How to distinguish lice and nits from dandruff

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If the head is itchy, what could be the problem? Sometimes itchiness is caused by dandruff, and sometimes a condition such as head lice. In order to properly diagnose, you need to know how to distinguish nits from dandruff.

Dandruff concept

The syndrome described in medicine as enhanced detachment of scalp particles over a long period of time. The pathological condition is caused by a violation of the processes of exfoliating the upper cornified layer of the head, due to the malfunctioning of the sebaceous glands.

Scales of different shapes cover the hair along the entire length, but most accumulate in the upper part. Especially well they are visible on the dark curls. The head is dotted with small particles that fall off easily when combing, when touched by hand.

Pathology is not contagious unless it is caused by the multiplication of pathogens. Some serious dermatological diseases are accompanied by dandruff and are transmitted through exfoliated scalp scales.

Dandruff occurs on dry skin due to lack of natural fat. Accompanied by itching, feeling of tightness of the scalp, dry hair, split ends. On fat cover due to excessive secretion of fat, reproduction of microorganisms. Hair grows fatter after 2 hours after washing the head, stick together, look untidy.

Who are nits

Pediculosis spreads lice. Small insects with a body length of not more than 4 mm. The disease develops rapidly, due to the natural physiological ability - the rapid reproduction of parasites. Daily louse lays about 4 eggs, which are called nits.

Eggs about 1 mm in size have an oblong shape, white-gray color. Attached to the hair on the head with a special adhesive substance. Under the action of oxygen, it quickly hardens, providing nits reliable fixation. Initially located at a distance of 1 cm from the roots. As hair grows, it turns out on different parts of the head. As the nits and lice on the head, shows a photo.

You can see the structure of nits only under a microscope using a magnifying glass. Oblong shape with a lid at the base. Dark formations inside - larvae. The larvae develop about 14 days. They gnaw a lid, get out. The shell remains on the hair.

Differences in location

Dandruff and lice cause identical symptoms - severe itching. In the first case it is enough to scratch a little to get rid of the unpleasant feeling, in the second case they are torn to the blood. But the main symptom of pediculosis is only the presence of live lice and their eggs on the head.

Lice or dandruff can be determined by the arrangement of white particles on the head.

Insects lay eggs in the warmest places on the head - the back of the head, temples, forehead. When lice are detected, they begin to examine these parts of the head. As the hair grows every day, nits are located at a distance of 1 - 4 cm from the roots. The location of lice eggs depends on how long the parasites are on the head.
Dandruff exfoliates during combing, touching the scalp with your hands. Most of the scales located in the upper part - on the crown. Gradually, the particles slip. Over time, they are even on their shoulders.

Since lice are able to creep across the entire surface of the head, they can also be confused with larger flakes of exfoliated skin. How to distinguish dandruff from lice in this case - only in appearance.

You can clearly see the picture on the photo of dandruff and lice.

Nits or dandruff - how to distinguish

To carefully examine the head, hair, you must choose a well-lit place, equip with a magnifying glass, a comb with fine teeth. Determining the cause requires good vision.

What is different from dandruff nits:

Egg lice are always the same size - up to 1 mm in length. Scales can reach 5 mm. Exfoliate unevenly, are formed in different sizes.
Nits with live lice larvae inside have a white color with gray divorces. The egg shell is translucent, you can see the presence of the creature inside. Always rounded. Empty nits change color from yellow to gray, flat. Dandruff is always white in color, uneven bulge.
You can learn by sound. When pressing on a live nits click heard. Exfoliated scalp does not make any sounds.
To distinguish dandruff from nits can be by quantity. The skin always exfoliates intensely. On the hair there are a lot of particles. The number of eggs increases every day. Only with a strong infection strands are dotted with nits along the entire length.
The scales are easily shaken off, just touch it with your hand or comb. Nits are not washed off with soap and are not cleaned with a regular comb. To tear off nails from the hairs, you need to make an effort.

To distinguish lice from dandruff is easy. You can recognize by location, appearance. It is enough to devote a little time, arm yourself with the necessary tools. Explore the white grains with a magnifying glass. For a good example of photography.

