Many people ask the question: mandavosh, what is it? These are tiny parasitic creatures that live on the human body. Lice living on the pubic tubercle are very different from all other blood-sucking insects. When infected, the patient experiences a whole list of symptoms related to lice pubis.
In appearance and lifestyle, the presented pest differs from insects that can infect scalp hair. If we consider their structure and features in depth, then these are two different types. Accordingly, the approach to getting rid of “unpleasant neighbors” has its own unique characteristics.
Where do lice come from?
Larvae can be found by careful visual inspection. It is enough to carefully check the groin area. In males, the hairy chest can be an excellent place for these insects to live. To protect yourself from the appearance of flat spots, you need to understand where they come from. The main methods of transmission include sexual contact with carriers, as well as household infections. For example, visiting a pool, beach or bathhouse. Sometimes, you can become infected in a hotel or while traveling on a train if the bed linen is poorly sanitized.
Here are the categories of people who are most often at risk of infection:
- bath attendants, hairdressers, train and swimming pool employees;
- prisoners;
- those who live in dormitories and barracks;
- children in camps;
- tramps and homeless people;
- prostitutes, as well as their clients.
In the article we will talk about where pubic lice come from, symptoms, treatment and images in the photo.
Methods of infection
There are predisposing factors that significantly increase the risk of infection, these include large crowds of people, unsatisfactory sanitary and living conditions. It is also worth noting that in cold weather the risk of infection increases.
Routes of infection may be as follows:
- Domestic. Infection can occur due to the use of infected clothing, bedding, and toilet seats.
- Intimacy.
- When using general beard and mustache brushes, applies to men.
Pediculosis pubis or phthiriasis - routes of transmission
Infection can only occur from an infected person; animals cannot transmit this disease. It is possible to determine exactly how the pest was transmitted based on the location of the plots. If insects are found in the groin area, then the cause was sexual contact. If lice are found in the armpits or on the chest, contact-household lice are quite obvious. The following photos of mandavos will help to quickly identify the disease when its symptoms appear.
You need to understand that the presented indicators are quite conditional. After all, if you do not take any proper measures, lice quickly invade all areas of the body covered with hair. True, there are experts who claim that the scalp is unsuitable for parasitism by flatworms.
Children can easily catch the disease if they sleep in the same bed with infected parents, and it mainly affects the eyebrows and eyelashes. For young patients, this disease is dangerous because it can lead to the development of dangerous infectious pathologies.
What it is
So, pubic lice. What is this parasitic disease, and what are the consequences of infection with phthiriasis? The culprit of this unpleasant, very delicate problem is blood-sucking lice, which parasitize exclusively on the human body.
Among the people, insects received a very interesting name “mandavosh”. It is generally accepted that such a disease is diagnosed exclusively in people with poor personal hygiene, but in fact this is not the case.
Pediculosis pubis is classified as a group of infectious diseases transmitted through contact with an infected person or his things . Pubic lice are extremely small in size - no more than two millimeters, and do not have the ability to jump, which distinguishes them from their counterparts.
Typical locations for parasites are the following: pubic area, armpit area, hairy areas of the back, chest, beard, eyebrows, and in some cases eyelashes.
The incubation period for pubic lice can last up to several weeks; the first signs of infection do not appear immediately after infection. That is why diagnosing pubic lice in the early stages is only possible when the patient is examined by a specialist.
Signs of the disease
- Itching occurs at the site of skin punctures. It manifests itself in different ways, some have just discomfort, others have a strong burning sensation throughout the day.
- Dark blue spots up to 10 mm in diameter appear due to bruises that remain after the bite.
- An allergic reaction may occur, manifested in the form of a rash, swelling or redness.
- Small brown dots can be found on your underwear; these are insect excrement.
- The infected person experiences insomnia, poor appetite and nausea.
In women, flat spots occur much less frequently than in men, since they take care of the cleanliness of their body and sexual intercourse much more seriously.
Look at the pictures below, which will help you identify signs of the appearance of mondovoids in the photo.
