Nit Pickers: Short Hills Practice Helps Families Battle Lice

Linda Strand introduces herself as a nit picker.

When parents have trouble getting lice and the eggs, known as nits, out of their children's hair, or even their own hair, they head to Strand's practice, Lice Be Gone in Short Hills.

"Families will come in frustrated," said the registered nurse. "They've used the over-the-counter products, and then they see newly hatched eggs... The lice have gotten resistant (to the over-the-counter products), and we know better now."

Lice have been around for as long as anyone can remember, and Strand said there has been evidence of lice on Egyptian mummies. They doesn't cause any health problems other than an itchy scalp.

But Strand disagrees with a renewed stance from the American Academy of Pediatrics that states children shouldn't miss school just because they have head lice.

"It's not a health risk, but it's not acceptable in our society," she said. "If you have lice, don't expect people to want you around... I don't think it's right to walk around with bugs on your head."

She understands why the academy issued the report—they don't want kids to miss school. Many school districts have a "no nits" policy. The Millburn School District is examining its own lice policy, which will be approved as part of the nursing standards in the fall.

There are some places where lice may be more acceptable, Strand said, but in more affluent communities that's not the case.

It's starting to be the busy time of year for Strand and her staff at the upper Millburn Avenue location as children are coming home from camp. She said lice are an incredibly contagious condition, and kids are sharing such a small space at camp. "It's communal living where they're sharing hats and brushes and sitting on each other's beds," she said. But it's not just at camp, it can be at school. She's seen as much as 100 percent of a class have the condition.

"You just need to bump heads and you can get it," Strand said.

When families come to Lice Be Gone, the staff spends three hours on each person combing out the bugs and the nits. "We know what to look for," she said. "It can take someone much longer."

Kids don't want to sit that long, she said, so they have televisions and snacks for them in the office. But not being in their own home will keep a child engaged too.

They also don't use any chemicals, only conditioner and sometimes baking soda. Strand once was a nurse at a sleepover camp, and lice always were an issue. She didn't want to handle the chemicals, so she learned an effective way to comb out lice and nits from another nurse.

While the practice is open six days per week, there are days Strand and her staff are there on Sundays. Plus people know about her because of word-of-mouth. A big chunk of her business is friend-to-friend referrals, and it's helped her draw clients from south New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Staten Island, among other places.