First talk about dandruff

In this disease, skin flakes begin to rapidly exfoliate. The most common cause is the malfunction of the sebaceous glands, which are located in the hair of the head. And although dandruff does not pose any threat to others or to the person himself, but you should pay attention to it at least in order to know how to distinguish dandruff from nits.

When oily seborrhea scales glued together. Hair even after washing look dirty, the head itches a lot. This type of dandruff is not so striking, but it is impossible to create a well-groomed hairstyle. There is also such a situation: scales cover large areas of skin. After a while they exfoliate, this is the cause of hair loss.

Dry type is characterized by the appearance of itching. Hair looks dry and brittle, but clean. It is necessary to scratch your head and a white “powder” starts to pour in from there.

Currently, the most common fat seborrhea.

Nits on the hair: their difference from dandruff

In the people, eggs are considered nits like lice, but from the point of view of medicine, these are white shells in which the insect lives. They are attached by a specially developed adhesive at a distance of a couple of centimeters from the hair roots.

Eliminating the ill-fated cocoons with the usual washing of hair is not possible. Sticky substance reliably fixes the egg in the balance, so even if you try to remove it with your fingernails, you cannot always achieve the desired success.

It happens that a person infected with lice parasites. If he still has nits, then over time new inhabitants will appear on the hair and you will have to fight them again. Therefore, it is recommended to use tools to combat lice and nits.

With nits, you:

You will see millimeter grains on the head, resembling dandruff,
feel an unpleasant itch
notice that the curls appear dirty even after washing.

As you can see, at first glance, nits are very easily confused with dandruff.

Let's look at the phases of the life cycle of a parasite that feeds on blood. There are 4 stages:

An adult individual sucks human blood and actively mates. During one inspection on the head of a person affected by lice one can fix from 50 to 100 nits, which immediately lead an independent lifestyle.

Important! The incubation period for the appearance of nits is 5–8 days from the moment of insect mating. The temperature for ripening nits should be high 30-35 degrees.

As soon as the larva, sharpened in the shell, matured, it pushes its cocoon and gets out. With the release of the parasite nits does not dissolve, continuing to be on the hair.

Thus, if time does not deal with bloodsuckers, you can get a copious millimeter snowball on your head and, even worse, earn serious infections.

Daily one female louse can lay up to 4 eggs. Each of them is located at a distance of 1 cm from the roots, as the hair grows, the capsule moves down in the direction of the tips. The very same nit turns into a louse after 14 days.

What is dandruff and what are the nits

Under dandruff understand the exfoliated skin particles by hairthat appear as a result failure of the sebaceous glands or excessive drying of the scalp.

As a rule, this trouble poses no threat to health its owner, but brings great discomfort to life: the hair looks untidy, the person is constantly worried about itching, a scattering of white flakes is constantly visible on the clothes.

Lice are small parasites up to 4 mm in length.. They have a property pierce the skin and be absorbed into the blood. When in contact with air nits quickly harden and due to this firmly fixed on the curls. It is not possible to get rid of parasites in simple ways, therefore they are considered a more dangerous disease for a man.

Signs of nits on hair:

on the curls, mostly closer to the rootare visible white grains approximately 1 mm in size,
scalp constantly itches,
hair look slightly fatty even after washing.

Signs of dandruff:

with hair constantly white scraps are falling,
skin is also strong itches and itches,
on hair in a chaotic manner can see white flakes of various sizes.

Dandruff: what does the problem look like?

There are 2 types of dandruff: oily and dry. In the first type, the scales stick together, the curls even after washing look dirty, the person is tormented by itching. The flakes often come together in soft clumps. With a dry type of hair grow dull, brittle, but have a clean appearance. The scales are small, resemble white “powder”.

Nits - the main method of breeding lice. The problem is called "pediculosis". Most often manifested in children of preschool and primary school age. Nits are left on the curls of lice. They are fastened close to the roots and remain there until the hatching of a new individual. Distinguish them from dandruff is difficult because of the resemblance and the same color.

