If you’ve gotten the letter home from school that lice is going around, you’ll need to check your child’s head for lice. But, how do you know if it is lice or dandruff?
Checking your child’s scalp for lice can cause you stress and anxiety but telling the difference between lice or dandruff is easy.
Is it lice or dandruff? How to tell the difference:
- Remove any hair clips, rubber bands or the like from your child’s hair.
- Stand somewhere really well lit: Outdoor sunshine is the best, but a bright lamp or even a flashlight will do.
- Use a comb to part the hair and check behind the ears, along the neckline, and especially at the temples and crown of the head.
Look for white or cream-ish colored eggs attached to the hair follicles anywhere from 1/4 inch to 1 inch away from the scalp. They will be slightly tear drop shaped and glued to the hair.
Dandruff, on the other hand, is light and flaky and can be blown with a puff of air or gently flicked with a finger.
Lice eggs do not just fall off the hair. They are attached and need to be pulled off or removed with a lice comb.
If you’ve discovered your child indeed has an active case of lice, don’t panic. We are here to help you every step of the way. Our comprehensive book “Uninvited: a mom’s guide to killing lice” will review the entire lice removal process and walk you through everything from how to comb the hair to how and what you’ll need to wash after the treatments.
You can read more about the essential book on eliminating lice right here.
If you’ve discovered your child just has dandruff, be sure to check out our tips on how to prevent lice from happening to your child.
