It can take one to three weeks after coming into contact with pubic lice before you notice any symptoms.
Itching
The most common symptom of pubic lice is itchy red spots. The itching is not caused by the bites from the lice, but by an allergy (hypersensitivity) to the louse saliva or faeces (stools).
It can take one to three weeks for itching to develop after the first infestation, and it will usually be worse at night.
Live lice and eggs
Adult pubic lice are about 2mm long (smaller than a match head). They are grey-brown in colour and have six legs. The two pairs of back legs are much larger and look like the pincer claws of a crab. They use these to grasp onto your hair. Pubic lice eggs are tiny, yellow-white ovals, which are stuck firmly to the base of your hairs.
You may be able to see live lice or eggs in coarse hair anywhere on your body, such as:
- in your pubic hair or the hair around your anus,
- in hair on your chest, abdomen or back,
- in your armpit hair,
- in your facial hair, such as moustaches and beards,
- along the edge of your scalp, or
- in your eyebrows or eyelashes.
If you find nits (empty eggshells), this does not necessarily mean that you still have an infestation.
Other symptoms
You may also notice the following symptoms:
- dark brown or black powder on your skin or in your underwear (this is louse droppings),
- blue spots on your skin where the lice are living, particularly on your thighs and lower abdomen (caused by bites from the lice),
- specks of blood in your underwear, if you have been scratching a lot, or
- nits (empty eggshells) that look like white oval dots attached to the base of your hairs.
