In the first part I have lay down the basics for getting rid of scabies. Let me recapture the main three points:
1. Tell about your scabies infection.
2. Make a plan of how and what you are going to do about it
3. Isolate yourself from any physical contact
This three are the base of your path back to well being, to your health. Perhaps the third point sounds like a bit too much or unnecessary. It’s not.
By avoiding physical contact you are preventing one of the main needs of scabies – to spread to new hosts and thus ensure their existence.
How scabies spread and live
You see, scabies cannot live (too long) without a host. They need you for their food and reproduction. Take away their conditions and they cannot survive.
Let’s look a closer look how scabies spread and reproduce.
Need to spread
Scabies are very sensitive to their environment and cannot live outside of the host (clothes or furniture) for up to 14 days and 2 to 3 days without human skin! That’s why they are so keen to spread on other hosts whenever they get the chance.
To spread, they need skin to skin contact. Some say you cannot get infected by just shaking hands or touching infected clothes. You might even read about it.
Well, It was so in my case. After I have done my scabies treatment I have briefly touched infected sweater and a week later I again started to see small reddish bumps on my hands. Later it was confirmed to be scabies infection once again.
My advice is don’t take scabies lightly. They spread like wildfire and to stop them you have to give them no chance.
Scabies will conquer the places where skin is soft. Most common ones are between fingers, your private area and on the inside of your elbows and knees. Also, scabies are well known to cause serious itching, sometimes so hard you can scratch your skin off and leave bloody trails.
One of the most common and often forgotten places to look for scabies mites is under your fingernails. Whenever you scratch you spread scabies too. This was the mistake I have made and it cost me few months of my life.
Simply trim your nails as close to your skin as possible and try not to scratch. One of the solutions is to wear rubber gloves. More on that later.
How scabies reproduce
Adult scabies mites lay their eggs into the burrows (small tunnels in your skin) and after 8 to 10 days eggs transform into a “nymphal” stage and then mature into adult mites. They can live 3-4 weeks in the host’s skin.
Adult mites are laying eggs every day and moving through your skin causes intense itching.
To get completely rid of scabies you have to destroy adult mites in your skin and in your clothes, towels and sheets as well as all their eggs.
If you have never been infected with scabies before, there can be 2 to 6 week of incubation period prior to any signs of scabies symptoms. This period is much shorter for persons who have been infected with scabies previously and it is 1 to 4 days.
How to diagnose scabies infection
Early scabies infection is very similar to other skin conditions diseases including dermatitis, syphilis and other allergic reactions.
One distinct way to tell if someone has scabies infection is to look for well know “S” shapes in your skin.
With time, itching become practically unbearable, especially at night. It helps if you take hot shower as heat disables scabies for some time.
Scabies infection is shown on the skin as bright red rash, sometimes accompanied with small bumps and itching.
If you suspect you might have scabies, make appointment with your doctor immediately. Scabies are not life threatening disease, but can be very unpleasant – to you and members of your family.
