HOW IT ALL BEGAN
It all started at about 3:00pm on Friday, September 5th when I was working at my church and my 3-year-old son was at daycare down the hall from me.
The phone rang and it was one of the daycare staff. “Um, Lisa. You know your son’s head-scratching that we noticed earlier today and mentioned to you? Well, we checked his head during naptime and found some creepy crawlies. We need to bring him to you – now.”
I was just finishing up working in the office that day and had 3 music rehearsals with musicians from my church scheduled back to back that afternoon (I also work as an accompanist). These musicians graciously volunteered to play with me for a special recital at an assisted living home the next day that I had coordinated weeks ago.
“No!” I thought – “Not now”! Not today! I don’t have time for lice!” My husband was at a meeting at the time and couldn’t be reached. So the musicians showed up but patiently waited as I frantically made calls (like our clinic) and researched info online to find out what to do. I had lice once as a kid, but my kids? No clue what to do!
So I got through the 2 hours of rehearsals with my poor, itchy little guy nearby (but not too close to anyone!) , then went to the store to pick up the over-the-counter lice treatment Nix. I called home and told my husband “Throw everything in the laundry and wash it in hot water, NOW!” Then all evening at home I treated my son, my daughter and myself and continued to do laundry until 1:00am. (My husband shaves his head anyway so he was in the clear.)
My son’s was horrific. I did the lice-killing shampoo and then combed out his hair – UGH. It took an HOUR to comb out all the baby lice and nits (eggs) I could find in his hair. And guess what? Though all the lice were supposed to be DEAD, I found about half a dozen LIVE adult lice – wiggling around on the comb. Then combing out my daughter’s hair and my hair turned into a huge struggle – getting the darn Nit comb through her long hair was taking so long, and I couldn’t even do my own hair (my husband is wonderful but just wasn’t going to nitpick my hair for hours, plus he had to work all weekend).
THE MINNESOTA LICE LADY
That night I posted all about our lice ordeal on Facebook and a friend from my church saw it and called me. She told me all about the Minnesota Lice Lady and her family’s experience there a year ago. They went through the same nightmare and the MN Lice Lady helped them tremendously.
So the next morning, in desperation, I called the Minnesota Lice Lady number and scheduled head checks for the same day (3 hours before my recital). Guess what? We ALL still had it. Big time. Their schedule was full (and so was mine) so they couldn’t treat us all until Monday, but since I had an “active” infestation (live ones crawling around, not just eggs), they combed me out thoroughly so I could be around elderly people at the recital and not be contagious.
The recital went fine (thankfully), and that evening my husband shaved our son’s head (definitely a quick and frugal solution!).
Then on Monday morning, my daughter and I were treated at the Minnesota Lice Lady.
The Minnesota Lice Lady is located at 3940 Sunnyside Rd in Edina, MN. It’s in a very inviting house that’s been transformed into what looks like a salon. The waiting area is behind the front desk, and on the wall you can read about the “Facts of Lice.”
The treatment rooms are all around the perimeter, each with their own “theme” and child-friendly décor. There’s a TV and DVD player in each room and there are many kids’ movies to pick from.
The front treatment room has a table for coloring pictures and the walls are covered with “lice free” pictures that kids have made.
When you come in you are welcomed and brought to an available room. The three times we’ve been there now (for checks, treatment and follow-up) the place was always bustling with activity. They’re busy throughout the year (not just during the school year) and always have a number of busy “nitpicker” staff members – mostly young women including moms themselves – treating people of all ages.
The Minnesota Lice Lady was started by Gonne (pronounced Honnah) Asser and is run by Gonne and her husband Sunil Bawa. Gonne started it as a desperate parent herself – having been through lice with her own kids, figuring out how to successfully deal with it, teaching and treating others, and finally opening up her own business. Most of her clients learn about her business from word of mouth, like us!
My kids were invited to pick a movie and then helped on a salon chair with a booster seat. Snacks are offered too including Go-Gurts and cheese sticks (my daughter enjoyed her Go-Gurt as she was checked).
