5 Step Lice Elimination Plan
- Check head for nits or lice.
- There is no need to treat if you do not have lice or nits. You do not need to treat just because you have been exposed to someone with lice.
- Apply Olive Oil treatment- Apply oil on days 1, 2, 5, 9, 13, 17, and 21. These treatment days have been carefully timed to coincide with the life cycle of the louse.
- Olive Oil smothers and kills active head lice, making nit removal easier and moisturizing the hair and scalp.
- Part hair and apply the oil directly onto the scalp. Massage into the entire scalp making sure to saturate the hair.
- Apply a shower cap.
- Within a few minutes, the Olive Oil cuts off the oxygen and the lice start to move. If you wash the Olive Oil off too soon they will come back to life. It takes 6-8 hours for the head lice to die.
- Clean the environment
- Vaccum any area in contract with hair (beds, chairs, couches, car upholstery, etc.)
- Soak combs and brushes in HOT water for 20 minutes.
- Wash and dry bed linen, towels, and recently worn clothing. Dry for at least 20 minutes in a hot dryer. Lice hate dry heat.
- For items that cannot be washed and dried, place them in air-tight storage to at least 2 weeks.
- Remember lice cannot live off of the body for more than 48-72 hours. However, you want to get rid of the nits that may hatch out.
- Comb out the nits
- Leave the oil in the hair for the comb out. Use a good metal nit comb; comb the hair section by section, taking small sections about the size of the nit comb. Wash out the oil with a clarifying shampoo for oily hair (Dawn dishwashing liquid will also work). You may have to wash your hair more than once.
- Check for nits
- Check dry hair in bright light for any nits you have missed. Take small sections of hair and pull off any nits found. To pull the nits off start at the base of the hair and pull completely off the end of the hair. Place nits on a tissue and throw it away.
Note: The Olive Oil kills by covering the holes through which the lice breathe. If lice are not completely covered by oil, they may not die but the oil will slow them down allowing them to be caught in the nit comb. If a lice shampoo fails to kill a bug, it means that the bug is resistant and will never be killed by the chemical that is in the shampoo no matter how many times you use it. This is not true of Olive Oil. Each time you use Olive Oil, it has a good chance of killing each bug.