itchey head

my head has been itching for  a couple months now, and sometimes its tender to hot water, i recently found little bites or something on my neck. i have had it checked for lice several times and it is not lice... i don't know what it may be or how to fix it. i have changed my shampoo, didn't work, if i don't take a shower the very next morning it itches very bad.. when i do wash it , it still itches but not as bad...what do i do? how do i fix it? and most important, WHAT IS IT? if it is not lice which i no it isn't then what is causing my itching and tenderness?can u help me? PLEASE?!            other than lice the only thing i can think of is i got a bed from a friend  and don't know if it has anything to do with it but........... anyway hope u can help.......hope to hear from u soon.. thank you rooney

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms, it can be contact dermatitis, lice infestation, dandruff, fungal infections or scabies(chances are less). Take some antihistaminc like Benadryl for the itching and consult a dermatologist for exact diagnosis.
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[Itchy'04]

I finally nailed what was causing my problem. It was the laundry detergent after all. I'd been using some form of Free and Clear, like All, or the store brand for years now (and have been free of the itching problem), but several days ago my wife brought home some Tide Mountain Spring. She used it while I continued to use my Free and Clear brand. I started noticing the bug crawling sensations again, but only slightly - just enough to notice. Last night, I washed a load of my clothes with the Tide, and am wearing the clothes today. It's like night and day. I am itching like crazy with the bug crawling sensations all over me, especially on my scalp and facial hair.

Laundry detergent is what I suspected the entire time, it's just that back when this problem first occurred, I was using a community laundry and could not control what detergent other people used.

Apparently there's some detergent residue that will stay in the washer or dryer for some period of time afterwards, so even if one does use a Free and Clear brand, they'd still likely be affected.

This explains so much - now that I know it's Tide, and possibly other types of laundry detergent for sure.

Hope this helps!