Do I have Lice? Read about the lice or dandruff quiz and learn how to differentiate between lice infestation and dandruff flakes scattered in the hair in this article. We examine various ways to accurately determine whether it is lice or dandruff using the lice vs. dandruff quiz.
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How do you know if you have Lice or Dandruff?
One of the greatest challenges when it comes to these bugs concerns how to know if you have lice or dandruff. You can tell if your hair has dandruff or lice by looking at the signs and symptoms.
Dandruff, for instance, looks flaky, and thick and its color is normally yellow to whitish. It also appears as patches that are either localized or spread on the scalp. Sometimes, it causes irritated, red skin.
A head louse is tan to brown to grayish-white in color and small, based on its age. The size of a mature or grown-up louse is approximately the same as that of a sesame seed.
It moves very fast in the head hair for the support of its six legs.
Important Read: Can Black People Get Lice?
Important Read: Learn about Lice vs Super Lice
Lice and Dandruff at the Same Time – Is it Possible?
Yes, both lice and dandruff can be in your head hair at the same time. There are some reports of people who had them simultaneously.
It can be very intimidating if it happens to you because of the unending itches. However, if you apply treatments such as a Satinique Dandruff Control shampoo, and lice shampoo, they can all disappear within no time.
Funny enough, there are those who suggest that you keep the lice since they can help remove the impact of dandruff by eating it.
sound that lice prefer clean heads and they like it very much if you regularly shampoo your hair. That is because it makes it easier for them to come closer to your skin to feed.
They can move if your hair is dirty because such a condition makes their feeding hell on earth. But, why? The reason is pretty simple.
Head hair that is not frequently combed tends to have a buildup of secretions and oils on the head scalp.
READ MORE: Remove head lice eggs from hair in 24 hrs
White Specks in Hair, not Lice – What is it?
The white specks in your hair could be symptoms of dandruff. That is because white dead skin cells are shed from your head scalp if you have it.
It could be as a result of frequent shampooing, not washing your hair enough, dryness, sensitivity to a yeast-like fungus or hair product, eczema, psoriasis, or seborrheic dermatitis.
Bugs in Hair not Lice
It’s not always that bugs in your hair are lice. There are other pests that can be found in your hair too including bedbugs. The question is, other than lice, do we have any bug that can be found in your hair?
Of course, yes. However, head lice are without question, the most common and the most logical pests in the head hair.
But, technically, any crawling insect or flying bug could use your head scalp as a short-term “hotel”“. Mosquitoes, scabies, mites, ticks, fleas, ants, and roaches, ants, just to mention a few, have high possibility of being in your hair.
What are the Brown Bugs in Hair but not Lice?
The brown bugs in your hair which are not lice exactly sound like them, but they could be brown scaly bugs.
You can remove them may not be a ride in the park. The use of lice shampoo to get rid of them cannot help either. Instead, you can smother the bugs and their eggs.
Believe me or not, they cannot be bothered with lice treatment. In fact, they may just make fun of it.
White Bugs in Hair not Lice
If you have noticed white bugs in your hair that are not lice, then it could be nits or immature lice. They look like small whitish rice found on the hair shaft, near the scalp.
You will probably see many of them above the ear, nape of the neck, and crown of the head. They must be eradicated within 7 days, failure to which, they hatch and the process must be repeated again to get rid of them.
Therefore, the second treatment must be done before 7 days elapse after the first one.
Lice or Dandruff Quiz
Many people have no idea about what they should look for when they have a condition of dandruff or lice infestation. They also wonder and remain amused because they don’t know what to look for.
Neither do they understand what next after they get a notice from school principals or teachers about their children having lice or dandruff?
These are some of the common questions you should solve if you want to know whether you have a lice infestation or dandruff condition. For instance:
- How does a dandruff condition look like?
A dandruff condition looks like a mild skin condition that appears like white flakes that fall or maybe shed from your hair when you rub your scalp.
- How does a lice infestation condition look like?
These are some of the pictures of head lice found in people’s hair and scalp.
- What differentiates dandruff, nits, and lice?
The primary difference between dandruff and immature lice is that nits stick to your hair, they are firmly attached to the hair shaft and rarely slide down the shaft of your hair under your fingertips.
Dandruff, on the other hand, is a common sign of skin conditions like eczema.
- How can you eliminate head lice?
You can use something like petroleum jelly or Vaseline to rub in the hair to cover it in saran wrap. Let the hair remain like that for about 30 minutes or so and then, comb with a nit comb after washing with shampoo.