Development cycle and reproduction process
The female mate throughout her life and lays eggs. They reproduce very quickly and increase their numbers significantly in a short period of time. Favorable conditions for reproduction are constant human body temperature.
In one day, the female lays about 3 eggs; they are pear-shaped and their size ranges from 0.65 to 0.67 mm. When laying eggs, the female secretes a special adhesive substance, thanks to which the nit is securely attached to the hair.
One nit is deposited on one hair. Nits, as well as insects in the imago stage, are highly viable. They can withstand temperatures up to 50° for half an hour. In addition, they can easily tolerate such a caustic and aggressive substance as kerosene within 10 minutes.
It takes 4 to 8 days for nits to develop. Next comes the larval stage, which lasts from 10 to 12 days. During this time, the individual goes through 3 moults and transforms into the imago stage; this is a young individual capable of mating and reproducing. The female lives only 2 weeks. Pubic lice breed throughout the year, but peak numbers occur from September through November and February.
Symptoms
The parasite feeds only on human blood. In one day, a louse can feed several times. A long period of hunger strike is fatal for the insect; the insect is not able to withstand even two days without food.
To begin consuming nutrients, the louse pierces the skin with special outgrowths located in the mouth. Once access to the blood vessel is opened, the insect expands the esophagus to accommodate as much blood as possible.
Here are a number of reasons that lead to mosquito bites:
- Severe itching that becomes unbearable at night. At first the problem is not so significant, but the further it goes, the worse it gets. A huge number of bites leads to an unbearable desire to scratch the affected areas.
- Small blisters and rashes in the area of the bites, they may appear and disappear, and the cycle is constantly repeated.
- The skin becomes covered with wrinkles and becomes rough to the touch.
Constant scratching leads to skin inflammation. This is the reason for infection or the development of eczema. If pubic lice appear on eyelashes or eyebrows, there is a risk of conjunctivitis.
Look at the photo what mandavos look like:
Description of the insect
Under a microscope you can see that the insect's paws are very similar to claws. This allows them to press tightly against the hair. It is impossible to unhook them. And if the parasite feels that they are trying to tear it out of its usual habitat, it instinctively clings even tighter. The flat shape of the parasite’s body also contributes to this.
The color of the flats is light brown. This makes it even less noticeable. They try to stay at the very base of the hair. This does not allow the lice carrier to timely detect insects during inspection and take action.
Insects drink only human blood. Ploschitsy see very poorly, but have an excellent sense of smell. Their oral apparatus is designed in such a way that they make a puncture in the skin, reaching the nearest vessel, release an enzyme so that the blood does not clot, and begin eating. At the same time, the insect's esophagus expands.
A person may not even feel a louse bite or not pay attention to a slight prick. But over time, the enzyme will cause itching and the bite site will become slightly swollen. The moth eats every five hours. She needs to replenish her reserves so as not to die and continue to reproduce.
Lice do not survive in the environment. If they somehow find themselves outside of man, then
will die. They can only parasitize the human body and require constant proximity to a single source of food. Pubic lice do not infest pets. There is no need to worry about insects somehow biting your cat, dog or parrot.
Pubic lice cannot tolerate low or very high temperatures. Already at minus 5 degrees, both lice and eggs die. The normal temperature for the development and reproduction of parasites is within 30-31 degrees. Parasites cannot tolerate dry air. In this case, they seem to dry out, become less mobile and fall off the hair.
Under favorable conditions, the life cycle of parasites takes a little more than two weeks and consists of the following stages:
- Egg development is 5-7 days.
- Larval development, including molting, takes 13 days.
After the last molt, the female, who has just been born, hurries to drink blood, mate and lay the first egg.
An adult insect lives no more than a month. During this time, the female can lay up to fifty eggs - from one to three per day. Lice eggs are called nits. The female securely attaches them to her hair. The larvae are similar in appearance to adults and lead the same lifestyle.
Diagnostics
The simplest and most obvious way is to carefully examine the body. Sometimes a magnifying glass can be used for this. On the pubis, parasites become more noticeable after saturation, as this increases the volume of their body.
