My daughter (in kindergarten) came home from school the other day with a notice that someone in the school had lice and that there was a possibility that my child could have come in contact with lice. Since the day she started school Ive been paranoid ofmthis and have told her that she needs to make sure that she doesnt share hats or anything that goes on your head with the other kids in her class. I have really long hair, my daughter has really long hair and my toddler is growing quite a head of hair so Im freaking out. I have always had dandruff and use head and shoulders as my regular shampoo. Im also a hypochondriac and have everything I hear or read about. So now Im conviced I have it and my head itches. I checked my daughters head and she appears to have dandruff but thankfully I have never had to deal with lice before so Im thinking what if its not dandruff and it is in fact lice. Ive checked out videos online and Im still not sure. My husband says its definitely dandruff but Im so confused.
Please help me to determine if it is just dandruff or not. I did a check on my husband and younger daughter and found nothing. We all share combs and both my girls come into our bed every morning so we all share beds and pillows.
Thanks in advance
Oh you'll know. The nits stick to the hair (unlike dandruff flakes) and full grown lice MOVE around, it will be very obvious :-(
Hahahaha! You have "invisibugs." I totally understand. We went to my son and daughter-in-law's for the holiday and I saw fleas on one of their dogs and have had invisibugs ever since. Yuuuuuucky. *scratch scratch scratch!*
You have dandruff. Don't worry about it. If you need some reassurance, switch over to a Tea Tree shampoo, which not only repels lice, but also helps dandruff. ;-)
Dandruff brushes off easily, can even be blown away, and is white and irregularly shaped. Lice nits are only white if hatched, tan if not yet hatched, they are consistently a teardrop shape, consistent size, are glued to the hair shaft, and tend to even glint under bright light a little. Get a metal comb lice comb from the drug store and comb through the hair when washed and very wet - if it is lice, you'll see the eggs consistently. Just follow the directions on the comb package carefully. I check weekly because lice in school is just a fact of life.
Dandruff is flakey and can be blown off. Lice attach to the hair shaft and won't come off without effort. So if you see white flakey things in her hair, try to gently blow it off. If it comes off/out, then it's dandruff. If it's stuck to the hair strand, it's a lice nit. I have never had luck seeing the actual live bugs.
Lice and dandruff look nothing alike. Dandruff is scaly patches of skin and flakes, while lice are little insects that move. Nits look like little eggs stuck to the hair shaft.
Try not to get too worked up. My kids got lice once and it was really no big deal. I bought the special shampoo and comb. Washed with the shampoo, combed with the comb every day for a week and washed again with the shampoo. Changed their sheets and pillow cases. Gone. No big deal.
Dandruff and other scalp conditions have flakes and scaling the little pieces fall off or can be gently scratched off. Not that I'm recommending that as a treatment, but it is a reliable test. Some other scalp conditions look like scabs - if you can't see what you have and you don't trust anyone in your family to check you, stop in at your hairdresser's and ask her/him to take a look in good light. They are extremely experienced in this.
Some dandruff shampoos are helpful, but some are drying. Excessive use can actually cause the type of flaking you're trying to get rid of. So take it easy with those. I'm not sure they should be used on children - ask the pediatrician's office. The nurse will know. Some kids (and adults) have some flakes that can just be removed with some decent brushing - again, you don't want to overdo this because it can be irritating, but when kids fuss about having their hair brushed, sometimes flakes can accumulate. Remember that the scalp is going to shed cells naturally, just like the rest of your skin. But it doesn't get exfoliated very well, while the rest of your skin gets rubbed with a shower brush or a washcloth and just regular rubbing with hand washing, so the flakes can accumulate - that doesn't mean it's dandruff.
Lice are gross little bugs. They look like bugs. They are generally on the scalp and not through the lengths of the hair. Their eggs (nits) are at the roots and can (and should) be removed with a special comb that combs in the lice treatment kids. So take your daughter's long hair and put it up in a long, loose ponytail so you can look around the hairline but still move the hair around. Put on disposable gloves if you want to (or your kitchen rubber gloves), and move the hair around so you are looking at the roots. If you have a rat tail comb, you can use that to create a series of parts so you are looking at a bunch of sections (if you've had your hair colored, it's the same sort of process the hairdresser uses to apply color to the roots, shifting sections from one side to the other.
