This isn't a lice egg... so what is it?
August 5, 2013 8:57 AM Subscribe
Here's a picture. Found on the head. Have been checked for headlice professionally very carefully and given the all clear... but still some itching and finding this which looks like an egg. Scale is about 1/3 of a millimetre.
What do you think it is? They're egg shaped. Just a fatty deposit? I have the feeling like I need to scratch. Could be imagining it?
It's summertime, and grease builds up much more quickly and leaves behind lots of gross white deposits. It could very well be grease.
Nits (lice eggs) tend to be very close to the roots, but they are almost glued there. You really have to use fingernails to detach them from the hair. Typically the first place to get nits is the area just behind the ears. It's warm and cozy there. This sounds disgusting, but I learned this trick from my mother: if you believe it's a nit, you can squeeze it between the two thumb fingernails. If it's just mushy, it's unlikely to be a nit. If you hear a small pop or crack, it's likely a nit.
There is rumor that lice are becoming resistant to treatment, so I wouldn't recommend the chemical solutions unless you are sure. However, you can do some of the natural treatments (google mayo or olive oil treatments) and then use a lice comb to see if you find any adults.
posted by frizz at 9:11 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Nits (lice eggs) tend to be very close to the roots, but they are almost glued there. You really have to use fingernails to detach them from the hair. Typically the first place to get nits is the area just behind the ears. It's warm and cozy there. This sounds disgusting, but I learned this trick from my mother: if you believe it's a nit, you can squeeze it between the two thumb fingernails. If it's just mushy, it's unlikely to be a nit. If you hear a small pop or crack, it's likely a nit.
There is rumor that lice are becoming resistant to treatment, so I wouldn't recommend the chemical solutions unless you are sure. However, you can do some of the natural treatments (google mayo or olive oil treatments) and then use a lice comb to see if you find any adults.
posted by frizz at 9:11 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Doesn't look like one - could be dust or sand or just a weird hair/skin buildup.
I've had many people miss lice on my kids - even me (checking after notifications of lice in te class were sent home). But we've got down a decent delousing routine at this point. We've been clear for several months though I'm doing another check tonight.
Might be an overactive imagination that makes you feel itchy; but a night or two of olive oil hair treatment (either grab a bottle or pick up an oo cream) can soothe the scalp anyway.
But I simply don't know what a "normal" scalp feels like except for maybe 10 min after happening to hit on the right 'poo and conditioning treatment applied at the optimal time for that particular level of seb dem breakout. Lice (and I had a small infestation briefly) didn't seem any more or less itchy to my daily life.
posted by tilde at 9:20 AM on August 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
I've had many people miss lice on my kids - even me (checking after notifications of lice in te class were sent home). But we've got down a decent delousing routine at this point. We've been clear for several months though I'm doing another check tonight.
Might be an overactive imagination that makes you feel itchy; but a night or two of olive oil hair treatment (either grab a bottle or pick up an oo cream) can soothe the scalp anyway.
But I simply don't know what a "normal" scalp feels like except for maybe 10 min after happening to hit on the right 'poo and conditioning treatment applied at the optimal time for that particular level of seb dem breakout. Lice (and I had a small infestation briefly) didn't seem any more or less itchy to my daily life.
posted by tilde at 9:20 AM on August 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
Looks like a chunk of dried hair product--is that possible?!
posted by masquesoporfavor at 9:33 AM on August 5, 2013
posted by masquesoporfavor at 9:33 AM on August 5, 2013
I get an itchy scalp and surprisingly few flakes when I have dandruff. It's caused by a fungus you can treat it with any decent anti dandruff shampoo I usually just use head and shoulders. Sweat can also make your scalp itchy as can a bad shampoo and conditioner combo drying out your scalp, which an also be made itchy by over or under washing your hair.
Lice/nit eggs tend to look more like little white spots stuck to the hair shaft, and really stuck. The best way to search for them is with a louse comb through damp or wet hair, hatched lice are easy to comb out this way. The blobs you show don't really look like their eggs to me but I am not an expert. If you are worried why not treat your as if you do have them, there are some really good none chemical methods out there, the olive oil method is good if labour intensive, I've also done that method using cheap conditioner.
As for the itching, I noticed no scalp itchiness until I sat here and started writing this response and went looking for a good picture of louse eggs, now I can't stop scratching.
posted by wwax at 9:40 AM on August 5, 2013
Lice/nit eggs tend to look more like little white spots stuck to the hair shaft, and really stuck. The best way to search for them is with a louse comb through damp or wet hair, hatched lice are easy to comb out this way. The blobs you show don't really look like their eggs to me but I am not an expert. If you are worried why not treat your as if you do have them, there are some really good none chemical methods out there, the olive oil method is good if labour intensive, I've also done that method using cheap conditioner.
As for the itching, I noticed no scalp itchiness until I sat here and started writing this response and went looking for a good picture of louse eggs, now I can't stop scratching.
posted by wwax at 9:40 AM on August 5, 2013
Best answer: I don't think it looks like a lice egg. One trick is to squeeze it between the faces of two fingernails. If it pops (like a tiny egg would) it could be an egg, but still may not. If it just mashes down into a flat mass (like a tiny ball of hardened grease), or crumbles (like dried hair product), it definitely is not an egg. If you can't break it at all (like a tiny rock) it's not an egg.
