The Symptoms of Worms

Note: this information refers primarily to the symptoms of threadworms or pinworms - the most common type of worm infection. You can use the information on this page to make your own diagnosis on whether you or your family have threadworms/pinworms, then purchase a suitable medication.

If you suspect that you have the rarer worm infections such as roundworm, whipworm, or hookworm, we recommend that you seek medical advice. However, the worm medications on this site have been formulated to kill these types of worms as well.

Think You Might Have Worms?

The thing to keep in mind when assessing yourself or your children for the symptoms of worms is that most pinworm/threadworm infections are light. Infected people may show some but not all of the following symptoms, or they may show no symptoms at all.

Many people with worms do not show any symptoms yet they can still pass out eggs that can infect others in the household.

For this reason, it is important to treat all members of your household. If one person has been infected, it is likely that the rest of the household will be infected also.

The main symptoms of worms include:

• Itching around the bottom (especially at night)
• Restless Sleep
• Irritability
• Grinding of teeth
• Loss of appetite
• Bed wetting (children - due to the worms causing urinary tract infections)
• Worms in bowel motion or around anus (look like cotton threads, approx 1.5cm long)

What Happens Next?

If you or someone in your household is displaying some of the symptoms of worms, or you know that someone has been exposed to an infected environment, you should strongly consider treating every member of your home with a worm medication - whether they have shown symptoms or not.

Suitable products include combantrin-1 with mebendazole or vermox tablets. Children tend to like combantrin chocolate squares or vermox suspension which is a banana flavored liquid.

Worm infections can be difficult to diagnose, even for doctors. If you want more definitive proof of worms, read about how to check for worms.