You don't want to treat if the child doesn't have lice. If anyone has true signs of lice, then you must treat, and treat thoroughly, including washing bedding, hats, combs, stuffed animals and so on. But you aren't there yet.
Try not to panic. Yes, lice are gross, but they are common and not dangerous and can be treated. Sometimes it takes more than one treatment, yes, and there's a technique using the purchased product as well as mayonnaise.
I imagine the school nurse is going to be checking all the kids in that class and probably in other classes, so there will be another set of eyes, and experienced ones at that, looking her over.
Put a clean sheet on your lap and lay her head on your lap. Get a flash light and comb through her hair with the light shining in her hair. If you see flakes, brush them away with your fingers. They should fall down to the sheet. If they stay in tact with the hair, scrape at the flake with your fingernail away from the scalp. If it takes a fingernail scraping to move it, it's lice. If it is lice, everyone shampoos, you vacuum, and change the bedding. No stuffed animals on the bed for a couple of weeks.
I hate the psychosomatic itching! Okay, I've just been through this. Turns out me and my two girls had it. And the crazy thing is that is was so much less creepy to just have it than the fear of getting it. Having it sucks because its a lot of work to get rid of, but from a creepiness factor, the fear of the thing is worse than the having of the thing.
Its actually quite hard to contract. You need direct head contact or bed sharing for it to really spread. That said, get yourself a Terminator comb on line. Use it as a prevention tool (our clinician who I paid to come to our house to give us treatments told us to use it once a week to prevent infestations, not just treat them).
Also, google nits to know what to look for. They don't look like dandruff at all. They are like tiny hard shells that stick to the hair. Be warned though, google will bring up extreme cases that would give the bravest person the the creeps. A new infestation of a few weeks will have few nits.
If you a total hypochondriac, look up a professional lice clinic (ask the school for a recommendation, they will have one), and go have a professional look for you.
Babies and toddlers with fine hair generally don't get it.
I know what you mean about itching just thinking about it. This year my scalp is very dry and itches like crazy. It is driving me nuts. I have gotten paranoid about those things on my head and constantly check my hair. I have had my hair checked by my mom and the woman that cuts my hair as well. Just the idea that those things can get in. We had an outbreak early last year with my older girls. I had never dealt with it before either. One of my girls complained her head itched. I looked but had no clue what I was looking for. A few days later, I looked again under the brightest bathroom light and saw the nits. They really stick to the hair shaft and are pretty consistent in size and shape. And like already mentioned, they do not move easily if you move the hair strand. Dandruff will fall off or move a bit. It has been suggested adding tea tree oil to your shampoo. We have done this and have not had an outbreak since last year, though I don't know if the oil helped or or just lucky.
Keep your daughters hair up in a pony tail and bun as well. This helps prevent lice as well. Direct head to head contact is how most kids get lice.
Been dealing with this since May when my daughter got it we think from a party at a bouncy house. She had been scratching her head for a couple weeks and I too thought it was dandruff when I looked even bought Selson Blue. Then I got a call from the school nurse and the endless laundry and picking through her hair started. We tried RID a few times which she hated. We now use Fairytales shampoo at bath time. My pediatrician suggested using Cetaphil lotion combing through and leaving on overnight to smother any live bugs. You can google the istructions for Cetaphil. Even if it's dandruff the Cetaphil may help moisturize her scalp. We are still dealing with it almost 7 months later. She has super thick hair and it's really difficult & stressful for her to have her head picked through. The best comb to use is the metal one that comes in the RID box. Teeth are very close together and grabs the bugs and eggs. Areas to focus on are behind the ears, back of the neck and bangs. There are 3 things to look for: eggs are black, shells are white and bugs are small & black and you can see them move.....yuck! Hope it's not lice.
Good luck!
Put conditioner into her dry hair and comb it out over the sink. If there are any wee beasties in there, you will see them as black dots in the conditioner you comb out.
If you are very worried, there is a simple solution: Buy four shower caps. Put warm olive oil into everyone's hair before bed, focusing on the scalp, and tuck them into shower caps. This will smother any lice overnight. It is the best way to treat any infestation by the way. You don't need to use that awful poison. Just repeat 7 days later to get any late hatchers and you are done.