There are also a number of modern methods for determining areas:
- Using a Wood's lamp - when exposed to its rays, live pubic lice glow brightly.
- Videodermatoscopy method - the doctor takes several photographs of the affected areas using a video camera, after which he examines the obtained materials in detail in an enlarged form.
If lice appear in one person, all family members should also be examined and treated. This is what mandavokhs look like in the groin:
Treatment methods
There are several ways to help you get rid of parasites:
- Medication - its essence lies in the impact on the flatheads with specialized drugs that paralyze them, which leads to death. There are also those options that lead to suffocation; a film is formed around the louse that does not allow air to pass through.
- Mechanical - the infected person shaves off all the hair and carefully treats the affected areas with antiseptic agents.
- Folk remedies.
The first option is the most effective and fastest, but you should understand that it can lead to an allergic reaction. You should use certain medications only after consultation.
Boric ointment
An effective remedy characterized by antiseptic and antiparasitic properties. The product should be distributed over the area of the body where the pests were noticed and left for half an hour, after which all that remains is to wash off the remains and comb out the dead pests using a fine comb.
The more serious the stage of development of the disease, the higher the dosage of the drug and the frequency of its use may be. Ointment of 5% concentration is used only after consultation with a doctor.
Nittifor
This can be a cream or also a water-alcohol solution that can be used immediately. The product is rubbed into areas of infected skin, after a short period of time the bloodsuckers die and can be removed with a fine comb. It is not advisable to use the drug in the presence of serious inflammation.
The solution is kept on the skin for no more than 40 minutes, after which it is thoroughly removed with warm water. To achieve the best effect, it should be treated several times, the interval between procedures should be seven days.
Medifox
It is sold in the form of a gel and contains a substance called permethrin. It is characterized by a complex type of action, inhibiting both pubic lice and their nits.
The emulsion must be prepared before use. Apply quite liberally to hairy areas of the body, and after 20 minutes remove completely.
Other means
In addition to all the drugs listed above, you can also use the following:
- Lotion Pediculen Ultra - just leave for half an hour on the required area. It is better to repeat the procedure after 7 days.
- Medilis-super - this product actively affects not only the lice themselves, but also their nits.
- Pedilin - originally developed to combat head lice, however, it also works well in eliminating mandovets.
The pubic louse dies quickly enough when specialized means are used against it, so the disease does not pose a serious threat if treatment is started promptly.
Men who have problems related to reproductive function should familiarize themselves with the complex action drug Prostatilen AC. With its help, you can cure prostatitis and a number of other reproductive disorders.
Traditional methods
At home, it is better to begin the procedure of getting rid of the described parasites by shaving the skin in the affected areas. However, this is obviously not enough. The louse holds securely with its paws precisely at the base of the hair, so by completely removing all vegetation, it will not be possible to completely get rid of the insects.
Here are some common techniques:
- Apple cider vinegar – used for 3 days. First you need to prepare a three percent composition, which is used to treat the affected areas. This method does not require completely shaving off all hair. Acetic acid causes all the bugs to peel off from the hair on their own and die.
- Birch tar – the course lasts about 10 days. To prepare the mixture, take 1 tablespoon of the substance and the same amount of butter.
- Hellebore water. Use on thoroughly washed and dried areas. Apply for 15 minutes. This method is not able to completely kill nits, but it significantly weakens their attachment to the hair, making it easy to remove the eggs with a comb.
- Kerosene. With its help you can get rid of lice very quickly. The mixture is prepared from sunflower oil and kerosene, and these ingredients should be mixed in proportions of 10:1. It is enough to soak gauze with this composition, apply it to the affected area and secure with cellophane. After three hours, the compress is removed, and the area itself is treated with a rich cream. This method should be used with extreme caution, as kerosene can burn the mucous membrane.
Remember that self-treatment of the presenting disease is not always a reasonable option. After all, not all traditional medicine methods are equally effective. Genital lice can often only be a concomitant disease with more serious sexually transmitted diseases, which only a doctor can diagnose and treat.
Effective cream
Pharmacy creams for lice pubis are based on components that lead to the rapid death of parasites.
