Swollen Lymph Node With Pain Behind Ear. Hair Falling, Balls On Hair Strand. Is It Parasite? Treatment?

I am a 52 year old woman, 5 2 , 135#. I have been trying to get treated for gum disease (unsuccessfully) for 7 years. My porblem is this: I have a swollen occipital lymph node behind my left ear accompynied by pain in the ear, my hair has been falling out for the past five years and on examining a strand of recently discarded hair I discovered hard little balls attached to the hair strand at approximately 2 inch intervals. I have been waashing my hair with Selsun Blue for several months to address the possiblility of a fungal infection but I wonder, is this some kind of parasite, like lice?