What is the difference between nits and seborrhea?

Dandruff is more easily removed from the hair (you can simply hold your hand and the scales will fall). Nits are firmly attached to the curls with the help of small paws and sticky substance, they can only be removed with a comb.
Flakes have a chaotic arrangement (on the root part or along the entire length of the hair). Eggs are usually localized strictly at the roots.
Nits have the same elongated (length no more than 1 mm). The size of scales varies from 1 to 5 mm.
Characteristic sound. When you press on the nits, you hear a loud click.
Volume When seborrhea flakes exfoliate intensely and rapidly. Nits breed less actively. Sign of difficult and dangerous infection - nits on the hair along its entire length.

How dandruff looks in hair

Dandruff is a part of horny skin that has begun to peel. Normally, this process occurs unnoticed, but in cases where the sebaceous glands secrete a lot of secretion, skin particles stick together and become visible.

Dandruff on the hair looks like snow - small grains that are scattered across the entire surface of the scalp. They also fall off quite easily and remain on the comb and clothes. In addition, hair can become fatter, break down and dull, their growth is weakened, and beauty is lost.

How nits look on hair and how they differ from dandruff

Nits are small white cocoons, of which lice soon hatch. They are located only at the roots of the hair and do not change their position after shampooing or combing. Nits are not showered and do not remain on the comb. Since nits are one of the main signs of pediculosis, this condition is also often accompanied by itching and sensations as if something is creeping over the scalp.

How to distinguish dandruff from nits: several important properties

Find a clear differences dandruff from nits can even a person who had not previously dealt with this problem. To do this, place the head under a bright light source, take a comb with small teeth and carefully examine the grains that are in doubt. It usually takes only a few minutes.

By size and appearance

Nits are usually small oval cocoons that are attached to the hair. They have a translucent gray tint. But dandruff is usually much larger nits, it is white and not attached to the hair.

It is clear that itching and discomfort are symptoms of both dandruff and pediculosis. However, in the presence of parasites, itching is expressed much brighter, often on the skin you can notice combing to the blood, sores and small crusts.

Differences between nits and dandruff

In appearance nits and dandruff is quite difficult to confuse. Dandruff is flat flaking flakes of skin that may vary in size. Sometimes they are quite large. Shaking them from the hair is easy enough.

Nits have an oval shape, their size is about 0.5 mm. They are distinguished by a grayish-white color. Nits tend to stick to hair, so removing them is much more difficult than dandruff. For the same reason, nits cannot be brought from the head of one person to the head of another, you can only get lice. If there are nits, the insects themselves must be. It is more difficult to find them than eggs, but with a close examination of the head it is possible.

If doubts remain, the particle removed from the head must be crushed with a fingernail. Nit while making a crisp sound. However, the absence of sound can only mean that it is already an empty shell.

By combing

A simple and reliable sign that helps to distinguish dandruff from nits. It is enough to just hold the comb along the hair strand, on which there are white grains and evaluate the result. In the case of dandruff, it will easily move along the direction of the comb. But the nits are unlikely to budge, because they are firmly attached to the hair with a special gluey substance that the lice releases when the larva is laid.

In count

Dandruff always looks like a fairly large number of large grains, but to notice the nits, you need to look closely. Especially a few nits at the very beginning of the disease, so for the diagnosis you need to carefully examine all areas on the head.

How to cure pediculosis and get rid of dandruff

Dandruff, like pediculosis, is treated much faster if therapy is started on time. Usually, to get rid of dandruff, you need to undergo a combined treatment, which includes several components:

Medical cosmetics. This includes balsams, shampoos and lotions sold in a pharmacy and aimed at combating dandruff (Sulsena, Nizoral, Perhotal, Bioderma).
Medicines. It is recommended to use drying ointments that have anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effects (sulfur ointment, zinc ointment).
Masks with clay peels. The use of such funds will allow you to peel the skin faster and relieve you from dandruff.
Traditional methods of treatment. Recipes such as a mask with egg white, black bread, and the use of essential oils and herbal decoctions are considered the most effective.
Salon procedures. Such treatment methods help to improve blood circulation and restore normal secretion of the sebaceous glands.Effective methods of dealing with dandruff include darsonvalization, mesotherapy, cryotherapy and hirudotherapy.

