12/16/2024
Olive oil is great resource for a lot of lice ladies in this industry, so I might get some hate on this section. Years ago I started out using only olive oil per the company I worked for as that is their treatment process. It has its benefits, sadly I would say they are fewer than expected for the treatment of head lice. It can smother live louse bugs, which is helpful in the sense it slows them down, not in the sense of killing them. Louse or Lice can hold their breath for up to 8 hours. So, smothering can only occurring when having oil applied for longer then that. (i.e. Overnight usually while sleeping) So applying to your head needs to be done in a very specific way. No dry spot can remain, this takes a good amount of oil and its extremely messy. It is very hard to wash out of the hair. Even adding dish soap to your shampoo will not get it all the first few washes. Bedding plus overnight olive oiling, just sounds like a laundry nightmare when you are already in one having head lice to begin with! So why make things harder on yourself? I have also personally experienced combing over and over trying to remove nits that would "slide through the comb" in a sense. Very frustrating for D.I.Yers or professional head lice treatments. Costing time which is too priceless to let slide. The CDC does not have scientific evidence that suffocating head lice with mayonnaise, olive oil, margarine, butter, or similar substances is an effective form of treatment. With all that being said, olive oil treatments are pain staking, messy and can be more then its worth when we have better options available. Its usually recommended to do multiple olive oil treatments to be successful. Up to 14 days every night to ensure any left over nits that hatch will hopefully smothered before it can lay its own eggs. (FYI - Having this type of after care for a professional treatment sounds more like a safeguard to ensure success in treatment if your "professional" left something behind)