Can Mayonnaise Treat Head Lice? Yes - Instructions For Proper Use

by Taylor
(Household Management 101)

If you or your child get head lice you may wonder, can mayonnaise treat head lice effectively?

The answer to this question is yes, it can. There are many safe and effective home remedies for head lice, that are even recommended by physicians, that you can use and mayonnaise is one of them.

The Idea Behind Using Mayonnaise To Treat Head Lice

When you use a lice mayonnaise treatment what you are doing is smothering the lice with a thick oily substance which means they are unable to breathe. This will kill all moving lice and allow you to remove them from your hair.

Equipment Needed For Lice Mayonnaise Treatment And How To Do It

Because the idea is to smother the head lice you need to use real mayonnaise, not Miracle Whip or something like low fat mayo. You need the real deal.

You will also need a shower cap, because after you place the mayonnaise on your head, in a thick layer being careful to cover your entire scalp and all the roots of your hair, it will need to sit for 8-10 hours on your head, without the lice being able to run away or get a fresh breath.

Why so long? Many bugs can hold their breath a lot longer than humans and you want to make sure they really all die.

I have seen recommendations to leave the mayonnaise treatment for lice on a much shorter period, but I don't recommend it. When I called my child's doctor's office when this happened to our family, they were very clear about the 8-10 hour period of time.

After this period of time you can rinse the mayonnaise from your hair, and wash it with shampoo to get out the grease and oil it will leave behind.

Will I Need To Repeat This Lice Mayonnaise Treatment?

Once you kill all the moving, active lice in your child's hair part of the battle is over, but a whole new battle begins.

You will still need to vigilantly comb through your child's hair daily, for two weeks, to remove all the head lice nits, which can otherwise hatch and cause a reinfestation.

In addition, you will need to wash all linens and clothes in hot water and dry on hot, bag up all stuffed animals, vacuum diligently throughout your home, etc. to get rid of any other head lice lingering on these items.

If you do all this stuff vigilantly, hopefully you will not need to reapply mayonnaise to treat head lice again, but if you see any new live lice you will need to do this process again immediately.

You want to stop the cycle as quickly as possible before the live lice can breed, lay more eggs, and cause even more problems for you.

This post is part of my series on Head Lice Treatment. Start at the beginning of the series, and read it all if you need instructions on this right now. Don't panic -- learn the facts before you act!

In addition, don't forget that you can share your stories and experiences about lice treatment here.


Photo by rainvt

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