What is Scabies?

This is a contagious skin infection.  Scabies is an infection caused by a parasite that can be passed around in unhygienic situations.  This mostly affects children under the age of fifteen.

How does Scabies get started?

The mite (female itch 0.4 mm.) digs under the skin in the outer layer and lays eggs.  Wthin a few days the eggs hatch and gather round the hair follicles as the hair grows.  The body experiences a hypersensitivity reaction and intense itching results.  This causes further spreading of the infection.

Now the scabies is transmited by any close body contact which ususally happens among family members.  At this point even exchanging clothing puts someone at risk of infection.

Scabies appears as fine waxy lines on the sides of fingers, in the webs of toes or fingers, inner sides of the wrists, elbows, armpits, knees, groin area and the areola of the breast.

Scabies causes a severe itching and is worse at night or after a hot bath.  The most common places this is found are the genital area and the spaces between the fingers.  In babies, it is found on the palms or soles of the feet and sometimes on the trunk.  Look for intense itching in these areas.

Treatment of Scabies

This is a contagious disease and should be treated simultaneously when family members are affected.  The most common treatment is a paste prepared by mixing 2 teaspoons of sublimed sulphur with 8 tablespoons of coconut oil applied to the whole body by soaking for 20 minutes in warm bath water with plenty of soap.

Scrub the itching areas thoroughly and after the bath rub well with the sulphur paste below the chin line giving special attention to the affected areas.  Do these 3 consecutive nights wearing the same underclothing.  After the last application, use a hot soap bath to clean under clothing and outside clothing needed to be worn.  All clothes next to the skin plus the pillow covers should be boiled in hot water to get rid of the Scabies.