How Do You Know if You Have Head Lice or Dandruff

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If you, or someone in your family, starts suffering from an itchy scalp and soon notices small, white specs in the hair, the starting time question is usually, "Is this dandruff … or lice?!" Keep reading to learn the deviation betwixt head lice vs dandruff.

White flecks and itching are the outset symptoms that most people notice for both conditions, simply, of form, dandruff and lice are very different and crave different treatments.

It is like shooting fish in a barrel to diagnose, even so, once y'all know what to look for. And don't worry: neither is very serious and both are easy to treat.

Head Lice vs Dandruff: A Quick Overview

Lice are tiny, parasitic insects that feed on man blood. They live primarily on the scalp, merely can spread to other facial pilus. They exercise non wing or jump and do not carry affliction. Lice infect make clean hair also as dingy hair.

Dandruff is a common condition wherein excess oil builds upward on the scalp, causing skin to chip. Information technology is not contagious or dangerous but can be embarrassing–particularly since the flakes are easily shed.

What do lice wait like?

Lice nits, or eggs, are very modest, white "drops" that are anchored to hair follicles shut to the scalp. They tin can be seen with the naked center, simply most people apply a magnifying glass to see them well.

Juvenile and adult lice are small, white, or tan insects with six legs. They do non have wings. Full-grown lice are about the size of a sesame seed.

What does dandruff await like?

Dandruff flakes are small and white but may vary slightly in size and shape. Astringent cases may crusade big flakes or scales. The flakes come up abroad from the scalp easily, and so they may be found loosely throughout the pilus, dusting shoulders, or defenseless in hats and hair accessories.

Lice and dandruff can wait very similar, and then how exercise y'all know if information technology'due south lice or dandruff? A few uncomplicated considerations include:

• Sensations on the scalp. Both caput lice and dandruff are itchy, only many people with head lice can experience the tickling sensation of lice crawling on their scalps besides.

• Ease of removal. How hard is it to remove the white specks yous can encounter? Dandruff will come abroad easily with a fingernail or normal comb. Adult lice will scatter and hide from the lite when hair is parted, and nits are very difficult to remove from hair follicles.

Can lice wing?

Caput lice don't bound or fly, but they are easily spread past head-to-head, or hai-to-hair contact. This ways lice tend to spread between children and/or their caretakers. If someone you lot know has had head lice, at that place's a adventure your itchy scalp is also lice.

Symptoms of Lice vs. Dandruff

If you lot're still non sure whether you're dealing with lice or dandruff, a complete list of symptoms—in addition to the white specks—can assistance yous determine what'south itching your, or your kid'southward, scalp.

Lice symptoms include:

• Itching and movement on the scalp
• Nits anchored firmly to pilus follicles
• Carmine bumps or sores from lice bites
• Signs of infection , from excessive scratching
• Trouble sleeping, because caput lice are more active at dark

Dandruff symptoms include:

• Itching on the scalp, particularly itching that worsens in common cold or dry weather
• Crusting or scaling on scalp
• Flakes may extend to eyebrows and/or autumn onto shoulders
• Red, irritated skin (just no bumps)

Treatments for Head Lice vs. Dandruff

While head lice and dandruff feel and expect very similar they are, of grade, very different, and crave unlike treatments.

Caput Lice Treatment

At that place are 3 basic categories of head lice treatments:

• Traditional lice shampoos and creams
• Prescription lice treatments
• Natural treatments that don't utilize chemicals or pesticides

Choosing the correct head lice treatment for you lot and your family takes a footling consideration.

Traditional, over-the-counter lice shampoos are proving less and less constructive, as well-nigh strains of lice in the U.Southward. have developed a resistance to the active chemicals in those products. Prescription medications require a md'southward date, simply waiting days to see your pediatrician when someone has head lice is just besides long.

Some natural treatments for head lice take been scientifically proven to be effective … only many are old wives tales. So while a natural handling can be your best option, you demand to know which ones are actually constructive.

For more details on lice treatments, read "How to Get Rid of Head Lice." →

Dandruff Treatment

Dandruff treatments besides come up in a multifariousness of natural options and medicinal shampoos.

The start step to finding an effective dandruff treatment is to only launder the hair more thoroughly or more often, or attempt a dissimilar regular shampoo. Many times, shampoo is not potent enough, not applied long enough, or not used oftentimes plenty, to intermission through the natural oil barriers of the scalp.

Natural dandruff remedies include treating the scalp with any of the following:

• Tea tree oil
• Coconut oil
• Baking soda
• Apple cider vinegar
• Aloe vera

Dietary considerations can also assist treat the underlying causes of dandruff in some cases. You lot may try increasing your consumption of omega-3s and/or probiotics, for example. Decreasing stress levels can also rest the allowed system and reduce symptoms like itching and dryness.

