Crab Lice
Phthirus pubis (Linnaeus)
Accurate, calm communications are invaluable in explaining pubic louse infestations and making recommendations for their control.
Use Ginesis enzyme cleaners, e.g., Kleen Kill® enzyme cleaners and Not-Nice-to-Lice® shampoo, Kleen Kill® peppermint soap or neem soaps, or pubic louse (poison) preparations or try Kleen Kill® enzyme cleaners and borax and/or sauna. Tide soap pastes and thyme pastes have also been used successfully.
Routinely wash bedding and underwear. Use Kleen Kill® enzyme cleaners or Kleen Kill® peppermint soap with borax.
Use detergents, Kleen Kill® enzyme cleaners, ammonia and/or disinfectants in toilets, seats, floors and/or general cleanup.
Daily vacuum and then mop with Kleen Kill® enzyme cleaners or Kleen Kill® peppermint soap with borax.
Least-Toxic Crab or Pubic Lice Control
If your pubic area itches, seek diagnosis immediately; there is no reason to suffer unnecessarily. Moreover, if you wait, you may infect others. Note: however, that itching does not necessarily indicate pubic lice - there are other, noninfectious causes of itching in this area, including heat.
If pubic lice are diagnosed, wash bedding and clothing in enzymes and/or borax and/or place them in a hot clothes dryer. If you apply an insecticide poison to your pubic area (very dangerous) do so only as a last resort, or because your doctor has prescribed them or there is a large infestation. If only a few pubic lice are present on the body, simply going into a sauna or shaving the affected area and then washing the skin vigorously each day with plain old hot soapy water will usually eliminate the lice. Coconut- or olive-oil-based soaps, e.g., Kleen Kill® peppermint soaps, have natural insecticidal properties and should be used first. Small infestations may also be cut or shaved off and/or combed out and/or try Not Nice to Lice® shampoo, neem soaps, Kleen Kill® enzyme cleaners and/or oil of balsam or oil of anise and/or peppermint soap with enzymes and/or borax laundry powder.
Pyrethrin pediculicides or the pyrethroid NIX are supposedly more effective than lindane (gammabenzene hexachloride) and are less toxic. Pyrethrins are available over the counter in local drug stores; NIX with permethrin is only available by doctor prescription. Use poison only as a last resort.
Make sure your sexual partner(s) are alerted to the problem, educated about the infestation, examined and treated, if necessary.
(Web Mistress Note: A little license was taken with
title and some emphasis. However, the content is correct as it appears
in "The Best Control)