Essential Oils to Support a Healthy Scalp

We are halfway through the school year, and while Christmas and the Holiday Break are probably on most people’s minds, the opportunity for a nasty outbreak in your child’s class is still there.

With 2 in school, I worry about this all the time. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t.

Back in August when school started, my kids came home with a note on the 2n day of school that someone in her class had a nasty outbreak.  Since then, we have gotten two additional notes – one came home in the homework folder last night for my daughter’s 4th grade class.

Although my kids have never had it yet.. we do all the things we can to take precautions. No matter how many awareness letters that they send home with my children, many kids continue to get it from the other kids in the classroom, from kids with parents who may not take the problem quite so serious.

You can spend a hundred dollars during the course of one school year if you aren’t taking precautions.

• They are actually attracted to hair that is clean, and they don’t survive more than 24-48 hours off the head.
• Infestations happen more in girls than boys
• Spreading occurs through direct head to head contact
• They are more common in long hair.

This scares me because I have an older daughter and her hair is past her butt… and she will not cut it. 

Infestation Treatments

You can purchase treatments at the local drugstore, and many people turn to those when these infestations occur.. but the treatments are incredibly expensive (from what I remember, somewhere in the area of $20 .. unless you get them on clearance).

Lindane, permethrin, pyrethrin and malathion are just some of the dangerous toxins used in popular lice treatments like Ovide, Nix, RID and Kwell. … A 1993 study in Missouri found children treated with Kwell — which contains lindane — are five times more likely develop brain cancer than children not treated for lice.

Dealing with Infestations Naturally

If you have Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca Alternifolia), then you have something JUST as effective as any boxed prevention treatment you will get on the shelf at your local CVS or Walgreens. 

These nasty little critters HATE the smell of certain herbs – Lavender, Rosemary and Tea Tree Oil… thankfully if you have those, you have your own Healthy Scalp Spray.  Whip up several spray bottles (see these mini glass spray bottles on Amazon).

Keep one in the car, your purse, in the kitchen, and in the bathrooms, that way you have one handy ALL the time before they head out for school.

There are ways to lessen their chance of exposure..

PREVENTING AN INFESTATION:

Mix up a healthy head spray – and keep these bottles around the house to spray their hair before they walk out the door in the morning.

• 1 1/2 oz water
• 15 drops each Lavender, Tea Tree and Rosemary (or any combination of those pictured above)
• 1/2 oz witch hazel or use vodka
• Use these glass bottles on Amazon

Spray liberally every morning before school, before activities or before they are spending time with other children.

INFESTATION HAS ALREADY HAPPENED:

STEP 1: Skip using Over the Counter Kits — this year they have mentioned that they aren’t as effective… they don’t always work completely and they are SO expensive.

Instead, Oil up your kids with any of the following above – Tea Tree Oil, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Peppermint, Lavender, even Geranium – I would recommend 4 drops of each in a 1/4 c. Olive Oil or Coconut Oil on the scalp. Leave that mixture in a shower cap, for 2-3 hours.  

STEP 2:   While that sits in a shower cap on the head, tackle the house – sheets, stuffed animals, and toys – put the things you can wash, into the washing machine on hot for not just one but 2 cycles. Wash down furniture with Vinegar and Tea Tree oil.  I always use Tea Tree Oil in each load of laundry so you can do the same to your bedding. 

STEP 3:  Rinse and comb through your kids hair by taking that shower cap off — use a comb to comb out each section and take out the dead eggs that were smothered in the mixture.  Rinse the hair & wash out with Shampoo, and then take a mixture of vinegar with a second mixture of Essential Oil and do a rinse with that to get out the rest of the residue from the hair. 

Go a step further & add 2-3 drops of Tea Tree Oil to the shampoo bottles in the shower too.

It’s better to have slightly dirty hair than clean hair — so help them set up a schedule to wash every other day or every two days instead of every day.

Think every essential oil is the same? They aren’t.. varieties you find in store are synthetically created, using chemicals and not the best option for applying to your skin. 

You can score 24% OFF your Oils Purchases when you grab the Premium Starter Kit. PLUS… earn $25 back and FREE Christmas Spirit when you join our Oily Team through the end of December.

Read more below:

• See more Essential Oil recipes HERE and HERE
• Find out how to buy Essential Oils at Wholesale Cost (24% OFF)