Coconut Oil for Getting Rid Of Lice

Parents dread the call from school that they must pick up their child now because the youngster has lice. At that point, the question of getting rid of lice suddenly becomes urgent.

Kindergarten Teacher Uses Coconut Oil

Q. I am a kindergarten teacher and on occasion pick up lice from my students. The best home remedy I’ve ever used to kill lice and easily remove nits is coconut oil.

I completely saturate my hair with the oil and cover my head with a shower cap. I leave it on overnight and wash it out with regular shampoo the next morning. This leaves my hair silky, without lice. If the infestation is bad, I do this again a second night. It really works!

A. Thanks for sharing your remedy. We assume you are also using a nit comb to remove the eggs after the treatment to get rid of lice. Coconut oil presumably suffocates the lice, but it does not seem to affect the nits.

At one time, doctors prescribed a shampoo containing permethrin insecticide (Nix). It then became available over the counter. Eventually, however, lice developed resistance (Journal of Insect Science, March 2, 2026).

There used to be a product called HairClean 1-2-3 that contained coconut oil along with anise oil and ylang ylang oil. Although people told us they found it effective, it is no longer on the market. Thanks for suggesting this substitute.

Most current methods for eliminating lice rely on physical methods such as coconut oil. The new formulation of Nix, called Nix Ultra Lice Treatment, for example, has mineral oil as a prominent ingredient. It comes with a nit comb and instructions to use the comb after washing out the shampoo. Presumably both coconut oil and mineral oil work to suffocate lice.

Listerine to Get Rid of Lice

We have also heard from people who rinse their hair with original formula Listerine. The alcohol and herbal oils may help in getting rid of lice.

Q. I’m 48 and never had an experience with lice until now. My 7-year-old daughter was sent home from school with lice today.

I called a friend who told me about the Listerine treatment. Man, did it kill those little buggers dead! My wife was picking dead bugs out of my daughter’s hair.

We will do another treatment in a couple of days to make sure the lice are all dead. We used about four or five caps full, enough to soak her hair and get rid of lice.

A. We first heard about using old-fashioned amber Listerine against lice over 15 years ago. A nurse told us that the secret ingredient in the mouthwash is the alcohol, which suffocates lice fast.

To treat lice, people often soak their scalps with Listerine, wrap damp hair up in a towel for half an hour and then rinse the Listerine and lice away. Repeating the process every five to six days will kill emerging lice as they hatch, since the mouthwash does not get rid of lice in eggs. Combing the hair to remove nits also makes the treatment more effective.

Has Listerine Lost Effectiveness for Getting Rid of Lice?

We have gotten recent reports, however, that Listerine is no longer very effective. Perhaps lice have developed resistance to it just as they have to over-the-counter lice shampoos containing permethrin (Nix) or pyrethrin (Rid). Both were once used to kill adult lice, and permethrin also killed lice in eggs (nits). Over the years, however, they became less effective because lice developed resistance to them.

A review of the medical literature suggested that these treatments should no longer be the first choice for treating lice (Prescrire International, July, 2014). Instead, it recommends a method that kills lice through physical mechanisms. The recommended choice is dimeticone because it smothers them. It is not available in the US, however.

Prescription Treatment for Getting Rid of Lice

Q. My four-year-old daughter came home about two months ago with lice. My 8-year-old son caught them from her. I just shaved his head and that took care of the problem for him. But her hair is very long. She’s been treated with RID or something similar at least eight times, either here or at her father’s house. Now my head has begun to itch and I’m afraid I’ve got them too. I’d really welcome affordable suggestions for a remedy that would work.

A. Lice have become resistant to some of the most common lice shampoo treatments, leading to immense frustration. The FDA has approved two prescription treatments about a decade or more ago.

Natroba is a pricey insecticide that  kills both lice and nits (lice eggs). Ulesfia contains benzyl alcohol and suffocates lice. It too is expensive. One mother spent $600 treating her daughter’s long hair.

Health professionals often distrust home remedies because there aren’t good scientific studies to support them. Nevertheless, many parents report success with topical treatments such as coconut oil or the cleanser Cetaphil.