- What should you look for if you want to know whether your child’s head if having dandruff or a life infestation condition?
You will know if you have either of the two hair problems with a finger test. It is not lice if it slides under your fingertips.
But, it’s likely to be lice if you must pry them off your hair shaft with your fingernails.
- What is the color of dandruff flakes?
If you see dandruff flakes that are yellow and greasy, then the most likely cause is seborrheic dermatitis, a certain skin condition.
- How can you differentiate between hair debris, live lice insects, or nits (lice eggs)?
For those people who have never had a personal-and-an up-close relationship with these pests, are very fortunate. You can tell the difference based on the following things:
- Dandruff flakes can be found nearly anywhere on your head. First, nits can be found close to the warm scalp areas before moving after your hair shaft grow.
- Dandruff shed white like dead skin cells from your head scalp. Any other residue you see on the scalp may be as a result of skin conditions like seborrhea or eczema.
- A nit denotes immature lice or a louse egg. Most of the time, you will find it on the hair shaft. They are normally glued to the hair shaft with glue, waterproof-like substance. Contrary to other dandruff conditions, an untreated nit when tugged between the tips of your finger will not slip alongside your hair shaft.
- You can easily remove dandruff flakes when combing or brushing the hair. Opposite to that is the eradication of nits because they cannot be removed that easily without treating the hair. You need an exceptional fine-toothed comb to do that.
- When a louse bites your skin, its saliva causes itching due to an allergic reaction. Dandruff also causes the tingling of the scalp.
- While nits are a bit symmetrical, dandruff is not that much.
- A louse infestation condition is a wingless sesame seed-sized insect with six legs. They have varying colors ranging from beige to gray. They move by themselves. Different from dandruff, a louse crawls.
This assortment of quizzes is designed to help you understand and assess your acquaintance with dandruff vs. head lice conditions.
Lice vs. Dandruff Side by Side
The Similarities between Dandruff and a Lice Infestation Conditions include
- Both require repeated therapy if the main issue is not addressed.
- Both lice infestation and dandruff conditions have an excellent prognosis.
- Both have some common symptoms such as restrained itching of your scalp.
- It is not a symptom of poor hygiene.
The table below shows the differences between lice and dandruff
| Differences Between Dandruff and a Lice Infestation Conditions | |
| A Lice Infestation Condition | Dandruff Condition |
| Adhering to hair/scalp hygiene by not using items with others that can be infected by lice is the best way of pest prevention. | Dandruff cannot be prevented as per now but are natural cosmetics, are fully treated using simple measures, and not contagious. |
| Lice treatment entails the use of over-the-counter shampoos. | Effective dandruff treatment involves the use of anti-dandruff shampoo. |
| Lice infestation is very common and contagious in both early childhood and toddler grades. | The occurrence of dandruff is very common in adults and teens. |
Do I have Lice or am I Paranoid?
Taking the do I have lice quiz can sometimes make you have a settled mind. Quite often, most illiterate mothers of a toddler or children in their early ages tend to be extremely paranoid about their kids having head lice.
Their paranoia is so high that one might think their children are suffering from a terminal disease like cancer or HIV AIDS that can be transmitted from person-to-person.
These insects can only be transferred from one individual to the other through direct contact through sharing clothing or hair items because they cannot jump or fly.
No need to be paranoid about these pests because they don’t carry diseases either.
The only problem they have is causing a mild nuisance and nothing else. So, why should mothers be paranoid about their kids carrying lice or themselves? Actually, no good reason at all.
Lice or Dandruff Pictures
These are some of the images showing both lice nits and dandruff. By looking at the image one understands why the two can be confusing.
Is It Dandruff Or Lice? It’s Dandruff!
Is It Dandruff Or Lice? It’s Lice Nits!
Little White Things in Hair, not Lice or Dandruff
Sometimes you may wake up one day and upon checking the mirror realize that you have some white things in the hair which are not necessarily lice or dandruff.
Well, the first step is you need to be certain that you have no lice or dandruff or dry hair scalp for that matter.
White specks or things in the hair may be caused by several issues depending on your daily occupation or the environment in which you operated. Some of the possible explanations of the white specks are listed below:
- Chalkdust – Exposure to chalk dust may be the reason why your hair has white specks
- Ash – If you operate in an environment where there is constant exposure to dust particles, you may end up having some of these products settling in your hair
References on Lice or Dandruff Quiz
- 1: FreshHeadliceRemoval – Difference between head lice and dandruff
- 2: HealthTap – Bug in hair not lice
- 3: Medicinenet – Head lice vs. dandruff
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