What Do Lice Look Like? Pictures

Though lice are often considered a children's problem, these parasitic insects can affect adults too. While lice are often found in hair, people may also experience body lice that can appear anywhere—including the pubic area.

All types of lice are small and may range from yellow to white or tan to greyish-white, depending on the age of the lice. Here's everything you need to know about lice, including pictures, symptoms, and treatments.

Types of Lice

Lice are tiny parasitic insects found on your head, pubic hair, and body. Even though they are slightly different, they all can attempt to live on your body and feed on your blood to survive.

Though they look slightly different from one another, lice of any type have three forms:

• Nits, which are lice eggs
• Nymphs, which are immature lice
• Adult lice, which are fully grown and about the size of a sesame seed
  

Head Lice

Head lice, or Pediculus humanus capitis, are long and thin. They live close to the scalp and attach to a person's hair shaft.

Up to 12 million infestations happen yearly in the US among children 3 to 11 years old. Head lice infestations are most common among:

• Elementary school children
• Preschool children attending childcare
• Household members of infested children

Body Lice

Body lice, aka Pediculus humanus corporis, describe lice found on the body except for the head and scalp. They attach to the fabric of clothing and then travel back and forth to your skin to feed on you.

Pubic Lice

Pubic lice, also called Pthirus pubis, are short and squatty—sometimes called "crabs" because of their shape. This type of lice attaches to coarse hair on your body. This includes pubic hair but also facial hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, and armpits.

Symptoms of Lice

Itchiness and visible nits or crawling lice are symptoms of all types of lice. Other signs of lice can include:

• Difficulty sleeping
• Rashes as an allergic reaction to bites
• Sores as a result of scratching
• Thick, discolored skin from heavy bites
• Tickling feeling of something in the hair

How Lice Spread

Lice are usually transmitted by direct or intimate contact. How you contract lice depends on the lice type.

Head lice, for example, are easily transmitted through shared clothing, hats, hairbrushes, or bedding. However, head lice is not an indicator of bad hygiene or dirtiness. Spreading head lice can be as simple as sharing a hair elastic or beanie among friends.

Body lice are generally found in people living under crowded conditions with poor hygiene. Body lice are spread through direct contact with an affected person or through contact with clothing or bedding used by a person with body lice.

Pubic lice are a sexually transmitted infection (STI), meaning you get them from sexual contact with an infected person. You could also get from undergarments, bath towels, bedding, or a toilet seat, but it's rare for this to happen.

Because pubic lice are sexually transmitted, they are most common in adults. Finding pubic lice anywhere on a child's body—even if it's just their eyelashes—could be a sign of sexual exposure or abuse. These cases should be addressed immediately.

How To Get Rid of Lice

Generally, all lice are treated the same way: with a topical prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medication. A medicine that can kill lice is called a pediculicide. It is used at least twice—once to kill the adults and a second time, several days later, to kill any nits that have hatched since the first treatment.

Head Lice

The medication for head lice should be applied according to the instructions. You can also use a fine-toothed nit comb to remove dead or dying lice from your hair.

Body Lice

The treatment for body lice is a little different and mainly includes improving the personal hygiene of the infected person. The other part of treatment includes washing clothing, bedding, and towels used by a person with body lice in hot water of at least 130°F and machine drying them with a hot cycle.

Pubic Lice

For pubic lice, lice-killing lotions that contain active ingredients called permethrin, pyrethrins, or piperonyl butoxide can be applied to the area. Dead or dying lice, again, can be removed with a fine-toothed comb or your fingernails.

With pubic lice, you should warn all sexual partners from the previous month that they're at risk for infection. It's also good to abstain from sexual contact until you're given the all-clear. Pubic lice can clear up in eight to 10 days.

How To Prevent Lice

The best prevention is to keep your personal belongings to yourself. In other words, try not to borrow anyone else's things, including combs and hairbrushes.

All lice can also be prevented by regularly bathing and using properly laundered clothes. With pubic lice specifically, avoid sexual contact or intimacy with someone with this type of lice.

When to Contact a Healthcare Provider

See a healthcare provider if you're having symptoms of lice but can't find any lice. You'll also want to seek medical attention if:

• Itchiness does not go away
• Symptoms persist after treatment
• Treatment is ineffective
• You have lice in your clothes
• You have red, tender skin—it could be a sign of infection
• You or a partner have signs of pubic lice

A Quick Review

Head, body, and pubic lice are the three types of lice with different sizes based on type and different colors based on stages. General signs of lice include itchiness and nits or crawling lice in the affected areas, but other symptoms may vary depending on where the lice are located. The types spread in different ways but are all treatable and preventable. See a healthcare provider if you have lice symptoms but don't see any lice or if you have problems with lice treatment.