Lafayette shop offers solution to the lousy problem of lice infestation

Claycord.com this week reported that a lice infestation had broken out at Walnut Creek’s Valle Verde Elementary School. Students in my son’s fourth-grade class at another Walnut Creek elementary were frequent targets of lice last year. It seemed that every few weeks, he came home with a notice from his teacher, telling us that unnamed students had to be sent home because of lice, and advising us to do lice checks on our kids’ scalps.

Fortunately, our family has so far dodged this very annoying and stigma-producing bullet. But if my son or any member of my family contracted lice, we would immediately head to LoveBugs Salon, a Lafayette business that specializes in removing lice from kids’ hair and helping their families remove them permanently from their homes.

LoveBugs charges $90 per session—and it recommends that your child come for at least two sessions: the initial delousing and then a follow-up appointment to make sure the sesame-seed size insects and their eggs are completely gone. To me, the cost would be worth it.

LoveBugs, which was a Diablo magazine Best of the East Bay 2008 Editor's Pick, uses gentle, nontoxic methods, and makes the experience as quick and pleasant as possible for your child and you. The salon offers kids books and portable DVD players to keep them occupied while a technician with special goggles, a magnifying glass, a fine-tooth comb, and natural oils searches through every millimeter of your child’s hair.

A LoveBugs technician will also check out your scalp and that of other family members, since these critters spread very easily through head-to-head contact and the sharing of personal items such as combs, brushes, sleeping bags and sports helmets. Owner Mailana Mavromatis emphasizes that lice are “equal opportunity annoyers,” and even prefer clean hair, so getting lice has nothing to do with your family’s hygiene habits or socio-economic background. She adds that head lice are almost as widespread and contagious as the common cold and that outbreaks tend to occur when kids return to class from long breaks, such as our winter break.

Mavromatis opened the salon after years of lice-outbreak notices from her kids’ Lafayette schools. Those notices reminded her of the irritation and embarrassment she suffered after being infected when she was a kid. But she also appreciated her Greek-born mom’s gentle, but matter-of-fact delousing method, which including saturating her hair with a special potion of olive and other oils and, one by one, manually removing the six-legged creatures and their nits--the small, yellowish, oval shaped eggs that stick to the hair shaft. Mavromatis advises against using commercially available chemical treatments because they might expose you or your child to harmful chemicals and there is “strong circumstantial evidence” that head lice are becoming increasingly resistant to these treatments.

LoveBugs gives parents homework: cleaning the kids’ clothing, bedding, and car seats, bagging stuffed animals, etc. LoveBugs guarantees its methods will work after the initial two or three appointments. If not, the salon will keep working at it until your child’s lice are gone.

You are also welcome to bring your children and yourself in for a free scalp check—if you've just received news of an outbreak their school.

LoveBugs Salone is located at 3746 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Ste. 122, Lafayette. For more information or to make an appointment, call (925) 283-7700 or visit www.lovebugslice.com.