It should also be noted that in case of dandruff and pediculosis, it is better to consult a doctor - this will save you from unnecessary worries and contribute to a speedy recovery.

When treating pediculosis, things are a bit more complicated. First, you need to check for lice everyone who has been in contact with you in recent weeks. You also need to make a pest control in a residential area. During treatment, it is recommended to avoid visiting crowded places, to provide yourself with individual bedding and hygiene items.

The second stage is the treatment of pediculosis with medicines. Pharmacies have a wide range of options, but the most effective are:

After the hair treatment, do not forget to comb the nits, because if you ignore this stage, the disease cannot be completely cured, and lice will appear on the hair again.

Home> Hair> Dandruff> How to distinguish dandruff from nits on the hair

Distinctive characteristics

Distinguishing nits from dandruff is not very difficult. It is only necessary to provide good lighting (it is better to use a lamp to direct the light flux in the desired vector), arm a hairbrush with fine teeth and, preferably, a magnifying glass. Take half an hour of free time to make sure that you are not infected with parasites.

By type, size

Appearance of nits reminds whitish balls of an oval form. They have a light gray and even brown tint. Dandruff, in turn, has an approximate white color. The flaked scales always have different sizes, and the nits are almost the same.

Nits are elongated white translucent capsules.

Itching is a companion of both diseases, but when dandruff is not clearly felt. In the presence of nits and lice, a person scratches his head badly, one might say, to the blood.

The sound makes it possible to distinguish between live and non-living nits. If you press the nail on the capsule, which is an insect, you can hear a clear crackle. This way you can check for parasites.

How does the future louse develop

Before finding the answer to the question of how to externally distinguish dandruff from nits, one should study the developmental stages of the parasite in order to see the changes. There are the following stages of life:

nit,
larva,
baby doll
the final stage (imago, adult).

The adult female begins to feed on blood and is ready to mate. She can lay about a hundred and fifty eggs. Nit begins immediately to live independently. The incubation period is from five to eight days. The optimum temperature for ripening ranges from thirty to thirty-five degrees. The larva, hidden in the shell, matures. It squeezes the cap, thus getting out. The parasite leaves, and the shell still remains on the hair. If you do not fight insects, the number of capsules on the head may remain.

Here is another answer to the question of how to distinguish nits from dandruff. Having considered the life cycle of the parasite, we can say that it not only feeds on blood, but also reproduces. Dandruff is a byproduct of human life.

We look under the microscope

As mentioned above, it is almost impossible to consider a future louse without a microscope. That's why at the moment we will use this tool, which will help to figure out how to distinguish between nits from dandruff.

Looking into it, you can see small capsules of elongated whitish-translucent color. That is why they are easy to detect on the head, especially if the hair is dark.

On the lower part of the parasite’s body one can see oblong formation. It is somewhat reminiscent of leaked glue and consists of a sticky substance. Exactly the same composition as that which covers the shell. Education, which is visible under the microscope, helps to keep the nit on the hair. Remove it from them is not so easy. Dandruff, unlike nits, flies without problems.

The top has a flap cover. It is through her that an adult individual comes out, but first she must take a sip of air and separate it. Due to the large accumulation of released air, it falls outside. It takes a few minutes.

Dead or alive egg

It is difficult to immediately determine whether there is something inside the shell or not. As mentioned above, empty capsules will not go anywhere either. They must be removed by special means. Otherwise, they will leave the head only with falling hair.

If you look at a quick glance, then it is impossible to distinguish whether the parasite is alive or not. They look almost the same, and removing them from the hair is equally difficult.

But still there are differences.

The non-living capsule has no volume, it is flat.
If you press with a fingernail on a dry shell, you do not get any sound. With the pressure on the live, a crash is heard.
Inanimate nits dim and faded, and the living shines.
Color change. Bright white changes to a cloudy yellow.

