Pictures of LICE and NITS Nits can be light or dark in color, are very difficult to remove and appear to be "glued" to the hair (unlike dandruff which is easily brushed away). Here is the pesky 'louse'. It is very small, blackish/dark brown and can crawl very quickly.
Signs and symptoms of head lice include: presence of insects that are black or gray and about 2–3 millimeters (mm) long with six clawed legs. an itching or tickling sensation in the hair.
Also look for lice feces, that look like tiny black specks on your child's scalp. If you see black specks, care- fully examine the rest of the head for live lice. Eggs: Female lice typically attach eggs 1/2-inch from the scalp. There can be from a few to several hundred nits in a child's hair.
To make a diagnosis of head lice, the medical professional will look for a louse or nit on the scalp. They may shine a black light at the scalp called a Wood's lamp, as the insects and eggs appear as fluorescent yellow-green spots under this light.
In most cases of ringworm infection, the fungus will glow (fluoresce) if it is exposed to black light. However, this is not necessarily always the case, and other conditions that are similar in appearance to ringworm also fluoresce under black light, including Lyme disease.
Location: Lice lay eggs called nits while dandruff causes flaky skin. The two look similar, but close inspection reveals key differences. Nits stick to the hair while dandruff flakes, easily falling off of hair. While dandruff is visible on the scalp, lice lay eggs on hair, not the scalp.
Black dots correspond to remnants of hair shafts in the follicular ostia and cannot be removed mechanically. They are usually associated with other forms of broken hairs. The second trichoscopic finding is hair dye; if hair is improperly washed, dye can deposit on the scalp and may even penetrate the follicular ostia.
The simplest way to tell is by looking at the color — live and dead nits are brown while hatched nits are clear. After applying a treatment to the scalp, you will need to check for nits and dispose of them in a plastic bag.
Lice and nits can be removed by wet combing. You can buy a special fine-toothed comb (detection comb) online or from pharmacies to remove head lice and nits. There may be instructions on the pack, but usually you: wash hair with ordinary shampoo.
Finding eggs (nits) without lice does not necessarily mean that there is an active infestation; nits can be found for months after lice are treated. Because lice lay eggs at the base of the hair shaft, the identification of nits within ¼ inch of the scalp suggests (but does not confirm) an active infestation.
Treatment for head lice includes using over-the-counter medicated or prescription shampoos, lotions or creams that eliminate head lice. Over-the-counter medicated shampoos contain a substance called pyrethrin or permethrin that kill lice and nits.
Head lice are tiny insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. Head lice most often affect children. The insects usually spread through direct transfer from the hair of one person to the hair of another.
Lice can look like dandruff or other conditions of the scalp. Identifying head lice often depends on spotting the nits (eggs), which look like tiny yellow, tan, or brown spots stuck on the hair shaft near the scalp.
This is a tactile hallucination known as formication. People with this condition are convinced the bugs are real, even with reassurance from others they are a hallucination. This makes formication difficult to treat for the person and their medical provider.
Head lice usually look grayish-white or tan in color, though they can camouflage. Adult lice are around the same size as a sesame seed. Lice eggs may look like tiny ovals on the hair shaft. Head lice are tiny parasites that live on the human head and feed on blood from the scalp.
Piedra is a superficial fungal infection of hair shafts, which presents with small nodules stuck-on to the shaft. Black piedra, caused by Piedraia hortae, is characterized by black-colored nodules and is common in the tropics, especially in individuals with long hair and poor scalp hygiene.
Although head lice and nits can be visible with the naked eye, a magnifying lens may help to find crawling lice or nits. Nits are often confused with other particles found in hair such as dandruff, hair spray droplets, and dirt particles.
Dandruff can sometimes be mistaken for lice, but the symptoms are different. While lice is a parasitic infection, dandruff is a skin condition. Itching: Like lice, dandruff can be itchy, but it is usually not as intense as the itching caused by lice. The drier the scalp, the more dandruff will usually itch.
Look for lice crawling on the scalp where the hair is parted or on the hair shaft. The lice will be dark in color and the size of a poppyseed. Look for nits near hair follicle about ¼ inch from scalp. Nits (eggs) will be white or yellowish-brown.
Fungus Infections, such as ringworm or tricophyton, show as various shades of green (from yellowish to chartreuse) under ultraviolet light. Tinea versicolor, a skin rash, will fluoresce yellow. Vitamin B deficiencies will be indicated by the red fluorescence of a prepellagrinous tongue.
Treatment. A single patch of ringworm can be treated with an over-the-counter (OTC) antifungal cream. Creams usually contain clotrimazole, ketoconazole, econazole, tolnaftate, or terbinafine. If there are many patchy areas, your child may need a prescription cream, or oral antifungal medicine taken by mouth.
Supplies needed for a head lice inspection include:
Strong source of natural light, high intensity lamp, or strong flashlight – Nits reflect ultraviolet light, so natural light (near a window or outside) are the best.