Under the cloak of midwinter darkness, a Santa Barbara family arrived at a nondescript strip mall in Ventura. In the lobby of a second-floor office, their collective mood was somber yet hopeful. Ninety minutes later, they burst from the building with broad smiles. They laughed, high-fived, and made dinner plans to celebrate. This family was finally lice-free.
Any family with young schoolchildren likely knows the embarrassment, frustration, and time-consuming futility that comes with even a small infestation of head lice. (Just thinking about it right now makes your head itch, right?)
“Most of the time, we’re talking parents off the ledge,” said Tate Singletary, who, with his wife, Amy Singletary, owns the Ventura office of Lice Clinics of America. “Moms call us crying. They’re struggling. They’ve used over-the-counter treatments; they’ve combed out their kid’s hair and reapplied, and combed, and reapplied — and nothing works. And we say, ‘Don’t worry. Come in. We’ll get rid of your lice in an hour.’”