the vapors, so an open flame anywhere in the room or in the immediate vicinity could mean that anything exposed to the vapors will be engulfed in flames. calls. Some children have been admitted to hospital with horrible burns from the misuse of these highly flammable agents.
Please do not use diesel or kerosene on your children lest you want a quick trip to the ER!
A mother washed her daughter’s hair with flea shampoo for dogs. She ran it through her hair and left it on for about an hour, then she washed it off with dandruff shampoo. Another had sprayed her son’s head with flea spray. She said that she had never seen them die so quickly.
This was just one of the stories where desperate mothers turned to veterinary chemicals. Any chemical that kills pests is a pesticide, and all pesticides have the potential to cause serious side effects. These are even worse because they weren’t even labeled for lice and are not intended for human use!
Online, in one particular forum, I spoke to a mother who had used lawn care chemicals because she claimed to kill bugs in her lawn. She was absolutely horrified. It MUST be remembered what these toxic products are for and the human risk each toxic chemical poses.
Children’s scalps are especially absorbent, and parents must decide if using these pesticides is worth the risk.