HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 09-09 Business is ‘booming’ for new Maplewood head lice removal business MAPLEWOOD REVIEW2/17/2016 Business is'booming' for new Maplewood head lice removal business I Lillie Suburban Newspapers - LillieNews.com
Business is `booming' for
new Maplewood head lice
removal business
Submitted by adminl on Wed, 09/09/2015 - 7:56am
By: Erin Hinrichs
Angie Anderson, 37, had a full schedule on Aug. 25 with
nine lice removal treatments at the new Nitpickerz
location at 1714 Cope Ave., Maplewood. (Erin Hinrichs/
Review)
Nitpickerz, a new non-toxic head lice removal business in
Maplewood, offers clients a relaxed treatment room with
TVs at each chair. A head check for lice at Nitpickerz
costs $20. If lice are found, treatment starts at $80 for the
first hour, plus an additional quarterly fee for additional
time spent on treatment. (Erin Hinrichs/Review)
Back -to -school season is filled with the anticipation of class rosters, locker room assignments and coursework. It's a feeling many
parents find nostalgic, when they're not caught up in the emotional turmoil of having just sent little ones off to their first day of
kindergarten, that is.
While students reunite, hugging and taking selfies on their cell phones, however, another back -to -school hallmark — head lice
can send entire households into a state of panic.
These tiny parasites have endured generations of chemical treatments administered over kitchen sinks. And according to new
research, this nuisance has only grown hardier.
A new strain called "super lice" have developed a level of resistance to most common over-the-counter treatments.
Recognizing the need for a non-toxic treatment option for those with head lice in the northeast suburbs, a new head lice removal
business opened in Maplewood this past spring.
Nitpickerz, located at 1714 Cope Ave, employs a strand -by -strand removal technique that has been attracting more business than
the staff can keep up with.
Maplewood's director of citizen services, Karen Haag, says their "business is booming."
Owner Tom McKay, 51, agrees.
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"Business is very good. We're ahead of our expectation," he says, noting they opened their doors in April. "With school
starting, a lot of people are coming in to get checked."
Nitpickers currently employs two full-time staff trained to do treatments, plus another two who work parttime. With their first
school -wide head check on the schedule, McKay already sees the need to bring another two or three employees on board to
keep up with demand.
Mutant lice?
This summer, two researchers reported they have identified mutant lice in 25 states, including Minnesota.
The mutation developed as a resistance to pyrethroids, a family of insecticide commonly used in mosquito and other insect
repellents.
One such insecticide, permethrin, which is used in many over-the-counter lice treatments, is losing its effectiveness.
Kyong Yoon, an assistant professor at Southern Illinois University -Edwardsville who was on the research team, presented
their findings at the 250th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society.
We are the first group to collect lice samples from a large number of populations across the U.S.," Yoon said in a press
release. "What we found was that 104 out of the 109 lice populations we tested had high levels of gene mutations, which
have been linked to resistance to pyrethroids."
He says evidence of the evolution was first documented in Israel in the late 1990s.
While the research is ongoing, he advises those looking to treat an infestation to consider the impact of using a chemical over
and over.
"These little creatures will eventually develop resistance," Yoon says. "So we have to think before we use a treatment. The
good news is head lice don't carry disease. They're more a nuisance than anything else."
Angie Anderson, 37, is certified in
the Shepherd Method of head lice
and nit removal. She uses a
strand -by -strand technique to
ensure nothing survives her
inspection. (Erin Hinrichs/Review)
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NIT
(submitted graphic)
The Shepherd Method
Carol Smith brought her daughter Nell, 10, to Nitpickers as soon as its doors
opened.
Last year, Nell, along with at least 13 of her female classmates at St. Croix
Catholic School in Stillwater had head lice, Smith says. The school -wide
outbreak sent families scrambling for treatment options not once, but twice.
"it turns the whole household upside down," Smith says. "The first time we all
freaked. I ran to Walgreens to get some chemicals."
