COCONUT OIL FOR LICE TREATMENT: DOES COCONUT OIL KILL LICE?

When searching for effective lice treatment, you likely have found many articles that recommend the use of coconut oil for head lice. As its popularity is growing, coconut oil seems to have become a go-to for many for various DIY remedies. Is this popular oil also a remedy for head lice?

DOES COCONUT OIL KILL LICE?

When treating head lice, as a first step, you will want to get rid of all of the live bugs on the head too, at a minimum, put the brakes on the infestation. If live bugs are not eliminated, an infestation will continue to exponentially grow every day. Within a few weeks, you will likely have many bugs and even more eggs. So the million-dollar question is will coconut oil kill lice?

Yes. Coconut oil can be an effective treatment option that can be used for killing lice if the protocol is completed properly. At LiceDoctors, oil is a very big part of our treatment and follow-up protocol that has proven to be 99.6% effective in more than 600,000 clients. However, we do not recommend the use of coconut oil for everyone for several reasons. In addition to being more expensive than other oils that can be just as effective, some people have allergies to coconuts which would prove to be problematic when using coconut oil for lice. If, however, you have determined that you want to use coconut oil we will review with you the suggested lice and nit removal treatment process.‍

COCONUT OIL AND ESSENTIAL OILS FOR LICE

To use every all-natural option for treating head lice, some people recommend using coconut oil and essential oils for lice combined. In this scenario, essential oils, like rosemary or peppermint, for example, are added to coconut oil to increase the effectiveness of the lice treatment. While lice may be repelled by some of these types of oils, the essential oils themselves do not kill lice or their eggs. More importantly, the addition of these essential oils increases the risk of an allergic reaction. We do not recommend using these essential oils for lice treatment.

CAN YOU USE COCONUT OIL FOR LICE EGGS REMOVAL?

One of the most important steps in treating head lice is to get rid of all of the lice eggs in the hair. If you leave behind eggs, they will hatch and then you will be confronting the same infestation a few weeks later. To eradicate lice eggs properly, a combination of combing with a quality nit comb and hand picking is the most effective way to get rid of these lice eggs. The combing part of this process, without some lubrication, can be very painful to many, so using coconut oil for lice eggs removal can help provide lubrication to the hair to make this process go faster in addition to relieving a lot of the discomfort.

HOW TO USE COCONUT OIL FOR LICE TREATMENT

If you decide that coconut oil treatment for head lice is the best option for your family after ensuring there are no potential allergies, it’s very important to employ a 4 step treatment process:

1. This involves combing hair with a lice comb thoroughly after the coconut oil has been applied generously to the hair. Section the hair and carefully comb with a high-quality metal comb to ensure that you maximize retrieval of bugs and nits (lice eggs).
2. During the combing process, you will inevitably leave behind some smaller nits. The next step is the hand-picking process. You will wash out the oil and return to handpick the remaining visible nits and lice.
3. Since there will be some eggs that are microscopic at that time (those that were most recently laid) the next step is to reapply and keep the oil in the hair for several hours to suffocate any lice that evaded the removal process. This will allow the oil to get into the breathing apparatus to suffocate any baby bugs that hatch that may have been missed.
4. Continue to check for lice over an ensuing couple of weeks if you see any remove them right away.

CONCLUSION

Does coconut oil get rid of head lice? Yes, if the treatment and follow-up are performed correctly then it can be an effective treatment option for head lice. Does coconut oil prevent lice? No. While potentially effective treatment, coconut oil lice prevention is not effective. Keep in mind that for the aforementioned reasons, lice removal professionals prefer other types of oil to coconut oil. If you feel like lice treatment at home using coconut oil or another treatment alternative is too cumbersome, call LiceDoctors. We use all-natural treatment methods that will get rid of lice. Guaranteed!