One of the most common STDs is Pubic Lice Infection (pediculosis)
Pubic lice (Pthirus pubis) are only present in the pubic or genital region of humans and are unable to fly or hop. Pubic lice have also been known to infest mustaches, beards, armpits, and eyebrows, as well as other locations of coarse body hair.
What is Pubic Lice Infection?
Pubic lice Infection often known as crabs or crab lice are flat, wingless parasitic insects that suck on blood to thrive, much like head lice and body lice. Known as crabs, pubic lice infest your genital region and are very minuscule. Humans are infected by one of three forms of lice:
Toxic itchiness is caused by lice feeding on human blood. To transmit pubic lice, sexual contact is a common mode of transmission. They may also be detected in eyelashes, armpit hair, and facial hair in very uncommon circumstances. Pubic lice tend to be smaller than head and body lice, but they may still transmit disease.
People with sexually transmitted diseases are more likely to suffer from a lice infestation on their pubic hair.
Is it possible to get a sexually transmitted disease from a lice infestation?
Sexually transmitted illnesses, including pubic lice, are often grouped together (STDs). That’s because sex is the most common time for individuals to get pubic lice. Pubic lice, on the other hand, are not a sickness or illness in and of themselves.
How Pubic Lice Infection is transmitted
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Intimate contact, particularly sexual intercourse, is the most common method of transmission for pubic lice. The blankets, towels, sheets, and clothes of persons who have pubic lice may also be used as a means of catching pubic lice.
On the hair shaft, lice eggs are laid by adult lice. Nits are the term used to describe these eggs. It takes around seven to ten days for the nits to turn into nymphs, which then begin feeding on your bloodstream. Lice can survive without food for one to two days before they get starved to death.
It’s a myth that a toilet seat or furniture may transmit pubic lice, but this isn’t true. It’s rare for pubic lice to slip off their host until they’ve died. Fleas, on the other hand, can’t hop from one person to another.
Your children should not sleep in your bed if you have a lice infestation in your genital area. Children who share a bed with a person with pubic lice are at risk of developing an infestation. Eyelashes and eyebrows are the most common places to find lice in youngsters. Lice on the pubic hairs of a youngster might be a sign of sexual abuse.
Signs and symptoms of Pubic Lice Infection in the genitals
About five days after the initial infection, many people with pubic lice infection report irritation in their vaginal area or anus. The itching will become worse at night. Lice in the pubic area may also cause the following signs and symptoms:
- Fever
- irritability
- Detecting and treating genital lice
- lack of vitality
- surrounding the bites, there are faint blue patches
- Excessive itching: An infection or wound might result from excessive itching. Conjunctivitis may occur in children who have lice on their eyelashes (pink eye).
- Another sign of an infestation is the presence of lice eggs. Small, white eggs may be seen around the roots of pubic or other body hairs.
Performing a thorough examination of your pubic region typically suffices to make a self-diagnosis. Using a magnifying glass may help you if you believe that you have a pubic lice infection but can’t see it well enough.
The hue of lice is typically a mild gray, but if they’ve drank enough of your blood, they’ll become a darker shade. If you detect little, crab-shaped insects moving in your pubic hair, you most likely have lice.
A pubic lice infection necessitates an immediate trip to the doctor, so don’t delay.
How to Remove Lice
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- Decontaminating yourself, your clothing, and your sleeping quarters is the first step in treating pubic lice.
- Lice removal from the body may be accomplished using over-the-counter creams and shampoos. If you’re pregnant, nursing, or treating a baby for pubic lice, talk to your doctor about which treatments are suitable for you to use.
- If your lice infestation is minimal, you may simply need to wash your pubic hair. Find out how much product to use and how long to keep the product on your skin by reading the directions. Prescription medicine may also be required if the topical remedies fail.
- Some obstinate lice eggs may cling to your locks even after a good treatment. Tweezers may be used to remove any remaining nits. Pubic lice can’t be treated with home cures like shaving and hot baths. Soap and water are not strong enough to kill lice.
- If there are many cases of pubic lice in your family, it is best to treat everyone at the same time. This prevents the spread of the disease.
- Additionally, you’ll need to get rid of the toxins in your house. Clean the bathroom with a bleach solution and vacuum the rest of the home. Towels, bedding, and clothes should all be washed in hot water and dried on the highest heat setting possible. Unwashable or dry-cleanable garments may be sealed in an airtight bag for 72 hours.
- If the lice are able to resist these measures, you may require a more powerful treatment. The following are some examples of these products:
- For 8 to 12 hours, apply Malathion (Ovide), a topical lotion to the afflicted regions.
- Two pills of oral ivermectin (Stromectol) are all you need. After 10 days, you may need a second dosage.
- Lindane is the most potent and dangerous of the lice medicines frequently administered. You simply need to keep it on for four minutes before removing it with water. If you’re nursing or pregnant, do not use this product.
- Using tweezers or a nit comb, you may be able to remove the nits and lice from eyelashes that have pubic lice. But the best way to get rid of eye infection is to consult a doctor. Your doctor may suggest an eye-specific lice medication. Do not apply lice shampoo near the eyes.
- Itching may continue for a few weeks while your body works through its allergic response to the bites. Any swelling, darkening of the skin or wound drainage warrants a trip to the doctor’s office.
How to keep your genital area free of head lice
You should not share your clothing, beds, or towels with somebody who has pubic lice if you want to avoid an infection. Sexual interaction should also be avoided until the therapy has been completed and the results have been achieved.
Following a diagnosis of pubic lice, you must notify all current and former sexual partners so that they may get treatment as well.
If lice itch, what causes it?
The lice eat your blood to stay alive. They pierce your flesh with tiny piercings. Itching is caused by a response to the bites, which might be an allergic reaction.
What is the treatment for pubic lice infection?
Lice in the pubic infection are treated with a particular shampoo or lotion. There is no need for a prescription for these over-the-counter medications. Using them is both safe and effective. Be sure to carefully follow the instructions included in the product’s packaging.
You should follow these procedures to get the greatest results from your lice treatment:
- Your underarm hair and other places of your body with hair should be checked for lice. Take a shower or bath and dry yourself off.
- thighs, underarms, and torso should all be treated with shampoo or lotion in case they contain crabs (lower abdomen and buttocks, including near the rectum). You should not apply it on your eyelashes, though.
- Rinse the shampoo or lotion off after the time period specified in the directions.
- Use your fingers or a fine-toothed comb to remove nits from hair strands. When you’re done with therapy, change into fresh underwear and clothes.
- Use your washer and dryer’s hot cycles to clean your clothing, bed linens, and towels. The crabs are annihilated by the heat. For the next two weeks, seal any goods that can’t be washed in a plastic bag. It’s also possible to have them dry-cleaned.
- Avoid sprinkling pesticides on your clothing or other household items.
- For the duration of the crabs, put your sex life on hold.
- If the lice persist, repeat the treatment within nine to ten days.