Nits & Lice or Something Else?

Updated on September 04, 2012
T.M. asks from Trumbull, CT
5 answers

Hello everyone . . . I got the dreaded call no one wants to get from the school the other day . . . the school nurse called to tell me she found nits in my daughter's hair . . . yikes! There was one confirmed case in my daughter's class (3rd grade) and it was the girl my daughter had a playdate with a couple of weeks before school started. I picked her up from school and brought her to my sister's house. My sister is a hairdresser and has also has had experience treating lice and nits in her stepson's hair and also her friend's children's hair. When she examined my daughter's hair . . . she didn't see the "nits" she's used to seeing . . . my daughter did have these little white things in her hair (not near the scalp like they say the nits are located) . . . that slid off pretty easily with my fingers. . . my sister said that looked like more of a scalp issue than "nits" . . . so I took her to a medical walk-in clinic for confirmation. He also saw a few of these "white" tubular things on her hair after examining her with a magnifing scope and light . . . but no actual "nits" other than these little white things, that he could see. He took a strand of the hair with this "white" thing on it and put in under a microscope and let me see it. He showed me on his computer a magnified version of a "nit" and then showed me my daughter's strand of hair under the microscope. He said it didn't look like what the internet showed as a typical nit . . . but because the "white" thing was encircling the strand of hair . . . he couldn't rule it out . . . so he couldn't confirm or not confirm that it was a nit. So I went back to my sisters and had her do the treatment on my daughter just in case. Then because I'm usually always holding or hugging my daughter . . . and I also work in her school, I had my sister treat me. And my husband was paranoid so he used a treatment shampoo too.

I did some research on the internet that night and came across a scalp condition that causes "hair casts" . . . which are tubular and white and which come from the scalp. There was a picture of what they look like and also a maginfied view under a microscope and it was exactly what I personally saw at the clinic under the scope. Also the information on the internet said that these "hair casts" are very often mistaken for "nits" . . . so I'm wondering if this is what my daughter's case may be.

Have any of you ever had this issue? Has your child ever been misdiagnosed for having "nits" in their hair only to find out that it was more of a scalp issue. I actually found a couple of strands of hair on my daughter with these white things and put them in a plastic bag. I'm going to call a dermatologist in the morning to see if I can get her an appointment . . . but the school nurse has to examine her before she'll let her back in school and I don't want her to miss school because of a misdiagnosis . . . so I thought I'd ask about it here to see if anyone else had this experience.

Sorry for the long post . . . I just wanted to make sure I explained everything that happend. Thanks in advance for your help.

T.

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So What Happened?

Hi everyone. Thank you for your responses. I brought my daughter to school today and she was checked by the school nurse. She didn't see any nits . . . so she allowed her to go to school. I still haven't been able to confirm if she actually had lice or not. I never actually found "nits", neither did my sister, who did the treatments, or the walk-in clinic that I brought her too. . . my sister thought she we found a little bug in her hair during the treatment, so I put it in a plastic baggie . . . but after showing it to my pharmacist, he didn't think it was a bug . . . so I decided to call our town Health Department. I brought both the "bug" and a couple of strand of hair with the white flakes or whatever it was the nurse saw, so they can check it out. The nurse at the health department also could not confirm or identify whether they were nits or if what I was showing her an actual "bug" or "louse" . . . so out of curiosity and for confirmation purposes . . . she suggested I send it out to a special department that identifies insects . . . it may take a 1 - 3 weeks to get the results, but I figured what do I have to lose. In the mean time . . . my daughter did have the treatment this past Friday . . . and both my husband and I did too for preventative measures. I cleaned all of the sheets, comforters, etc. that she was in contact with and vacuumed the house and car. I will also be re-treating her with an organic treatment this time in 7 days, and I'm going to continue to check for nits or lice everytime she washes her hair . . . just to make sure . . . So we'll see how it goes. But I will definitely be curious to see what kind of results the health department comes back with. Thanks again for responding to my post. I apprecate you time.

More Answers

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

The reason to not treat her is that lice treatments is a pesticides and if she has a skin condition that is going to have this on her hair all the time you would be continuously treating her over and over and over with poison. So yes, you do need this diagnoses. Your doc has already diagnosed this. Give the nurse the note from the doc that says she did not have a single nit in her hair but that there was white debris in it. That is all that is needed. The nurse cannot go against a doc's diagnosis. She is underneath a docs status and cannot overrule him.

I don't know that I would be giving this this much attention. She did not have lice, the doc said so. A lot of people who have dandruff have shafts of white debris that slides off the hair too. It seems to me that it's a non issue.

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G.H.

answers from Chicago on

NEVER EVER use the pesticide (lice shampoo). It is a terrible chemical that can cause neurological damage. My husband is a Nuclear Physicist and will not ever allow that stuff on our heads.

The best way to get rid of nits and lice is patience by picking them out. There is a special conditioner and comb to use. The conditioner puts weight on the lice and makes them move very slowly. This way you can find them easily. There is only one comb that works amazing; the terminator. There is also a special technique to using the comb. And this technique should be done twice a day till you don't see anymore.

It doesn't sound like she has nits. Nits stick like glue to the hair, you have to peel it off with your finger nail. If it flakes off then it's not a nit.

And I disagree with the poster that said you should send your kid to school if they have lice/nits. I'm sure other parents wouldn't be pleased to know that a kid with lice is at school.

C.C.

answers from San Francisco on

I don't know about the scalp condition you're referring to, but the school nurse shouldn't have sent your daughter home from school, nor should she be barring her from returning to school. (Especially since most children have head lice for a full month prior to diagnosis - what's another few hours at school?) See the attached recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pag...

Print out the report so you can show the nurse tomorrow, and take your daughter to school as always. Just in case it is lice (it doesn't sound like it, but just to placate the nurse), tell her you will re-treat with the lice shampoo in 9 days as the AAP suggests, and leave it at that. Meanwhile, if you're able to get a diagnosis of the scalp condition from the dermatologist, you can show that to the nurse to further educate her on this topic. Good luck!

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C.B.

answers from San Francisco on

I've never heard of hair casts, but if your daughter has not been itching/scratching, then I bet it is something other than lice/nits. She would have to have live lice in her hair in order to have nits and if she had live lice, they would be feeding on her scalp and she would be itching.

I would call the school nurse and explain it to her and then take her back to school tomorrow.

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R.K.

answers from Appleton on

Why take the chance that it is not lice or nits. Simply treat her, and ALL family members hair and do the cleaning in your home and car. You have to clean anyway.
To make sure you get all the nits and live lice vacuum all soft surfaces in your house and car, carpets, upholstesry, curtains, mattresses. Wash pillows and stuffed animals and dry in the dryer. If they can not be washed put them in a big plastic bag for a month or if you have room freeze overnight. Get all laundry done washed and dryed or put in plastic bags. Get it washed ASAP.
When you are done throw out the vacuum cleaner bag.
It's a hassel and probably not what you were planning to do today but look at it this way, your house and car are all clean and you can relax for a few days after work.
When you are all done talk to the school nurse and explain what you did. You should be good to go.
I went through this several years ago. A little boy my son played with all the time seemed to always get lice when he spent the weekend at his dad's house. I felt like I just got done cleaning up after the lice and he would come over again and I had to start all over again. His mom finally laid down the law with the dad and it stopped.
BTW: pets do not get lice from humans.

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