What is on my childs scalp? (warning this is gross)?

Question

My son was recently sent home for having lice. I looked and saw nits in his hair but I am a little worried becuase the school nurse said it didn't look like typical lice. Now my other two have it and I saw something in my babies hair today that makes me want to jump out of my skin. It looked like a small cintapede (about 1/4"/very thin). It is amber colored and the eggs that I have found are white oval shaped. Is this lice or something else? Also I am finding them mostly on the bangs and not the nape of the neck.

Answer 1

It sounds like lice. You can treat the baby by covering the head with petroleum jelly and a cloth to keep your house somewhat protected for a couple of days then washing with vinegar. Talk to the doctor about treating the baby with the Rid or other shampoo. What you saw was an immature louse. Try to comb them out if you can, and I wish you all the luck in the world getting rid of the stupid things.

Answer 2

I'm gonna guess what you saw was the actual louse (singular form of "lice"). There are a few different kinds, some resemble crabs, others resemble centipedes. Usually, the nits are yellow or brown, but once they hatch, the remaining shell can look white.

I would call the school nurse back and ask her to elaborate about why it "didn't look like typical lice", since you are not well-educated about what "typical" and "atypical" lice look like.

I would also call your kid's doctor. Probably, the nurse will be able to tell you if it's lice or not just by your description. Either way, it can't hurt. Lice are parasites, but they're relatively harmless parasites. You don't want to take the chance that your child has another, more dangerous one, though, so calling the doctor would be a good idea.

Answer 3

They would be lice in their final stage which is quite large. Don't stress...just treat all your children plus anyone else in the house with a proper insecticide available at the chemist and make sure you comb their hair thoroughly to get rid of all the eggs. Sometimes you will need to do it every 7 days for 3 weeks to break the cycle of the lice. Having lice does NOT mean you or your children are dirty, they actually prefer clean hair as it is easier for them to stick to it than dirty hair. Unfortunately they are a fact of life...my kids have had them a couple of weeks ago and I am still treating my oldest6 boy as he refuses to get his mop of hair cut and hates me combing out the eggs. I am going to put conditioner in his hair tonight and comb it through as this often works quite well. Good luck.

Oh and white eggs mean that the louse inside has already hatched and the glue holding them to the hair isn't as strong so they get brushed to the ends of hair easily....not like fresh eggs that are laid approx. 5mm-1cm from the scalp...which is why you would be finding them where you are.

Answer 4

Sounds like lice to me you can use the rid stuff as well as (grease) its made for african americans hair and it smells better then the petroleum jelly ... make sure you are cleaning the house really well or they are going to come back ! good luck

Answer 5

Go to the dr & make sure it is lice & not something else.

Answer 6

i suggest u get to the ER right away! u must get that bug out of ur kids hair- it doesn't sound like lice to me- u don't know what that bug can transmit to ur children- remember head lice and other head bugs feed off the blood from the scalp and can get bigger... please take care of the situation right away.

Answer 7

hmmm sounds to me like there are lot of nasty yucky lice in the hair. just go to the dr and tell him/her and please do tell the dr to give the pills because shampoos aren't that effective.