Is it possible to have lice, but only find nits?

Question

My 14-year-old daughter just came home and said that her friend was just sent home from a hairdresser with "lice," although she thinks only nits were found. I checked her and found, after a while, some little white things that could be nits. Not a lot, though, and not clustered. They could also be dandruff or product (she uses a fair amount). I kept looking with a flashlight, and look though I did for some time, never found even one louse-looking thing. Her scalp looks pretty healthy too. She had one instance that we thought was lice about 10 years ago, but again, never found a bug, although her older brother did have some, and we deloused accordingly (he's long gone, and we don't live there anymore).

Any advice? We're really very hygienic, daily washing of bodies and clothing, weekly sheet changing and all that.

Everyone's been very eager to help, but can anyone answer my basic question: is it important to find live lice? Frankly, I DO think it does harm to use lice shampoo on someone who doesn't need it, they have neurotoxic ingredients.

Answer 1

yes, it is possible. sometimes lice lay eggs and die... and the new batch of eggs do not hatch for various reasons... u still need to treat her and get the nits out.
however, do it by buying a good finetooth metal comb (licender/ terminator/ licemeister) and combing thur her hair strand by strand after smothering her with a thick conditioner (pantene). watch how to do the comb out- www.headlice.org

Answer 2

First ...Lice that effect humans cannot live off of the human body for long they and their eggs require a body temperature of 98.6 or higher and a blood supply to survive and lay eggs or hatch so they won't last long at all in your carpets or bedding...Lice do not jump they do run however and can be transfered by close head to head contact and sharing of brushes beds etc.People who get lice tend have clean dry hair they cannot attach the nits to oily hair. nits are tiny found close to the scalp and yes they are kinda clear/white like itty bitty pieces of rice but they will be attached firmly to the strand of hair so you have to pull it off with your fingernails or a hair comb for lice. If she's come into close contact with someone with lice it cannot hurt to treat the head anyway just to be safe.Go to the drug store and get some RID and be prepared for hours of pulling nits. While you can have lots of those in your hair the actual bugs rarely get high in numbers they basicly breed feed and die. You may have to do more than one treatment for head lice. I would wash the bedding and vaccuum the mattresses carpets and your couches after treating your childs hair before they go to bed. Nits tend to be found behind the ears and at the nape of the neck your child will scratch these areas a lot so start there you will have to go section by section through the hair strands to get them all and will need some bright light for this darker hair is generally easier to see them in. Hope this helps you.

Answer 3

nits are lice eggs that are cemented to the shaft by adults. totally independent once glued the the strand. they hatch and you have a full blown out break.
bedding should be washed in hot water with soap and bleach the stuffed animals and pillows should be put into garbage bags and stored in the sun for2 weeks... lice can live out side of the host for 48 hours. they are a parasite. if the thing that you found was dandruff, you should be able to move it with you hand. nits are cemented and you have to really scrape them off. they ara usually right next to the scalp for easy access to the blood supply. check behind her ears and in the nape where it is warmest. I hope this helps.
good luck.

Answer 4

well lice and nits LOVE clean hair. just to be safe id get a lice shampoo