While crabs can be annoying and cause discomfort, it's easy to treat them. Pubic lice won't cause long-term health problems, either. If you're not sure you have crabs, talk to your healthcare provider.
They can also be spread through contact with the clothing and bedding of someone with crabs. Animals cannot get or spread pubic lice. If left untreated, the affected area will continue to itch. Repeated scratching of the infested area can result in other serious skin infections.
Life Cycle:
Pubic lice (Pthirus pubis) have three stages: egg, nymph and adult.
Pubic (“crab”) lice are not known to transmit any disease. Itching (“pruritus”) in the pubic and groin area is the most common symptom of pubic lice infestation. As with other lice infestations, intense itching leads to scratching which can cause sores and secondary bacterial infection of the skin.
Pubic lice are not known to transmit any infectious diseases. A person may get a skin infection from scratching, due to the intense itch, but the lice do not transmit any diseases.
A lice-killing lotion containing 1% permethrin or a mousse containing pyrethrins and piperonyl butoxide can be used to treat pubic (“crab”) lice.
Phthirus pubis, the pubic or crab louse, is an insect of the order Psocodea and is an ectoparasite whose only hosts are humans. They have three stages: egg, nymph and adult. Eggs (nits) are laid on a hair shaft. Females will lay approximately 30 eggs during their 3-4 week life span.
Pubic lice are usually sexually transmitted through direct skin-to-skin contact. Pubic lice do not voluntarily leave the body and will need to be treated with a cream or lotion that contains permethrin.
In fact, it can take up to six weeks for a child or adult to develop the typical itchiness that might prompt a head check. And even then, half the people with lice still won't exhibit any symptoms associated with lice.
Not exactly. While it is true that head lice only live to about 30 days of age, that gives them plenty of time to spread to others and lay eggs. Lice don't waste any time when it comes to reproduction, so you must deal with the issue as soon as possible.
Usually, the symptoms of pubic lice start about 5 days after you get them. Some people never have symptoms, or they think the symptoms are caused by something else (like a rash). The most common symptom of pubic lice is intense itching in your pubic area.
Symptoms of public lice
It's possible to have pubic lice without noticing, but you will usually have the following symptoms several weeks after getting pubic lice: itching in the areas affected - this may be intense and usually worse at night. irritated skin - possibly caused by scratching.
Pubic lice typically are found attached to hair in the pubic area but sometimes are found on coarse hair elsewhere on the body (for example, eyebrows, eyelashes, beard, mustache, chest, armpits, etc.). Pubic lice infestations (pthiriasis) are usually spread through sexual contact.
Pubic lice are more site-specific than body lice and head lice. They spend most of their time at the base of the hairs. With a solid grasp of two hairs and their mouth parts in the skin, they suck blood periodically. They move nearly every day, but usually only a few millimetres (very rarely 10-15 cm).
Crabs can live for up to 24 hours on bedding, towels, and clothes. They feed on the blood of the infected person (by taking small bites that can cause itching).
Lice often live on the skin in the genital area, but they may be present in any area of the body with coarse hair, including the eyelashes, eyebrows, beard, mustache, and any hair on the back or abdomen. Adult lice are gray-brown and about 1.1–1.8 millimeters long. A person may be able to see them with the naked eye.
Pubic lice don't live on other animals such as cats or dogs. It's also possible for pubic lice to be spread through sharing clothes, towels and bedding.
You can opt for vinegar: It possesses properties that render it toxic and an effective pubic lice treatment. So, just mix water with it in equal amount and take a cotton ball, dip it into the solution and apply it on the affected area.
The lice bites become crusty or filled with pus, or your skin has a bad smell.