Head checks cost $10 for short hair, $15 for long hair. Checks involve dividing the hair into sections and combing through the hair with their special nit comb (which you can also buy) designed to effectively remove lice and nits which attach to the hair.
If nits are found, treatment can be scheduled. If an active infestation is found, meaning live lice crawling around vs. just the nits (eggs), then they’ll do a comb through of your hair to remove them and prevent your being contagious until you can come back for full treatment. (The live, crawling lice are the ones that can be spread.)
For my daughter and me, it took a total of 2 hours each to remove all the lice and nits. They spray the hair with an all-natural enzyme which breaks down the eggs so they can be combed out more easily. Then they use their nit comb to comb out every section of hair, strand by strand. Finally they spray mint repellant in your hair and style it in a bun or braid to reduce the likelihood of getting re-infested.
At the Minnesota Lice Lady, treatment costs $80 an hour or 50% off for a trainee. We had a trainee do the head checks and my first comb-out. She was great and so good with the kids. The other staff were also professional, efficient and friendly. They answered all my questions and explained how you do and do not get lice.
It cost us about $300 for everything (after our military discount) but we got SO much. And we learned so much including:
1) Lice do not live in the environment. They live in hair and are spread head-to-head.
2) Lice do not fly or jump – they crawl.
3) You can have lice up to 4-6 weeks before you begin itching your scalp and 50% of infested people have no symptoms at all.
4) Over-the-counter lice treatments don’t work effectively. They usually kill about half the lice and regardless, all of them need to be combed out strand by strand with a special nit comb (you can buy the comb at the MN Lice Lady for about $15).
The Minnesota Lice Lady saved my sanity and saved us from lice! Read more about lice and what works and doesn’t work on their website. I have discovered how little people understand about lice. People still believe that having lice is like having cooties – and being near someone who has or even HAD lice recently means they’re still going to spread it to everyone or something, even if they were professionally treated. SO NOT TRUE! The more you know, the less you’ll freak out like I did!
We went back for our follow-up checks yesterday. I had 2 live adult lice that they called “crossover lice” – they just got in my head recently because I had no baby lice or eggs (I had no idea!). So they right away combed me out to make sure that’s all there was and that I was leaving lice-free again.
My daughter then was checked and she was completely lice-free! Yay! Here’s video from her follow-up:
All done!
I recommend the Minnesota Lice Lady for several reasons.
1) YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING.
Combing out lice yourself and using over-the-counter treatments will take an exorbitant amount of time to do yourself if you have a bad infestation (live lice with eggs). I talked to other moms and heard horror stories of it coming back again and again because it’s so hard to get all the lice out yourself. The Minnesota Lice Lady does everything for you.
2) THEY HAVE A 60-DAY GUARANTEE.
As long as you come back for follow-up checks at 7 days, 30 days and 60 days, they guarantee you will be lice-free. If you’re not, they help figure out what’s going on and don’t charge extra for it.
3) YOU DON’T PAY FOR MORE THAN WHAT YOU NEED.
They don’t have any set fees for treatment – you pay for the time they spend on your hair, not one big fee per person. And they work fast and do whatever they can to save you money. For us, they didn’t charge us for any of the head checks because we had 2 full treatments and I still had some at my follow-up (though it was minor).
4) DISCOUNTS.
They have discounts including a military discount that we used as my husband is a veteran. It saved us 10%! Be sure to ask about how you can save money.
We have no idea how or when lice infested our family, but we’re happy to be lice-free! The cost wasn’t cheap – but as I’ve heard many moms say, it was worth every penny. If your family has to deal with lice, EVER, contact the Minnesota Lice Lady. You’ll be relieved!
UPDATE: About a year later, lice went through our family again! We did the same thing – tried to quick treat at home (at least to start the process), and shaved our son’s head. Then my daughter and I went back to the Lice Lady. This time, however, it cost less – around $200. I guess it just wasn’t as bad an infestation, but the cost was definitely worth it just like the first time. So it’s hard to know what the cost will be but when lice hits your family but to me, having the Lice Lady there is a life saver!