Lice Checks in Brooklyn: What Happens, Where We Go and When It's Free
The note comes home from school on a Tuesday. "A case of head lice has been identified in your child's class." Half of Brooklyn has had that note. What most parents do next is stand in the bathroom with a phone flashlight, part their kid's hair, see something, unsee it, and spend the evening not sure.
A lice check settles it in ten minutes. Not a treatment, just a proper look, by someone who does it all day, under the right light, with the right comb. Either there's nothing there and you sleep, or there is and we deal with it on the spot.
Larger Than Lice has been checking and treating Brooklyn families at home for over a decade, from Park Slope brownstones to Bay Ridge two-families. Here's what a check involves, what we see in each part of the borough, and when a check is free.
Want it settled tonight? Larger Than Lice provides same-day in-home lice checks and treatment across Brooklyn. Call (631) 810-3938 or book online.
The Short Answer
A professional lice check is a ten-to-twenty-minute in-home screening. A specialist sections the hair, combs each section with a professional metal comb under magnified light, and tells you plainly whether there are lice, nits, or nothing. If there's nothing, you pay for the check and we leave. If there's something, we treat it in the same visit, and the check is folded into the treatment.
Most Brooklyn checks happen the same day you call. Everyone in the home can be checked in one visit. Coverage details are on the Brooklyn lice removal page.
Why a Check Beats Guessing
About half the "I think I see lice" calls we get turn out to be something else. Dandruff, dry scalp, product residue, sand from the playground, hair casts. All of them look like nits under a bathroom light to a worried parent.
The other half are real, and those are the ones where guessing costs you. A case that's checked on Tuesday is treated on Tuesday. A case that's watched for a week is three cases by the following Tuesday, because siblings share pillows and cousins share couches.
A professional check removes both problems. We covered how to check at home, and what's commonly mistaken for lice, in signs your child has lice before the school calls you. If you'd rather not be the one squinting at the paper towel, that's what a check is for.
What Happens at a Lice Check
We arrive at your home. Ordinary clothes, ordinary bag. To the building, someone's visiting.
We set up where the light is best. Usually the kitchen or a window seat. Your child sits with a tablet or a book.
We section and comb. Small sections, scalp to tip, with a professional metal comb wiped on white paper after each pass. Behind the ears and the nape of the neck get extra attention because that's where lice cluster. The Nit Terminator Comb we use is the one we sell, if you'd like to keep one for weekly checks afterwards.
We tell you what we found. Nothing, in which case you're done. Nits only, in which case we explain what that means. Live lice, in which case we recommend treating now.
If treatment is needed, it happens in the same visit. No second appointment. Pesticide-free solution, strand-by-strand removal, final inspection, printed school clearance letter, and the 4-Week Lice-Free Guarantee.
Everyone else in the home gets checked too. Siblings, parents, the grandparent who does bedtime. Minutes per person. If one child has it, someone else usually does.
Ten to twenty minutes per person for the check. One to two hours per person if treatment is needed.
Brooklyn by Neighbourhood: What We See
Brooklyn isn't one place, and lice don't move through it the same way everywhere.
Park Slope, Prospect Heights and Windsor Terrace
The densest cluster of families with young children in the borough, and the neighbourhood where September outbreaks cluster hardest. Big elementary schools, after-school programmes that mix grades, playdates on every block. Park Slope parents tend to call the day the school note arrives, which is exactly right. What we see: three or four households on the same street within a week of the first case.
Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Boerum Hill
Brownstone blocks where the social world is the stoop, the shared hallway and the weekend sleepover. A high proportion of private and parochial school families, some of whom face firm return-to-school rules and want a clearance letter in hand before Monday. What we see: cases that trace back to a birthday party two weekends earlier.
Williamsburg and Greenpoint
Younger families, newer buildings, lots of nannies covering the afternoons. The question here is usually whether a caregiver can host the appointment. Yes, with your permission, and we'll call you before we leave. What we see: cases discovered at bath time by the nanny, treated that evening before the parents are home.
Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst
Bigger apartments, multigenerational households, kids in parochial schools and sports leagues. Grandparents do a lot of the childcare here, which means grandparents get checked too. What we see: whole-household visits where the child is clear but an adult isn't, or the other way round.
Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights and Fort Greene
Growing family populations, a mix of public, charter and private schools, and busy after-school scenes. What we see: a September spike followed by a second wave in January after winter break travel.
Wherever you are in the borough, the check is the same and so is the price. There's no travel fee anywhere in Brooklyn.
When a Check Is Free
Two situations.
During a school outbreak. When a school or PTA arranges a screening day, we come to the school and check a class or a grade. Ask your PTA whether they've organised one. If they haven't, a parent asking is usually how it starts.
As part of a treatment. If a check finds lice and we treat in the same visit, you're paying for the treatment, not the check.
A standalone in-home check, where we come out and find nothing, is a paid visit. It's priced well below a treatment and it's the price of a good night's sleep. Ask when you call and we'll tell you exactly what it costs before we come.
We provide itemized receipts you can submit with an FSA or HSA claim to apply for reimbursement. Eligibility varies by plan.
What to Bring to School Afterwards
If the check finds nothing, nothing. Your child goes to school as normal. If the school asked for confirmation, we'll write a short note saying the child was screened and found clear.
If the check finds lice and we treat, you get a printed clearance letter before we leave. It states the treatment date, the specialist's name, confirmation that live lice and nits were removed, and our contact details for the school to verify. It's been accepted by the Brooklyn schools we've worked with, public, charter, private and parochial. If your school has particular requirements, tell us and we'll make sure the letter covers them.
How Often Should Brooklyn Kids Be Checked?
Weekly during the first three weeks of September and the first two of January. Within 48 hours of any sleepover, camp return or school note. Bi-weekly the rest of the school year for kids in elementary school.
Five minutes with conditioner and a metal comb, behind the ears and at the nape. If you find something and aren't sure, take a clear photo and call. We can often tell from the picture whether it's worth a visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Ten to twenty minutes per person, depending on hair length and thickness. If treatment is needed, that happens in the same visit and takes one to two hours per person.
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Yes. Most Brooklyn checks happen the same day you call, including evenings and weekends. During September and January peaks, call as early as you can.
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A check is free when it's part of a school or PTA screening day, or when it leads to a treatment in the same visit. A standalone in-home check where nothing is found is a paid visit, priced well below a treatment. We'll tell you the price before we come.
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Yes, and we recommend it. Siblings, parents and any grandparent or caregiver in the home can be checked in the same visit, a few minutes each.
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We treat on the spot with pesticide-free products and manual removal, and you get a printed school clearance letter before we leave. No second appointment.
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Yes, with your permission. We'll work with whoever is home and call you before we leave to explain what we found.
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All of Brooklyn, including Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights and Fort Greene. There's no travel fee anywhere in the borough.
The Bottom Line
A lice check is the fastest way to stop guessing. Ten minutes, at your kitchen table, and you know. If it's nothing, you sleep. If it's something, it's handled before bedtime and your child is in school tomorrow with a letter.
If a note came home today, or your child has been scratching and you're not sure, Larger Than Lice answers 24/7 across Brooklyn and all of New York City. Call (631) 810-3938 or book online.
Same-day in-home appointments available across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
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