Under the microscope, you can see not only the difference in the form of capsules of a living and a dead individual, but also the presence of a living being in it.

The only thing that remains the same is that both the living and the dead individuals are firmly held on the hair, and it is difficult to comb them out.

Where nits are fastened

In the presence of insects hair looks just sloppy. That is why it is very difficult to immediately determine pediculosis. Here will help the knowledge that the eggs are not attached below or above one to four centimeters from the scalp. It is rare to find that there is more than one egg on one hair. Each capsule must have its own individual place. And now how to distinguish dandruff from nits, because from afar they are so similar to each other.

One has only to ruffle the hair a little, just blow on it and dandruff particles will fly. But the future louse will remain in the old place. The sticky secret nits firmly holds. It remains to rip their nails only and that is not always possible. Special funds will help.

What experts say

Summarizing all the above, we listen to the advice of experts. They will advise how to recognize dandruff nits. There are several ways already proven.

Dandruff easily and easily flies from the hair with a comb or brush. The future louse is not easy to remove, it is firmly glued.
Appearance. Nits have an oval shape, shades: from light gray to dark brown. Dandruff is only white. Insects are almost always the same, and scales have different sizes.
Nits are located in warmer places: on the back of the head, behind the ears and closer to the skin. The flakes are spread all over the head.
Itching accompanies both diseases. With dandruff, it is more easily tolerated, and with pediculosis, a person sometimes combs his head to blood.

If desired, you can see how to distinguish dandruff from nits. Photos clearly demonstrate the differences.

Conclusion

Argued that nits can be infected. But do not believe it. If the future insect holds tightly to the hair, how can it go to the head of a neighbor?

The only option is to hit a hair infected on a healthy head or use a comb with eggs. This is all theory, in practice it is unlikely to happen. Now that you know how to distinguish between nits and dandruff, it will be easy for you to make a correct diagnosis and start getting rid of the problem in time.

How to deal with pediculosis and dandruff

Vaseline, vinegar and other folk remedies help with pediculosis in only 10% of cases. Combing efficiency does not exceed 40%. Dust soap is more effective in combination with combing, but this procedure will have to be repeated every day for at least a week.

The best thing you can do when you see a pediculosis is to consult a dermatologist. He will prescribe a special shampoo. Modern means of combating pediculosis can get rid of parasites in 1-2 days.

To get rid of dandruff, there are many special shampoos, there is no shortage of folk recipes. But whatever remedy is used, dandruff will return if the cause is not eliminated. A dermatologist will help to establish it. He will tell you what to do in this particular case: to treat a fungal skin disease or adjust the diet.

How to distinguish whether a parasite hatched from an egg or not

As we have said, even after the lice came out of the capsules, the shell is still fixed on the hair and, if you do not take certain actions, it leaves only with their loss.

The difference between nits capsules with and without individuals:

the inanimate capsule is devoid of its original shape, so it is flat,
dead nits have a dull color, and live - shines,
after the louse leaves the cocoon, the color changes from a pronounced white to a cloudy with a yellow tint,
if you press a nail on a live nits, followed by a characteristic crack.

What to do if you have pediculosis

If you suspect pediculosis, the most correct decision will be a trip to the doctor, who will conduct an examination and prescribe the correct treatment.

If for any reason you do not want to see a doctor, proceed to the pharmacy, where you will be advised to buy the right means to eliminate nits and lice.

To avoid infecting others, observe the following precautions:

do not go to crowded places and enclosed spaces,
report your illness to people you have been in contact with lately,
you should check for lice of those who live with you in the same room,
activate hygiene: clean, wash clothes and linen, as well as clean bedding and carpets,
It is forbidden to use other people's personal hygiene items - comb, towel, caps and bed linen.

Attention! If you have discovered pediculosis, immediately conduct a disinsection.

Thus, guided by our recommendations and photos, you can easily distinguish dandruff from nits. Remember, timely nits are a guarantee of quick recovery from pediculosis.