How much should it cost?

Unfortunately, there's a cost to getting lice - mental stress, anxiety, itchiness. To get rid of it, you'll need to spend time (and some money) to get rid of it. How much depends on how you choose to do it.

For example, doing it yourself may seem like a way to save money. You may purchase a box kit a local drug store or retail outlet, and try combing through your family members' hair yourself. However, often these kits oversell themselves: they may kill the insects that are alive in hair, but they don't actually 'kill' the nits. Nits must be physically removed or they will simply hatch within two weeks of being on a scalp (despite what the box claims). The little comb that comes in most box kits is ill-equipped to properly remove nits, leaving you with a re-infestation waiting to happen. Most people who try to do it themselves are doomed to need to purchase more kits over and over again, and comb through their family members' hair over and over again... Are they really saving anything?

Other salons (Hair Fairies, Lice Doctors, etc.) charge per person, and some (not naming names) make dubious claims about who actually has lice, or how many visits it will take to their salon to properly resolve a lice infestation. In my experience, no matter how much lice you may have at a first visit, it should take no more than two visits to resolve any case of lice. I charge by the hour, not per head, and the time you spend depends on the length, texture, and condition of you hair, as well as how much lice you may potentially have.

To save money, keep your children's hair well groomed, keep long hair contained, know what's happening on their scalps, and you won't have to spend a lot on lice!