Pubic lice

Pubic lice are small insects that parasitize the human body. Lice choose mainly the pubic area (both in men and women), but can also live in other places where there are hair - underarms, abdomen, breasts. The hairy part of the head this type of parasites strikes extremely rarely.

On the human body, parasites grow into the skin a little, but despite the practical immobility, lice lay a large number of larvae.

Only parasites feed on blood (without food, adults die within 24 hours), but lice have the ability to anabiosis, i.e. Without food, all the body's processes slow down very much, they fall into some kind of "hibernation", in such a state adults can hold out for several months.

Lice are quite tenacious - they are able to withstand pressures of up to 1 kg, a 30-centimeter layer of sand and survive in water for two days.

In European countries, the disease is widespread, mostly lice are affecting young people.

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What does the pubic lice look like?

Pubic lice grow to a maximum of 2 mm, adults have a pale gray color, which makes them almost invisible on the body. Parasites feel good at a temperature of 30 to 380C.

Lice live an average of 27 days, during this period one individual lays a huge number of larvae.

How are pubic lice transmitted?

Pubic lice cause ftyariasis (pubic pediculosis), which is considered a venereal disease.

But infection with lice can occur in public places, such as a sauna, swimming pool, solarium, hotel, barracks, train, etc. Infection in hotels or trains can occur due to poor handling of bed linen or towels in which the parasites are in a state of "hibernation" "May be several months.

After contact with the skin, parasite activity is manifested approximately a month later. First, the insect adheres to the hair and injects part of its body into the human skin. The salivary glands of the insect release a special enzyme that does not allow the blood to clot. After a few days the parasites begin to lay the larvae (the adult female lays up to 10 eggs at a time).

Parasites usually choose pubic hair for their life, where apocrine glands are concentrated, the secretions of which attract lice.

Quite often, pubic pediculosis is accompanied by chlamydia, gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases, since the main way of transmission of parasites is sexual contact.

Symptoms of pubic lice

The main symptom of pubic lice is an itch, which appears after the end of the incubation period. In addition to itching, bluish specks (bite spots) can appear on the body, which quickly disappear.

If the itching is not strong, then a person may not know for a long time about lice damage.

About that, from when the lice settled on the skin can be judged by the hair regrowth, as the parasites on contact with the skin are attached to the base of the hair and in the future do not move.

In addition to the itch of the disease, brown dots on underwear can be said which are substances that secrete parasites as a result of their vital activity.

Lice become more visible after the blood gets drunk, as the parasites change their color from pale gray to dark orange.

In the advanced stages on the skin appear blisters, wounds, develops eczema.

Pubic lice on the head

Pubic lice due to their anatomical features are not able to live on the scalp. The paws of the parasites are adapted for movement through triangular hair that grows on the pubis, in the armpits, etc. (the hair on the head has a round section).

Pubic lice in men

The risk of infection by parasites is equally affected by men and women.

But in men, lice are often affected both by the pubic region and other parts of the body covered with hair (anus, scrotum, armpits, abdomen, chest, back). In this case, the more hair on the body of a man, the greater the area affected by parasites.

Pubic lice in children

This type of lice parasitizes mainly on adults, since the main route of infection is sexual contact. Children pubic lice can be transmitted during a joint sleep with their parents, when using other people's towels, after visiting public baths, etc.

Pubic lice in children usually parasitize on eyelashes or eyebrows.

Treatment of pubic lice

Parasites are destroyed with local preparations - ointments, sprays, creams, shampoos, solutions. Often, when revealing pubic lice a person is referred for additional examination, since frequent sexually transmitted lice are various venereal diseases.

Patients with pediculosis should carefully wash the bed and underwear, and without fail it must be ironed.

During treatment it is recommended to shave off the hair on the affected parts of the body.

The effectiveness of treatment depends on compliance with all the recommendations of the doctor.

In addition to bed linen and it is very important to treat with special preparations soft furniture, mattress and other items that the patient was in contact with.

Preparations for pubic lice

When detecting pubic lice, special medications are prescribed, which quite quickly help to destroy insects.

The most popular drugs are:

• water-alcohol solution Nittifor - destroys both adults and larvae. The drug is applied to the affected parts of the body and washed off after 40 minutes. After a week, a repeat preventive procedure is done.
• Shampoo Pedilin - destroys the larvae of parasites, applied to the hair, after 10 minutes washed off. A week later, a repeat procedure is performed.
• emulsion MediFox - destroys parasites, treatment course - 3 days (the emulsion is rubbed into the affected parts of the body and left overnight). After the end of treatment is recommended to thoroughly wash, change and disinfect bed and underwear.

During treatment, you must be careful and avoid getting the drug on your face, neck, scalp.

• Shampoo Veda-2 - helps to destroy parasites in the area of the pubis or anus. The shampoo is applied for 10 minutes, then washed off, after the procedure, all the dead insects and larvae should be removed from the hair.

To increase the effectiveness of treatment, all hair on the affected parts of the body should be shaved, if this is not possible, you need to treat the areas with lice warm water with the addition of vinegar, which will dissolve the sticky substance that keeps the parasites on your hair.

Spray from pubic lice

In the pharmaceutical market, there are several types of sprays from pubic lice:

• Pax is a combined drug, with a neurotoxin that destroys parasites. This type of spray allows you to get rid of parasites in just one procedure. After treatment, it is recommended to wash thoroughly with soap.
• Lax, Nyuda - there is a natural insecticide - pyrethrin, which destroys adult insects and larvae.
• Pedikulin - a spray for the treatment of bed linen and bed linen.

Ointment from pubic lice

In the pharmacy you can see a large selection of ointments from pubic lice.

The maximum efficiency is possessed by sulfur-mercury ointment, xylene, nitifor, which contain a natural insecticide.

Before applying the ointment, you need to shave off the hair or treat it with acetic water. The procedure is best done before bedtime.

Treatment of pubic lice in the home

If you find pubic lice, you can try to fight the parasites yourself. Just wash off with insect shampoo and their larvae will not work, but hot water with the addition of vinegar helps dissolve the secret secreted by the lice to attach to the hair.

Hair on the lice affected parts of the body should be shaved, which will get rid of a significant part of the parasites and facilitate the observation of the remaining parasites on the skin.

Good efficiency is shown by sulfuric ointment, which has a sharp odor, but it is practically 100% effective. Also for the treatment of pediculosis is used tar tar soap, which is thoroughly washed out the affected areas.

The larvae of the parasites are more tenacious than the adults, so it is recommended to boil the patient's bed linen and bed linen for half an hour, then pat it with a hot iron. Also, you should treat the carpet, sofa, armchairs, etc.

Parasites in themselves are not dangerous to humans, but they can be carriers of sexually transmitted diseases, therefore, it is not recommended to treat this disease independently, because it is possible to diagnose such diseases as syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia in time, only after visiting the doctor.

Pubic lice are a parasitic disease that is transmitted mainly through sexual contact. Suffer from this type of lice are mostly young people who lead an indiscriminate sex life.

Modern medicine allows you to get rid of lice fairly quickly (some drugs allow the destruction of parasites and their larvae after just one procedure), but there is a high risk of infection with sexually transmitted diseases.