If natural treatments don't cure dandruff, there are medicinal shampoos for dandruff as well. The active ingredients vary, simply be aware that shampoos containing coal tar or selenium sulfide can discolor lite-colored hair and/or skin.

Causes of Lice and Dandruff

A helpful piece of treating and preventing both head lice and dandruff is knowing what causes them to begin with.

Causes of Head Lice

Caput lice do non jump or fly and they practice non live on animals. Caput lice can merely be spread by close contact with an infected person. Most commonly, lice spread by head-to-head or pilus-to-pilus contact—such as children crowding effectually a book, or teens getting close to friends for a picture show, etc.

Lice can as well be spread by contact with an infected person'south bedding, hats, or hair accessories, merely this is less common. Head lice can only live off a host for 48 hours.

Call back, lice infest clean pilus as well as dirty hair, and so a case of head lice is non an indication of poor hygiene. While cases are more common in children (because they are in closer proximity more ofttimes than most adults), caput lice can spread to adults as well.

Causes of Dandruff

The causes of dandruff are more circuitous. In that location are several factors and atmospheric condition that can cause excessive flaking of the scalp:

• Dry pare — If y'all have dry out peel in full general, your scalp may just exist one more than part of the skin that is suffering.

• • Seborrheic dermatitis — The most common cause of dandruff is a skin condition known as seborrheic dermatitis, which affects whatsoever part of the skin where oil glands are nowadays. Information technology causes redness and oily skin, which and so scales and flakes off.

• Backlog yeast — Malassezia is a fungus that lives on everyone's skin and scalp, just some people's skin produces too much. The excess yeast causes skin cells to multiply faster than normal. The excess dries and flakes off.

• Allergies — An allergy to a pilus-intendance product can irritate and dry out out the scalp. This rough, dry pare then flakes off and appears as dandruff.

Lice and Dandruff Prevention

Once you've successfully identified and treated lice or dandruff, you want to make sure information technology never comes dorsum.

Lice Prevention

Lice is a parasitic infestation, impartial to cleanliness, ethnicity, or full general health. The only fashion to truly prevent head lice is to avert the insects entirely, which is difficult since they are very difficult to see.

If you or someone in your family has caput lice, you can accept a few steps to prevent others from getting it:

• Isolate the infected individual until treatment is complete.
• Launder or launder whatsoever items that have been in contact with the infested hair in the past 48 hours.
• Contact schools and friends who have been with the infested person recently, to advise them to check for head lice.

The only surefire fashion to preclude head lice is shaving your head. The one thing head lice need is hair.

Dandruff Prevention

Some people are, unfortunately, genetically predisposed to developing dandruff. Still, in that location are measures that anyone tin accept to prevent (or at least dramatically lessen) the evolution of dandruff:

• Be certain to launder your pilus regularly with a practiced (normal) shampoo. You lot may want to try a few options earlier moving to an anti-dandruff shampoo.
• Use an anti-dandruff or antifungal shampoo, every bit directed, to proceed especially oily skin or other dermatological concerns under command.
• Avert using chemicals on your pilus/scalp that may irritate or dry your peel.
• Use a humidifier at night to avert dry skin/scalp, especially in the winter or in dryer climates.

Caput Lice vs Dandruff FAQs

Our experts frequently hear a couple of other crossover questions, related to head lice vs dandruff.

Can y'all get lice if you have dandruff?

Yes, you can become lice even while you're trying to get dandruff under control , but you are not more or less probable to get head lice if yous take dandruff. Remember that while lice and dandruff look and feel very like, lice are parasitic insects that are not partial to clean or muddy hair. They feed on human claret and are not daunted (or attracted) by dry, flaky skin.

Does dandruff shampoo, like Head and Shoulders, kill lice?

Dandruff shampoo is not constructive against head lice. The active ingredients in dandruff treatments are designed to moisturize skin, break through backlog oils, and combat the over-production of yeasts. None of these ingredients has proven effective against killing lice.

The Divergence Between Lice and Dandruff

Caput lice and dandruff seem very similar in the immediate, but they're actually quite unlike. A closer expect at a dry, itchy scalp will quickly reveal whether you're dealing with an infestation of parasites or a build-up of dry skin.

If you tin can feel itch in addition to itching, if the white specks are hard to remove, and if friends or classmates have reported cases—you probably take head lice.

Merely don't worry. Whether it'southward lice or dandruff, neither is very serious, and there are a variety of treatment options available for both. Once you've identified the problem, you can first treatment and observe fast relief.

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