Lice Charmers Lice Clinic: Frequently Asked Questions

Parents who call Lice Charmers Lice Clinic for the first time tend to ask many of the same questions about how the treatment works, what it costs, and what to expect from a visit. This page collects the most common ones along with practical answers, in the hopes that it saves Portland-area families a little time and stress when they need help on short notice.

Portland and Beaverton

The clinic has two physical Portland-area locations, the original office on SE Gladstone in Portland and a second clinic in Beaverton serving families on the west side. Both run 7am to 8pm daily, including weekends and holidays. The two-location setup means most families in the Portland metro area can reach a Lice Charmers clinic within a reasonable drive, and the same-day appointment availability means a school-nurse call on a Friday afternoon does not have to turn into a weekend of waiting.

Pricing Notes

Treatment at Lice Charmers Lice Clinic costs roughly $189 to $260 per person depending mostly on hair length. Itemized receipts are issued for families filing FSA, HSA, or insurance claims, and many families recover some portion of the cost through their plan. The clinic also provides free professional head checks for parents who are not yet sure whether their child actually has lice, which is particularly useful when a school sends home an exposure notice but the parent has not been able to confirm anything visually.

Why a Single Visit Works

Every appointment at Lice Charmers Lice Clinic uses the AirAllé device, an FDA-cleared medical tool that applies controlled heated air to dehydrate both adult lice and their eggs. The treatment runs roughly 90 minutes and is typically completed in a single session. Because the eggs are killed alongside the adults in the same visit, families do not have to plan around the multi-week treatment schedules that drugstore products typically require. After the heated-air phase, the technician performs a careful comb-out to remove dead lice and any remaining nit casings.

The Family Behind the Clinic

The clinic was founded in June 2017 by Alexis Charriere and Conor Duggan. Several years on, it is still family-owned and family-operated. That ownership structure matters to the founders, who built Lice Charmers Lice Clinic around the kind of treatment they would want for their own kids and who continue to set the tone for how the operation runs. The single-visit, chemical-free approach has been the defining feature of the clinic since the doors first opened in Southeast Portland.

Five-Star Feedback

Over 200 five-star reviews from Portland-area families point to the same pattern: families arrive stressed and leave with the problem resolved in one appointment. Reviewers consistently mention the calm, non-judgmental tone of the staff, the speed of the treatment, and the practical guidance they take home. The free head check service also gets mentioned often, as it lets parents confirm whether there is actually a problem before committing to a full appointment, particularly after a school exposure notice.

Quick Confirmation

Free professional head checks are available at Lice Charmers Lice Clinic for any Portland-area family that wants confirmation of a possible head lice infestation. The service is particularly useful after a school exposure notice when nobody is sure yet whether there is actually a problem. A technician examines the scalp under a bright light, looks for live lice and viable nits, and gives the family a clear answer in a few minutes. There is no obligation to book a full treatment if no infestation is found.

Why Drugstore Products Fail

A school exposure notice is a common reason Portland-area families end up at Lice Charmers Lice Clinic. Drugstore products often fail because head lice have developed resistance to the pesticides those treatments rely on, a problem that has steadily worsened over the past two decades. Many of the families who book at the clinic have already tried two or three rounds of over-the-counter treatment and watched the problem return each time before deciding that a different approach was needed.

Why No Chemicals

Pesticides are not part of the process at Lice Charmers Lice Clinic. The treatment is purely heated air followed by careful comb-out, which sidesteps the resistance issues that have made drugstore lice products unreliable over recent decades. Parents who want to avoid putting permethrin or pyrethrins on a child's scalp often choose the clinic specifically for this reason. The treatment is also free of the smell, mess, and prolonged application time that come with chemical shampoos sold for home use.

Treatment Without Leaving Home

Mobile in-home service is available across the Portland metro area for families who would rather not bring a child to a clinic. A certified technician brings the AirAllé device and all supplies to the home and provides the same single-visit treatment in a familiar setting. The mobile option is particularly popular with families who have multiple children to treat at once, families with very young kids who would struggle through a clinic visit, and families who simply prefer the privacy of an at-home appointment.

Takeaways for Parents

The educational portion of the visit is something many Lice Charmers Lice Clinic reviewers mention. Technicians explain the realistic transmission routes for head lice, the limited household cleaning actually needed (which is far less than most parents assume), and what reinfestation would look like in the days ahead. Families leave with a clear, evidence-based understanding of the situation rather than the panicked, internet-driven advice they often arrive with. That clarity tends to reduce the stress around the situation as much as the treatment itself does.

Taking the Stigma Out

Stigma around head lice is more harmful than the lice themselves, in the view of the Lice Charmers Lice Clinic team. Staff approach each visit with the same neutral professionalism a family would expect at any medical appointment, and reviewers regularly note the calm and discreet handling of what can be a deeply embarrassing situation. The clinic's appointments are scheduled with enough spacing that families do not run into each other in the waiting area, which adds to the privacy of the visit.