Pubic lice (crabs)

Pubic lice (commonly known as “crabs”) are small insects that live on body hair

Most often they live on pubic hair around the penis or vagina, but they can also live on chest hair, in armpits, on facial hair and eyelashes. They do not live on head hair. They are different from head lice.

They can be spread by close body contact or sexual contact with someone who has pubic lice.

They can also be spread by sharing towels, bedding and clothing.

You may notice:

• itching which is usually worse at night
• small red spots or small bruises on your skin, sometimes caused by scratching
• white or yellow spots attached to your hair (lice eggs or nits)
• black powdery spots in your underwear (lice droppings)
• crusted or sticky eyelashes (if your eyelashes are affected).

It can take several weeks after coming into contact with pubic lice before the signs and symptoms appear.

If you think you have pubic lice, you can attend a sexual health clinic to be seen.

You can use the service finder below to find a testing service near you.

Pubic lice will not go away without treatment.

Treating pubic lice is simple and involves using a special lotion, cream or shampoo. These can be purchased over the counter at most pharmacists.

The itching might continue for a few days, even if you have been successfully treated. Lice eggs (nits) in your body hair that remain after treatment can be removed by using a special comb that you can also get over the counter from the pharmacy.

You should also do the following steps to kill any remaining lice, preventing re-infection:

• Wash your towels and bedding in a washing machine on a very hot cycle (50^oC or higher).

• Vacuum your mattress to remove any lice.

• Do not share clothes, bedding or hygiene products (such as razors).

• Do not have close body contact (including sexual contact) with anyone else during treatment.

Make sure that anyone you have sex with is also treated for pubic lice at the same time, even if they don’t show any symptoms. This is because they could be infected but are in the few weeks before the symptoms start to show.

Your nurse or doctor will help you work out which partners to tell and can help you tell them (if you want help with this).

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