My son who has black hair has tiny little white specs throughout. I was afraid that it was lice or nits, but he has had them now for over a month (that I've noticed) and they have never hatched, nor when I remove the particles from the hair strand and squeeze them, they do not seem to have a "pulp" or anything that would indicate a "living" organism.
The particles seem white in his hair, but when I slide them off the hair strand and look at the particles in the light, they are actually gray/brown in color and also reflect the light. I do have to slide them off with my finger nails, but there doesn't seem to be any sticky substance holding them to the hair strand. They are usually about 1/2 an inch or so from the scalp.
What could these be? Should I still be concerned that these may be nits? I've also heard of hair casts.. could they be hair casts, and if so, what are hair casts? Could these particles be anything else?