After trying chemicals, Smith turned to the professionals at the Minnesota Lice
Lady in Edina. But the commute for the initial treatment and two follow-up
appointments proved cumbersome, she says, noting she was thankful to find
something closer to home.
As a precautionary measure, she brought Nell and one of her fifth -grade
friends, Ella King, 10, to Nitpickers for a head check before the first day of
school.
It turns out, the girls were going to have their heads checked again at school,
the following week. St. Croix Prep had just finished scheduling a school -wide
head check with Nitpickers.
"This school had a really bad outbreak twice last year, so they want to make
sure right away that they're not dealing with [lice again]," McKay says.
Angie Anderson, 37, Nitpickerz' lead head lice remover who's done off-site
head checks inside classrooms and camps, says the visit will allow them to
better pinpoint the source before it becomes a full-blown outbreak.
She holds a degree in communications, but decided to trade in her at-home
sales career to help McKay start Nitpickerz once her kids were in school full
time.
Eager to help alleviate stress for parents with infected kids, she flew to Florida
to get certified in a strand -by -strand, non-toxic lice and nit removal method at
the Shepherd Institute.
"You put a spider in front of me and I jump sky high. You put a lice bug in front
of me and I'm like 'Oh, that's interesting!"' she says, laughing.
In treating infected clients, she literally goes through their hair strand by strand,
removing all lice and nits — lice eggs that are often mistaken for dandruff
with the help of a non-toxic solution that slows them down, a comb, and a
tweezers. Two follow up appointments help ensure nothing was overlooked.
Spreading via'selfies'
While elementary -aged children are commonly regarded as the most
susceptible, Anderson and McKay say people of all ages, ethnicities and
genders are walking through their door.
In fact, caretakers are just as likely to get lice from little ones they rub heads
with and teens have their guard down as well.
"It's all in the head-to-head contact," McKay says. "We're seeing it more with
the high-schoolers with the selfies."
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An itchy scalp alerts many to the fact that they've got head lice, but not everyone reacts to the parasites' saliva, Anderson
says. Since it generally takes two weeks before people start to notice —with bugs laying eight to 10 eggs a day —things can
get out of hand quickly.
A simple head check, especially when a parent knows their child has been exposed, give many clients peace of mind, she
says.
And when parents like Smith see girls come to school with a fancy braid — compliments of Anderson after she's finished
performing a head check or treatment— she smiles and thinks to herself "Oh, you just went," she says, relieved to know
others are taking the same precautionary measures.
'No live lice' policy
Heading into the new school year, Mari Drake, communications specialist for the North St. Paul -Maplewood -Oakdale School
District, reminds parents of the district's "no live lice" policy.
"If lice is present in a classroom, parents are given a letter. The letter indicates children can return to the classroom after
treatment, but students must first be checked by the health office," she says.
Parents are asked to inform the school if they find a case of head lice. To assist, the school provides information on what to
look for, how lice are spread and how to remove lice from the home environment— all of which is available on the district's
website at www.isd622.org.
"Lice can happen to anyone, anywhere," Drake adds. "It's not a sign of being dirty, having an unclean home or poor personal
hygiene."
Since neither the Minnesota Department of Health or the Ramsey County Public Health office require schools to report cases
of head lice, no local summary data exists.
School nurses for the district declined to comment atthis time, due to busy schedules and the lack of a communications
director atthis time.
The state Department of Health recommends treating lice with over-the-counter products like Nix, RID, R&C and Triple -X,
applying the product twice to ensure success.
Regarding recent concerns over "super lice," Doug Schultz, a spokesman for the health department, cautions against taking
alternative measures without first consulting a health care provider.
"They are not going to know whether they are dealing with such [super] lice or not and there is a risk of over -treating or using
harmful chemicals unnecessarily if they do," he says.
Erin Hinrichs can be reached at 651-748-7814 and ehinrichs@lillienews.com. Follow her at twitter.com/EHinrichsNews.
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