Anyone can get and pass on pubic lice.

• They can be passed on by close body or sexual contact with someone who has pubic lice
• They can be found in pubic hair, underarm and leg hair, hair on the abdomen and chest, beards and, rarely, in eyebrows and eyelashes. They don’t live in the hair on the head
• They can live away from the body. But because they feed on human blood, they rarely leave the body unless there’s close body contact with another person. Pubic lice move by crawling from hair to hair – they can’t fly or jump
• Occasionally they may be spread by contact with clothing, bedding and towels that have been used by someone with pubic lice

Some people don’t get symptoms, or may not notice the lice or eggs, so you may not know whether you or a partner have pubic lice.

It can take from 5 days to several weeks after contact with pubic lice before any signs and symptoms appear.

You or a partner might notice:

• itching, irritation, and inflammation (pain, redness or soreness) in the affected area, sometimes caused by scratching
• eggs (nits), like brownish dots, on your hair
• sky-blue or red spots, from lice bites
• tiny specks of blood on your skin or in your underwear
• black powder in your underwear, from lice droppings

Some people see pubic lice move, but they’re tiny, and they keep still in the light.

Sometimes pubic lice are noticed during a routine genital or medical examination even if a doctor or nurse isn’t looking for them.

You can have a check-up as soon as you have any signs or symptoms or if you think you may have been in contact with pubic lice.

In most cases, a doctor or nurse can tell if you have pubic lice just by looking. They may use a magnifying glass to look for lice and eggs. They may pick up a louse and look at it under a microscope to check it’s a pubic louse.

See Where can I get a sexual health check-up or test? If you know you have pubic lice, you can go to a pharmacy for advice and treatment.

If you have pubic lice, it’s a good idea to get a sexual health check to make sure you don’t have any other sexually transmitted infections – see below for How can I help protect myself from sexually transmitted infections?

There are different services you can go to. Choose the one you feel most comfortable with.

A check for pubic lice can be done at:

• a sexual health clinic or genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic
• a GP surgery
• some contraception clinics and young people’s services

Free online testing services are available in many areas. They can test for some common sexually transmitted infections but they won’t be able to check you for pubic lice.

Pubic lice can be easily treated with a special cream, lotion or shampoo.

Treatment from a sexual health service or GP surgery is free, or you can buy treatment from a pharmacy if you’re sure you have pubic lice and want to self-treat. The doctor, nurse or pharmacist will advise you on what to use.

Your sexual partner(s) should be treated at the same time even if they don’t have any signs and symptoms.

• You apply the cream, lotion or shampoo to the affected area and sometimes the whole body. Lotions tend to be more effective than shampoos. Some treatments can be rinsed off after 10 to 15 minutes, others take longer
• To be effective, treatment needs to be repeated after 3 to 7 days
• You don’t need to shave off pubic or other body hair
• Wash your clothes, bedding and towels in a washing machine on a very hot cycle (60°C or higher) to kill the lice and avoid reinfection

Tell the doctor, nurse or pharmacist if you’re pregnant, or think you might be, or if you’re breastfeeding. This may affect the type of treatment you’re given.

There’s no evidence that complementary therapies (treatments outside of mainstream healthcare) can cure pubic lice.

If you use the treatment according to the instructions, it’s rare for it not to work.

Even after successful treatment, itching may continue for a few days. There may be lice or eggs (nits) in your body hair after treatment but these can be removed with a special comb that you can get from a pharmacy.

Don’t have vaginal/frontal, anal or oral sex, or close body contact, until you and your partner(s) have finished the treatment and any follow-up treatment. This helps stop you being reinfected or passing the infection on to someone else.

No. If you’ve used the treatment as instructed, washed your clothing, bedding and towels and your partner(s) have also been treated then the treatment should have been successful.

If you still have symptoms or are worried that you still have pubic lice, you should have a further check-up about a week after treatment. Rarely, you may need more treatment as the lice can develop resistance to treatments.

No. And if you delay seeking treatment you may pass them on to someone else.

Sometimes it can be difficult to know where you got pubic lice from. A check-up can’t tell you how long you’ve had them.

If you feel upset or angry about having pubic lice and find it difficult to talk to a partner or friends, don’t be afraid to discuss how you feel with the staff at the clinic or GP surgery.

If you have pubic lice, it’s important that your current sexual partner(s) and any other recent partners are also treated. The staff at the clinic or GP surgery can discuss this with you.

Pubic lice can be treated while you’re pregnant or breastfeeding. Your doctor, nurse or pharmacist will advise you about the right treatment for you. Permethrin cream is safe to use.

No. Your fertility won’t be affected by having pubic lice.

No. Pubic lice don’t cause cervical cancer.

Online services won’t be able to check you for pubic lice.

All check-ups, tests and treatment are free through NHS services.

You’ll have to pay for any treatment that you get directly from a pharmacy.