Industry insider - How to really really get rid of lice

I have never heard more ill advice and WRONG information in my life about anything more than I have about lice. People are always asking and I'm tired of typing it out every time so here's a blog post!

I used to work for a lice clinic and I'm going to tell you exactly how to get rid of it and clear up some of the myths surrounding this disgusting creature.

The answer is simpler than you think but you have to do it exactly like I say or you'll never get rid of it. 

• You don't need to use any chemicals, pesticides or poisons
• Lice don't care if hair is clean or dirty, curly or straight, short or long
• No one is immune to lice but some heads of hair are easier to hide in
• Some of the products people use may work but there is only one thing that kills 100% of bugs and only one way to kill the eggs or nits (they are different and both totally natural)

So what is it!?

• DIMETHICONE is a natural oil that you can buy online and in some stores. It's odorless and non irritating and safe for all ages. 
• You need to apply it two stages. The second application needs to happen 10 days after the first. (I'll explain why below)
• You'll need to part out the hair and make sure you saturate everything. Nymph lice are so small, you can barely see them so be sure to cover every strand of hair. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes and wash it out. You may want to use a few drops of dawn dish soap in the shampoo because it's very greasy.

Dimethicone is the ONLY oil (and substance) that kills 100% of lice it comes into contact with. It suffocates them in minutes. 

However, it doesn't kill the eggs. Even if all the bugs are dead, the eggs that are attached to the hair will continue hatching out and you will be reinfested without a second treatment.

It's important to wait exactly 10 days after the first treatment because you've got to allow all the remaining eggs to hatch and kill them before they are mature enough to lay their own eggs.

That's it! - It really is that simple. 2 treatments of dimethicone, 10 days apart.

There are a few other things you can do to get rid of the little jerks.

• Treat everyone in the house (or anyone else exposed) even if they don't have symptoms. It's better to nip it in the bud than wait until you have an endless cycle going.
• Use a quality stainless lice comb while you apply the dimethicone. Comb the hair in very very fine sections to remove bugs and nits (eggs). The nits are firmly attached to individual hairs and usually very close to the scalp.
• Wash and dry all bedding/clothing and anything else you can. Run the dryer extra time. It's the dry heat that kills them, not moist.
• Use a lint roller on surfaces you can't wash
• You can bag up items to store for 2 weeks to kill any bugs and nits

Dry heat is the only thing proven to kill lice nits. The company I used to work for use a machine cleared by the FDA to kill lice and nits. It's like a hair dryer with a diffuser but it doesn't blow as hard and the heat is at a level so that it won't burn the person and will dry the eggs. It would be difficult to recreate this at home since we would use a timer to focus the hot air on one small area at a time, overlapping as we went.  

I have had success using a flat iron but if the nits are close to the scalp, you run the risk of burning it.

Hot water won't do anything. Other oils like olive or coconut may serve to stun the lice long enough to comb them out, or wash them out but those oils won't kill them.

Also, if you use a hair dryer, be warned, the bugs will fall out of the hair...they may look dead, but they'll start crawling around after a few minutes. You risk loose lice crawling all over your house if you blow them off the head.

Many of the drugs, pesticides and chemicals are causing 'Super lice' a parasite that is resistant to the above mentioned. Nothing is working to kill them except dimethicone - because it works by suffocation, they can't become resistant to it.

While working in the clinic, the employees get lice. It's a hazard of the job. I had it 3-4 times and each time a treatment of dimethicone stopped it before it had a chance to actually start. It works as a preventative too. 

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any questions!


Read studies on dimethicone HERE!

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