Nittifor (from 124 rub.)
A product based on permethrin, which helps quickly deal with various types of lice and nits. The cream is used after hygiene procedures to treat affected areas. In just 10 minutes, the drug can destroy all insects, then it must be washed off with water and warm soap.
Nix (approx. 300 rubles)
A product for topical use with a minimum of contraindications. It can be used in patients of different ages, but shows the best results in the early stages of phthiriasis development. The cream should be applied to the affected areas several times a day. The duration of therapy is determined individually.
Prevention
By following a number of simple recommendations, you can protect yourself from flats:
- compliance with banal rules of personal hygiene;
- iron thoroughly and change linen regularly;
- avoid visiting cheap hotels;
- refuse to try on underwear at places of sale;
- have a permanent partner;
- be careful in places such as swimming pools, saunas and gyms.
Even taking into account the fact that cases of infection with lice pubis are extremely rare, you need to treat your health with care and exclude any methods of infection.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
The most popular questions and answers to them:
Expert opinion
Alexandra Valerievna
Doctor-Trichologist
How are lice pubis and scabies related?
Both diseases are caused by parasitic insects and are transmitted both sexually and domestically. The scabies mite spreads quickly, as does the scabies mite. After infection, severe itching occurs in the affected areas.
How are head lice different from pubic lice?
They have completely different paw structures, so the pubic area never extends onto the head. It can only move and be held on hair that has a triangular cross-section. The scalp area contains round hair and is more suitable for head lice.
What do pubic lice look like on humans?
Mandovkas have a rather inconspicuous body color - yellow-gray. In appearance, these insects are similar to small crabs, with a size not exceeding three millimeters. They usually live no more than a month and feed on human blood. One insect can lay about 10 eggs.
A significant accumulation of nits can give the impression that the hairy part of the body is covered with dandruff. Especially if the affected area is the chest.
Notes[ | ]
- ↑ 1 2 Striganova B. R., Zakharov A. A.
Five-language dictionary of animal names: Insects (Latin-Russian-English-German-French) / Ed. Doctor of Biology sciences, prof. B. R. Striganova. - M.: RUSSO, 2000. - P. 39. - 1060 copies. — ISBN 5-88721-162-8. - Taxonomy of Human Lice
- Armstrong, N. R.;
Wilson, J.D. Did the “Brazilian” kill the pubic louse? // Sexually Transmitted Infections. — No. 82 (3), 2006 June. - P. 265-266. - doi:10.1136/sti.2005.018671. - PMC 2564756. - PMID 16731684 - Gale J.;
Pettypiece S. , Brazilian bikini waxes make crab lice endangered species // Bloomberg. — Jan 13, 2013 5:00 P
Consequences
We talked about what the mondavo looks like, now we need to understand in detail the main methods of reproduction of the mondavo.
The described type of parasites in itself does not pose any danger. The whole problem lies in damage to the skin, which can cause various infections. Moreover, pubic lice bites cause allergies, resulting in serious irritation.
When visiting a doctor, all patients should be tested for common sexually transmitted pathologies.
How are pubic lice transmitted?
To protect yourself from pathology, you need to use only your own underwear, both underwear and bed linen. There are other risk factors:
- sexual intercourse with an infected person;
- contact with the patient’s skin;
- visiting public showers, baths, etc.;
- using someone else's towel.
Regardless of the primary localization of mandovets, they can quickly spread to other parts of the body. This once again proves the fact that you need to seek help from a doctor as quickly as possible.
Summing up
The appearance of flat spots causes not only physical discomfort in a person. For most, the disease is shameful, so many are simply embarrassed to turn to specialists for help. Instead, the patient tries to get rid of the parasites on his own, often choosing not the most effective treatment methods.
By consulting a doctor, you can be sure that you will be prescribed a proven drug that will be effective and will allow you to get rid of insects in a short time. Self-medication can only worsen the situation. You know what pubic lice are and why they are dangerous. All that remains is to take care of protecting yourself from bloodsuckers. If this was not possible, you should definitely not be embarrassed to visit a specialist who will provide qualified assistance.
