“I have had these in my hair for over a year”, states this reader in her submission regarding the black and transparent organisms pictured below. “Can you identify these things?”

Firstly, we cannot tell what these organisms are solely from the pictures. The lighting and quality is not good enough for us to make out any of the creatures’ finer details. The only thing we can tell is that they are long and thin, and potentially black in color. On top of that, there is not nearly enough context for us to base an educated guess on.

Secondly, as our reader has explicitly stated that these were found in her hair, then this situation becomes potentially medical in nature. Although she does not list any symptoms, the creatures were found on her body, and in any such case, we are not qualified to identify organisms of this kind. This is because we are not medical professionals. The best we can do is point our reader in the direction of people who are qualified to help her.

So, what we can recommend is that our reader do one or more of the following:

1) Search for a medical parasitologist in her area using this directory of medical parasitology consultants: https://www.astmh.org/for-astmh-members/clinical-consultants-directory.
2) Search for a local parasitologist by doing a Google search for “medical parasitologist (name of the closest big city)” or “tropical medicine specialist (name of the closest big city)”.
3) Get in touch with Dr. Omar Amin at the Parasitology Center at https://www.parasitetesting.com.

In conclusion, we do not know what these creatures are that our reader has been finding in her hair. Regardless, as it is a possibility that this situation is medical in nature, we are not qualified to identify them. It is unfortunate, but we hope that our reader finds the answers and help she is looking for by contacting a medical parasitologist. We wish her the very best.

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