Pubic lice (crabs)

How can you get pubic lice?

You can get pubic lice if your pubes touch each other’s. But the lice can also be found on clothing, bed sheets, blankets, or towels.

You don’t always notice immediately that you have lice, and you might not have an itch for a while. As a result, you could have them and pass them on without even knowing.

Can pubic lice be found in your head hair? And can head lice be found in your pubic hair?

No. These are different types of lice. But pubic lice can be found on other areas on your face that are covered in hair. For example, after these areas touch bed sheets, blankets, or towels with lice on them.

Pubic lice can be found in these spots:

• Pubic hair: close to your penis or anus
• Eyelashes and eyebrows
• Beard: if you kiss someone who has lice in his beard. Or if you give a blowjob
• Armpits

Head lice is only found in head hair.

What are the symptoms of pubic lice?

You can easily recognize pubic lice with the naked eye. They look like small crabs. They are 1-3 mm long.

Symptoms you could have:

• Persistent itch
• Small lesions or sensitive skin caused by scratching
• White or yellow spots on your pubic hair: these are their eggs
• Insects on the hair around your penis, anus, armpits, or on your beard or eyelashes
• Grey-blue spots on your skin: these are lice bites
• Red or brown spots in your underwear: this is lice poo

Do you have other symptoms? Then you might have a different STD.

Check out the symptoms of other STDs

Treating pubic lice

You can easily treat pubic lice at home. You don’t have to go to your GP. You can go to the pharmacy and buy a remedy for pubic lice. 

Do you have pubic lice? Then inform your sex partners. This way, they can also get treated.