In the best-case scenario, you could also be mistaking nits for dandruff. They look similar and are both typically found close to the scalp. Dandruff will pull out more easily, however, and nits stick to the hair. Nits are eggs laid by lice. They are extremely tiny and may look similar to dandruff. Nits are small white or yellowish-white specks that are usually found close to the scalp, around and behind the ears, and at the nape of the neck.
Nymphs are newly hatched lice. They are a yellow or tan color and are very small. Lice are adult wingless insects. They crawl instead of jump or fly. Symptoms of lice include itchiness on the scalp and the sensation of something crawling on your head.
Additionally, for some medications, re-treatment is recommended routinely after the first treatment. Often they are white or light in color and attach to the hair on a slight angle. These pesky little guys are hard to remove and will feel almost glued to the hair. Unlike dandruff or other similarly colored flecks, they will not be easily brushed out. Adult lice lay nits close to the scalp where the temperature is perfect for keeping the eggs warm until hatching.
A young girl with a head lice infestation. Although it is hard to see it, there was a large, live louse in the shot a second before the picture was taken, which just goes to show how hard it can be to find lice sometimes, especially in children with long hair.
This is a magnified picture of an adult head louse. In reality, mature head lice are about the size of a sesame seed. Note the characteristic six legs of this crawling insect. If you magnified this louse even further, you might be able to see the small claws on the end of their legs that lice use to grasp hair.
The female head louse is a little 'fatter' than a male. Although this head louse is magnified, you can use the nearby strand of hair for comparison to understand how big head lice really are. This can help you to identify head lice on your child's hair during a lice infestation. Instead of worrying when you think your child has head lice, you should first confirm that your child has head lice.
Reviewing head lice pictures like this one can help you understand what you are looking for, including live lice and nits lice eggs in your child's hair. Can you spot the head louse in this picture of a young child with a head lice infestation? This picture is of a live head louse on a girl's head, with a red circle around the louse to make identification easy. Nits are the eggs of lice. Nits are small, oval-shaped, usually a yellowish-white color, and are firmly attached to the side of hair shafts.
Simply having nits does not necessarily mean that your child has live lice, though, since some nits may be empty egg casings and some may have dead, non-infective lice embryos inside.
Nits that are close to your child's scalp are the ones that are most likely to be infective and are the ones that are thought to hatch into live lice, a process that takes six to nine days. Continuing to get new nits even after you have removed nits from your child's hair is also a likely sign that your child has live lice and needs a lice treatment. A live louse will typically lay up to eight eggs a day, so if your child only has a few nits, then they likely don't have an active lice infestation.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is against no-nit policies that exclude children from school because they have lice. In fact, the AAP now states that "no healthy child should be excluded from or allowed to miss school time because of head lice. To add to the confusion about head lice, some people only use the term nits to refer to empty egg casings and lice eggs when talking about viable eggs. Others use the term nits to refer to both viable lice eggs and empty egg casings.
This is an out-of-focus picture of a nit, or head lice egg, with a caption and red circle around the nit to make identification easy. Did you find the nit on your own? They are uncommon and often have an association with other skin conditions. Hair casts slide easily along the hair, whereas nits stick to it and are harder to remove.
People may be able to remove hair casts with coal tar shampoo or a fine-toothed comb. People with light-colored hair should be careful about using coal tar shampoo as it can discolor the hair. Dandruff can look similar to head lice eggs and also causes the scalp to itch. Dandruff is a scalp condition in which dry skin comes away from the scalp in white flakes. People can treat dandruff effectively using a dandruff shampoo.
Dandruff shampoos are available in drug stores and online. Mites are small insects that cause scabies by digging into the skin and irritating it, which makes the skin itchy.
Scabies usually affects the fingers, ankles, or wrists rather than the head. People who notice a rash and uneven red lines on the skin or scalp might have scabies and should see their doctor, who may prescribe a topical cream as treatment.
To treat a head lice infestation, people can use medicines called pediculicides, which kill head lice. Some treatments are not suitable for young children, so it is best to check with a doctor or pharmacist before using them. People can apply OTC head lice treatment topically to the head.
It is important to follow the instructions on the medicine, which may advise a person to:. The treatment may cause a mild burning or irritating feeling. Afterward, people should use a nit comb to remove any dead or live lice that remain as well as the eggs. Both of these treatments only kill live head lice, not the unhatched eggs, so people may need to apply a second dose of treatment 9 to 10 days after the initial one.
If OTC solutions are not effective, people can see their doctor. They may need to use prescription medicine that contains:.
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