Common Scabies Treatments and Timeline
Scabies is a skin condition determined by a microscopic parasitic mite called Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis that only affect humans. This condition is easy to treat but there are no known ways to prevent it. Unfunded ideas from the past blamed poor personal hygiene for this affliction's spreading, ideas that today are disregarded. Scabies is a contagious affliction that can affect everyone, not minding the hygiene.
Scabies mites seek hidden places that can provide shelter, so it is less likely, but not impossible, for them to appear on the face or neck. The preferred areas of the body for the mites are the hands, the regions between the fingers, the wrists, elbows, armpits, the region of the nipples, the genital area, the chest and lower abdomen, the buttocks, the feet, the knees or the ankles. The scabies affliction has a very contagious character and the mites that cause it can easily be transmitted directly through close physical contact from one person to another or indirectly, through contact with contaminated object.
In the early stages of the infestations, the symptoms are itch, rash and inflammations; while in the later stages, the symptoms may go as far as ulcerations of the skin, lesions, blisters, painful nodules, crusts and pustules. Scratching should be avoided because it can damage the skin and make possible for infections of other nature to occur. The first symptoms of the scabies will show in a short period of time after the infestation but clear signs of the mites' infestation will only occur weeks later.
Scabies is an affliction easy to treat. An appropriate treatment will concern on killing the mites and also the eggs and larvae. The treatment should also aim the alleviation of some of symptoms of the scabies that will persist even for weeks after the eradication of the mites is completed. The dead bodies of the mites, eggs and larvae and their secretions, which are toxic to the human body still remain burrowed in the skin causing further allergic reaction of the skin.
The common treatments for scabies are based on creams, gels, lotions or ointments. Those medications are applied on the entire surface of the body insisting on the regions that were visibly affected by the condition and on the areas where mites could be. Permethrin and malathion are usually used for this kind of treatment. Permethrin – based creams are applied on the affected areas of the skin and kept for 8-12 hours before washing and re-applying. This medicine is very well tolerated by the human organism. The malathion – based creams must be kept on the body for 24 hours before washing and re-applying. Between the showering and the re-appliance of the treatment there has to be a period of time for the pores of the skin to close.
Once the mites' infestation is eradicated, hydrocortisones and antihistamines will be taken for alleviating the rash and itch or any other remaining symptoms. Antibiotics are added to the scabies treatment if the skin has suffered any bacterial infections like impetigo. The treatment may in some cases need to be repeated if the symptoms continue to show long after the treatment was concluded.
The family or other people that have had contact with an infested person should also follow a treatment for scabies eradication even if the symptoms didn't appear. This action is required because of the contagious nature of the condition.