Okay, here is my blog post about my personal experience with tea tree oil and lice:

So, I got a call from my kid’s school the other day. You know, the dreaded one about a lice outbreak. Ugh. My little one was scratching like crazy, and I knew we were in for a battle. I remembered reading something about tea tree oil being good for lice, so I thought, “Why not give it a shot?”

First, I hit up the internet to see what the deal was with tea tree oil and lice. I found out that it’s supposed to be pretty good at killing the little buggers, especially the young ones and even stopping the eggs from hatching. Good stuff, right? There were even some studies in places called “Parasitology Research” and “BMC Dermatology” that backed this up. Also, I found out if I mix tea tree oil 0.5% and nerolidol 1%, it would be a good killer for lice.

I headed to the store and grabbed a bottle of tea tree oil. Then mixed a few drops of tea tree oil with my kid’s regular shampoo, about a 1:1 ratio and a 1:2 ratio, just to experiment a little. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try different strengths, and some sites suggested that it would be good.

Next, I sat my kid down and slathered the tea tree oil mixture all over their hair, making sure to get it down to the scalp. It smelled pretty strong, kind of like a medicine cabinet, but not too bad. I left it on for about 30 minutes, as the study result mentioned.

After that, we did the whole combing thing with a fine-toothed comb. Let me tell you, that’s a job and a half. But, we started pulling out those dead nits and lice. It was working! It is said it is better to keep the hair tied up and artificially dirty. I did that.

I kept up the tea tree oil treatment for the next five days, just to be safe, and I kept checking with the comb. Every day, we found fewer and fewer of the little pests. By the end of the week, we were lice-free! I also found there is a medicine called Spinosad(Natroba) which can be applied to dry hair and rinsed with warm water after 10 minutes, but I didn’t use it.

My Findings

• Tea tree oil really does seem to kill lice and nits.
• The 1:2 ratio mixture (tea tree oil 0.5% plus nerolidol 1%) worked like a charm, killing all head lice at 30 minutes and the abortive effect of louse eggs after 5 days.
• It’s a bit of work, especially the combing, but it’s worth it to avoid harsh chemicals.
• That fine-toothed comb is your best friend in this situation. Trust me.
• Tea tree oil can prevent lice from coming back.

I’m definitely keeping tea tree oil in my arsenal for any future lice scares. It’s natural, it’s effective, and it doesn’t make my kid’s hair smell like a chemical factory. Plus, it’s supposed to repel the lice because of the smell, which is a bonus. If you’re dealing with a lice problem, I’d say give tea tree oil a try. It worked for us!