Scabies

Scabies, also known as Seven-year Itch is a skin disease. Worldwide, about 300 million people are infected by Scabies each year. Anyone can get scabies. It attacks people of all ages, races and skin type’s even people who are very clean and neat can get scabies. Still it is the most common disease in children. It is highly contagious and can be easily pass from one person to another. It is generally caused by skin being invaded by ‘Mite’. These bugs are really tiny that cannot be seen with naked eyes, they have a cream-colored body and have eight legs. The mite lays eggs in human skin, which hatch and grow into fully-grown mites. This means that signs and symptoms of this particular disease can last for months or even years, if not treated or medicated properly. These bugs can cause intense itching in the area surrounded by them. The urge to scratch may be particularly intense at night.

The mite lives on the skin and warrens into it. Scabies is spread to others through close skin-to-skin interaction in a family, child care group, school class, nursing home, hospitals and recent sexual partners etc. Normally people pick up mites from infested items such as bedding, clothes, and furniture. However it can be easily cured with an insecticide lotion applied to the skin and many other home remedies. Medicines like lotions, ointment, powder, which are prescribed by a dermatologist, when applied to your skin kill the mites and their eggs (which cause scabies) although you may still experience some itching for several weeks. These mites basically attack people with poor immune systems or people who are malnourished, this can cause a syndrome called “crusted scabies” or “Norwegian scabies,” which is highly contagious and is linked with skin stiffening and a peeling rash.

Allopathic treatment for scabies:

Medicines that may be recommended include: 5% permethrin cream, this is the most common treatment for scabies. It is safe for children as young as 1 month old and women who are pregnant.10% crotamiton cream.1% lindane lotion. 25% benzyl benzoate lotion. 10% sulfur ointment.

Home-remedies for scabies:

Most of the people are unaware of treatment of this disease and they use home remedies for curing scabies and avoid medical help until it gets severe. Regular scabies treatments in home are extremely unlikely to cure your scabies infestation on their own because it just kill mites from the surface and they won’t be killing the fully burrowed mites and their eggs. However, there are natural herbs, oils, that can help are Rosemary Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Neem oil, Clove oil, Tiger Balm, Cayenne Pepper.

However, the best (and only) cure for scabies is to use oral ivermectin and/or topical permethrin cream.