Positive thinking can be a wonderful thing, but it’s completely ineffective when it comes to preventing head lice. Ask me how I know! In January 2004, my family and I battled head lice, and it sure was an adventure.

I’ve used holistic health care for many years and knew that chemical lice shampoos were not a healthy choice for my family. These products are pesticides that can easily enter a person’s bloodstream through the open sores that lice create on a person’s head. Serious health problems can be the result. Lice shampoos are also expensive (usually $18+ per person), and many people find that they don’t work very well. This is probably because the pesticides work by attacking the central nervous system of the lice, which means that the eggs aren’t killed. If just one live louse or one egg remains in the hair after the treatment, it’s only a matter of time before little louse babies hatch and the problem starts all over again.

So, what to do? First, I did the “natural” thing: I started crying and feeling very itchy, while saying things like “Eew! Gross! I’m gonna die! This is totally disgusting!” Can you identify?

Once I calmed down, I started remembering some of the ideas I had gleaned from various mothers’ e-groups over the years. You know the type: “Slather your kid’s head in mayonnaise and cover their noggin in plastic wrap. Sleep like that all night, and in the morning smell like egg salad!” Well, we were all out of mayo, but we did coat our heads in olive oil, vinegar, and so forth. Not surprisingly, none of these solved our problem.

Eventually I found two excellent suggestions. The first was to use a metal egg comb instead of a plastic one, since the plastic teeth easily bend and break, making it worthless for getting all the eggs out. A good quality metal comb will help stop the lice cycle by removing eggs before they have time to hatch.

The second and greatest suggestion was to purchase a battery-operated lice comb called a Robi Comb. As you use it to comb through the hair, it electrocutes any lice that come into contact with its teeth. We were amazed at how effective it was. It even killed newly hatched lice that were nearly invisible. It was the perfect alternative to lice shampoos since it is totally safe, easy to use, requires no mess, and kills even the tiniest lice very effectively.

One go-around with head lice was enough for me. Educating myself about head lice became a bit of a crusade, and I spent many hours sifting through information on the Internet and in various natural health resources. Since I had already found the Robi Comb to be an excellent tool for getting rid of lice, my next wonderment was, how can I make sure that we never get lice again? Through various resources, I learned about herbs that are natural repellants to lice and learned how to prepare them in a way that could safely and conveniently be used by children and adults alike. I started working on a formulation that would deter lice, be safe for my family, and not smell bad. I tweaked my formula for over a year with my lice-free family and friends as guinea pigs and finally developed a successful product and a simple protocol for preventing and eliminating head lice safely and effectively.

Eventually my husband and I decided to start a business featuring educational materials, the Robi Comb, and my wonderful No-Lice Hair and Body Spray to help other families stay “lice-free every day the all-natural way.” In March 2004, Supermom’s No-Lice Advice was born. It’s been rewarding to be able to provide families with a low-cost, safe alternative to chemicals, and to spread the good news that there is something even better than positive thinking to keep head lice away!

Erica Johns is a natural health advocate working toward becoming a Certified Natural Health Professional. Her business, Supermom’s Health and Wellness, features Supermom’s No-Lice Advice. She will eventually offer private holistic health consultation and more natural health products. You can find more no-lice advice at her website, www.nolice.blogspot.com. Erica lives with her husband and six children in Kentucky.

Chemical Lice Products Can Be a Health Risk
It has been surprising to me how many people are unaware that chemical lice products can be dangerous. These products are pesticides and pose real risks to the people that are treated with them, as well as the person applying the treatment. As is true of most health risks, some groups of people are more likely to experience adverse side effects from the chemicals in lice shampoos. These people are

• Mothers or caregivers that are pregnant or breastfeeding
• Any child under the age of 2
• All people with cancer of any type
• A person who has already been treated with chemical lice shampoo during the current or past infestation
• Any child whose home environment or bedding has been sprayed with chemical lice sprays
• Any child suffering from or receiving treatment for epilepsy, AIDS, asthma, allergies, or any other illness
• Children currently taking any type of medication
• Any person regularly exposed to chemicals such as flea bombs, monthly extermination, yard chemicals, and so on.

You can learn more about the dangers of chemical lice products at headlice.org.

WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER!
The real-life guide to cleaning when you have lice about the house

1. Don’t stress out! Lice cannot live away from a human host for more than 24 hours or so. Furthermore, healthy lice do not just fall or crawl out of your hair. Their life depends on holding on, and they do that very well. In the unlikely case that there are lice crawling around your house, they are probably nearing the end of their life cycle and are about to die anyhow. Some basic vacuuming is a good idea, but you don’t have to go crazy about it.

2. A simple alternative to washing bedding every day is to simply close off a room or two for 24 hours or so and have the children bunk together for a night. That way if there are any lice in a particular room, no people enter it for long enough that the lice die off. The next night, use the de-loused rooms and close off one of the others. You can still vacuum and wash the bedding eventually, but this way you don’t have to do extra work each day.

3. Forget bagging up the toys and blankets. Lice can’t survive there anyhow. Give your kids back their stuffed animals, and to all a good night.

4. There are chemical sprays commonly available for use on beds, carpets, and furniture to kill lice. Please don’t use these. They leave a toxic residue on these surfaces and are then a risk to your children (especially the smallest ones). The likelihood of live lice being on your home surfaces is quite small and can be solved simply and without toxic chemicals.

5. Remember: Houses don’t get lice. People do.