Well, anyone with long hair and children can agree with me when I say that it is near impossible to not get lice from your kids once in a lifetime. There are chemicals in the pharmacy of your local store that remove lice and are very good for short hair. But there are some complications:

1. It is a shampoo - not a conditioner. You are not allowed to use conditioner for 3 days afterwards, at which time you have to use the pharmacy stuff again. If you have long hair you will understand that brushing your hair with no conditioner is IMPOSSIBLE.

2. It is a chemical. It hurts your hair and definately dries out your scalp. Everyone knows that pesticides are not healthy so why put it on our head?

3. If you do find some head lice removing shampoo that is 2-in-1 with conditioner in it, we are lucky! However, they are about $20.00 a bottle and with long hair you need 2-3 bottles and then another 2-3 bottles in 3 days! What a rip!

What is head lice?
Head Lice (Pediculus capitis) are disgusting little bugs that have adapted to living mainly on the scalp and neck hairs of humans. They bite your scalp to feast on what little blood will come to the surface. Hence the itching. Their six legs are used to grasp hair shafts. Their presence does not connote a lack of hygiene or sanitation practiced by their host. They like clean hair the most. Head lice are mainly acquired by direct head-to-head contact with an infested person's hair, but may also be transferred with shared combs, hats and other hair accessories. They may also remain on bedding or upholstered furniture for a brief period. So once you get rid of the lice on your head, you are off to the races to clean the entire house from bedding to spraying the upholstered chairs and couches that we relax on.

Prevent it you say...
First I would like to say that I am no doctor. This is from personal experience and is not backed up by any lab, or anything. And there are times when you do have to resort to using the chemicals in the pharmacy.

Lice is actually very easy to prevent.
- The first and foremost thing is to make sure that no one shares any combs, hair brushes or hair ties in your house. That way if anyone gets lice, then it is usually just confined to one person. At least you don't have the headache of getting everyone disinfected. All you have to do is disinfect one person and the whole house.

- Lice hate the smell of Tea Tree. This is the easy one - there are shampoos out there that have tea tree in them. They smell grose but they work! Some of the most common ones are Maleluca brand shampoos and conditioners, and Paul Mitchell's Tea Tree line of shampoo from your salon. If you find yourself not able to buy these expensive shampoos then don't worry all is not lost!

- Tea Tree oil from your local health store in a large bottle may cost you $12.00 but it will last you well over a year. You can put a good a good does in your shampoo bottle and give it a good shake and then you don't have to worry till the shampoo is out.

- If you have someone in your house who hates the smell of tea tree in his shampoo then you can just keep the oil bottle in the shower and add 4-5 drops to your handful of shampoo that you are about to use and then wash your hair.

- Another alternative to adding it to your shampoo is to add one drop of oil behind your ear after the shower. I DO NOT suggest this method as I am always worried that it will hurt my skin so I Have NO experience in this method.

Well it is amazing how grose a person feels after they have lice. But think at how easy it is to prevent! Tea Tree Oil? Man that was simple. I have written this based on experience, it was not until I did this that I quit getting lice from my daughter and she stopped getting it.

These methods are for those people who take care of their hair and don't want to hurt it with pesticides. I hope that it helps.

This is part 1 of 2 my next guide is on how to safely remove lice from your hair naturally with no pesticides that hurt or damage your hair. This method is Perfect for people with long hair like myself.

Cryssie