Listerine For Lice Removal – Helpful or Harmful?
When lice strikes, usually so does panic. Many of us have grown up with lots of old wives’ tales as to what will get rid of lice ranging from seemingly harmless, like mayonnaise, to really dangerous, like gasoline. Whatever your family’s sworn remedy may be, it is important to remember this substance is going on someone’s scalp, so if it does kill a few lice what is the trade-off?
That brings us to a home remedy that falls somewhere in the middle of mayonnaise and gasoline, which is mouthwash. The minty nature of mouthwash, coupled with its ability to kill bacteria in your mouth, poise it as a go-to household item people tend to grab when lice panic sets in. The quick answer is, it can be harmful and not very effective so don’t use it! Here is the long answer and what you should consider before trying it on yourself or your family members.
- Safety – It is important to remember that your scalp is still part of your skin, so the easy rule of thumb is, if you wouldn’t rub it all over your skin, don’t put it on your scalp. The alcohol content in mouthwash can be very dangerous, especially for children, as it can cause burning, skin irritations, or allergic reactions. Additionally, mouthwash being a liquid could mean that it gets in your child’s eyes, even if you are really careful, and we have never gotten mouthwash in our eyes, but it’s one of those things you can imagine is really unpleasant!
- Alcohol Content – Mouthwashes, like Listerine, contain ingredients like alcohol, eucalyptol, thymol, menthol, and methyl salicylate, which can potentially be strong enough to kill adult lice, but how effective is that in eradicating the lice outbreak completely?
- Effectiveness – This brings us to our last point, effectiveness. It is important to remember a lice infestation doesn’t only consist of adult lice, but also lice eggs! These eggs remain unaffected by the mouthwash and continue to hatch, furthering the infestation and creating more panic.
As the Head Lice Experts, we give this home remedy a thumbs down and highly discourage you or your family from using it. Lice can be stressful, don’t add more stress to your process by wasting a bottle of mouthwash and potentially creating health concerns by using mouthwash. If you are looking for an easy way to safely remove lice at home, check out our step-by-step videos and stock up on our natural products that are safe and effective.
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