Self Care Treatment for Scabies
Scabies can not be cured only with home remedies but at
least it can prevent scabies from reinfecting you and can
help you get over the symptoms more easily.
The most important thing in keeping scabies away from
you is adopting a perfect hygiene. You must cut your nails
in order to remove possible mites and eggs of scabies that
had sheltered there; wash your clothes, towels and other
laundry in hot water at 120oF and do not share them with
anyone because they can get infected. Also, the brushes,
combs and hair accessories must be disinfected too and
boiled in hot water in order for the parasites to die.
All the furniture and carpets must be vacuumed and the
vacuum cleaner bag must be thrown away.
The treatment must be followed as prescribed and it must
not be used for a longer period of time because it can
cause allergies and skin burnings.
In order to get rid of the itching you can use antihistamine
drugs such as Benadryl, Atarax, Zyrtec, and Phenergan.
The treatment prescribed by the doctor will consist of
a lotion called Elimite that contains permethrin and is
safe to use on children too. This lotion must be applied
on the body from neck to toes before bedtime and washed
off in the morning. The treatment must be repeated. It
is not recommended to use a lotion based on lindane because
of its high toxicity rate especially in children. In pregnant
women only permethrin is safe to use.
Scabies is transmittable to family members, roommates,
sexual partners and to those who live in crowded places.
Check-ups are necessary for all these people to see if
they got infected or not.
Because of the intense itching, the skin can get infected
and antibiotic drug treatment should be followed.
The doctor should be called if you suspect scabies has
infected you because home remedies can not cure this disease.
The symptoms for scabies are intense itching especially
at night and red marks and blisters over the fingers, the
elbows, the wrists and all around the waist.
Scabies is not a reason for going to the emergency room,
all you have to do is give your doctor a phone call to
establish an appointment but do not forget to tell him
about your symptoms. If your child has scabies and the
intense itching determined him to scratch until blood appeared,
you should go to the emergency department to prevent any
other skin infections from occurring in the injured area.