It's definitely not an unhatched egg. If it was, you would actually be able to see a little bit through it and see the developing louse at this magnification.
You are probably itchy because you have dandruff and/or you have freaked yourself out enough to make yourself itchy.
posted by gubenuj at 9:43 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's definitely not an unhatched egg. If it was, you would actually be able to see a little bit through it and see the developing louse at this magnification.
You are probably itchy because you have dandruff and/or you have freaked yourself out enough to make yourself itchy.
posted by gubenuj at 9:43 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Sebum plug*, I'd say.
You probably have an oily scalp right now. It could be because of heat, overly stripping hair care products, or products that are trapping the oil between the follicle and pores.
Using a gentle, ph-balanced shampoo every other day, laying off product for a bit if you can (or using sparingly, away from the scalp), and giving your scalp a cool rinse after exertion/time in the heat can bring these (and the itching) way down.
* surprisingly, the bing link had more useful info than either Google or DuckDuckGo, but do feel free to change the provider in the search and see what you can find at those.
posted by batmonkey at 9:58 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
You probably have an oily scalp right now. It could be because of heat, overly stripping hair care products, or products that are trapping the oil between the follicle and pores.
Using a gentle, ph-balanced shampoo every other day, laying off product for a bit if you can (or using sparingly, away from the scalp), and giving your scalp a cool rinse after exertion/time in the heat can bring these (and the itching) way down.
* surprisingly, the bing link had more useful info than either Google or DuckDuckGo, but do feel free to change the provider in the search and see what you can find at those.
posted by batmonkey at 9:58 AM on August 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I think it's dried hair product. I was taught as a child to test random stuff I found in my hair like gubenuj suggests:
One trick is to squeeze it between the faces of two fingernails. If it pops (like a tiny egg would) it could be an egg, but still may not. If it just mashes down into a flat mass (like a tiny ball of hardened grease), or crumbles (like dried hair product), it definitely is not an egg.
Lice eggs make a little "snap" sound - that's how you know you've got a problem.
Now I'm itchy, just for more anecdata that the itchiness might be psychosomatic.
posted by sweetkid at 10:04 AM on August 5, 2013
One trick is to squeeze it between the faces of two fingernails. If it pops (like a tiny egg would) it could be an egg, but still may not. If it just mashes down into a flat mass (like a tiny ball of hardened grease), or crumbles (like dried hair product), it definitely is not an egg.
Lice eggs make a little "snap" sound - that's how you know you've got a problem.
Now I'm itchy, just for more anecdata that the itchiness might be psychosomatic.
posted by sweetkid at 10:04 AM on August 5, 2013
Sounds and looks like a sebum plug to me, too; my scalp has always been really prone to them, and they look exactly like that.
posted by fiercecupcake at 10:05 AM on August 5, 2013
posted by fiercecupcake at 10:05 AM on August 5, 2013
Response by poster: It doesn't snap when pressed between thumb and fingernail but it also doesn't squash flat. It cleaves into 2 - can fat be that hard?
To approximate the consistency I'd say similar to a boiled egg
posted by jago25_98 at 11:41 AM on August 5, 2013
To approximate the consistency I'd say similar to a boiled egg
posted by jago25_98 at 11:41 AM on August 5, 2013
That definitely sounds like sebum plug. Yep, fat can be that hard.
posted by batmonkey at 12:06 PM on August 5, 2013
posted by batmonkey at 12:06 PM on August 5, 2013
I'm agreeing it sounds like a sebum plug. An empty egg would be empty, and it sounds like this is a solid thing you've got there. I'm sure you've looked at 2D pictures, but it's really hard to be certain of your assessment unless you're familiar with them in 3D. The pictures here are pretty good--you can see that translucence I was talking about, and you can also see that they're not actually perfectly oval. In the hatched one (Figure 4) you can see that the end is open and flat--that's where it hatched from.
Now, just go drink some calming tea or light a candle or whatever you do to help yourself relax so you can stop itching and worrying!
posted by gubenuj at 7:26 PM on August 5, 2013
Now, just go drink some calming tea or light a candle or whatever you do to help yourself relax so you can stop itching and worrying!
posted by gubenuj at 7:26 PM on August 5, 2013
I get those, and ages ago when it started I too thought I had lice. (btw, squish it in between TWO fingernails, flat).
My primary care doctor diagnosed me with seborrheic dermatitis. If you google for images all you will see is a horror show, eek. I don't have any rash at all on my head but I get those plugs. In searching it does appear that one can have S.D. without rash. Hopefully a visit to your primary Dr or a dermatologist is possible, to know for sure.
Neutrogena T-gel helps me a lot, but affects my hair so much I hate to use it.
posted by Anwan at 10:47 PM on August 5, 2013
My primary care doctor diagnosed me with seborrheic dermatitis. If you google for images all you will see is a horror show, eek. I don't have any rash at all on my head but I get those plugs. In searching it does appear that one can have S.D. without rash. Hopefully a visit to your primary Dr or a dermatologist is possible, to know for sure.
Neutrogena T-gel helps me a lot, but affects my hair so much I hate to use it.
posted by Anwan at 10:47 PM on August 5, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Melismata at 8:59 AM on August 5, 2013