Scabies

Scabies is a skin condition that effects anyone, no matter what their class or ethnicity. A microscopic mite Sarcoptes Scabei burrows into the skin and does considerable damage and spreads rapidly. If you have never had scabies before, it could take up to 6 weeks for the symptoms to show!

Because prevention and / or control of spreading appears to be associated with bathing and personal hygiene, scabies is considered to be a water-related disease; however, the tick that causes scabies is not dependent on water for transmission or for any part of its life cycle.

Below are a few pictures of scabies that may help you learn more about this Mite. The picture on your left is an infection of the hand and the scabies picture to your right is of a forearm.

Symptoms of Scabies

Some common symptoms and signs of scabies infection include irritations that look like a pimple, burrows or scabies rash and commonly found on the skin between the fingers including folds of skin on the wrist, elbow, or knee and other areas.

You may also notice an intense itching, especially at night and over most of the body with which can cause sores due to scratching.

Because there is usually less than 10 mites on an infected person, detection from a scraping or biopsy may be missed.

How do I get Scabies?

You can get Scabies by skin to skin contact with a person that is already infested. Without prolonged skin contact such as a handshake, your changes of getting scabies is very low. Intimate contact, sharing of towels and bed has a very good chance of infestation.

It is a common misconception that you can get scabies from your pet. Your pet may have mange and be infected with scabies, but this type of mite will only cause itching and stay in your skin for a few days, then die. It will not spread.

Scabies Treatment

There are many lotions available for treating scabies. Always follow the directions provided by your physician or the directions on the package insert. Instructions usually include:

Make sure your body is clean and apply the lotion from the neck down to the toes and leave it for about eight hours followed by a bath or shower.

Wear only clean clothes and make sure you wash everything you have used in hot water and dry in a hot dryer. You will usually do a second treatment with the same scabies lotion a week later. If you are pregnant or treating a child, there are milder scabies medications.

Scabies is often misspelled in the form of scabes or scavies. If you have this infection, we would love some pictures of the infected area to share with our readers. We will keep your information confidential and are looking for pictures of scabies that can be viewed by all visitors – simply send us an email to jim at badspiderbites.com

Written by Jim on June 30th, 2007 with 231 comments.
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