Pubic lice

Treated twice and still itching

Two rounds of treatment a week apart and I am still itching. I cannot tell any more whether I still have them or whether I am imagining it because I have been checking constantly.

greytide 3 months ago

NoteMember experience, not medical advice. Symptoms overlap between infections and only a test can tell them apart.

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quietkettle 3 months ago

Itching can carry on for a while after successful treatment because it’s a reaction in the skin, not proof that anything is still alive. That’s the bit that isn’t explained often enough.

What actually settles it is looking for live lice or eggs attached to the hair in good light, rather than going by the itch. If you find nothing moving, the treatment has probably worked.

almostfine 3 months ago

Two other things that catch people: everyone in the household or any recent partner needs treating at the same time, and the second application has to be at the interval on the instructions rather than whenever you remember.

If you’re genuinely still finding live ones after doing both properly, go back rather than buying a third round.

paper_boat 3 months ago

How to tell what you are looking at, since checking daily without knowing what counts is its own kind of torment.

Empty egg cases stay glued to the hair after hatching and do not brush off. They can sit there for a long time and are not evidence of anything ongoing. What matters is whether you find something moving, or eggs sitting right at the hair and skin junction, which is where newly laid ones are.

Nothing moving and nothing at the base usually means it worked and the skin is still settling.

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