Scabies home treatment.

Scabies info on treating scabies in children.

 

 

Leaving the doctors with a scabies home treatment for your baby is maybe the last thing you expected when you took him for an itchy skin rash.  But an infection with the scabies mite is not that uncommon in young children. 

 

Transmission of scabies.

How do you get scabies? Scabies has nothing to do with poor hygiene but is spread by close skin to skin contact like holding hands or sleeping in the same bed.

It is also spread by contaminated bedding, towels and clothes. Children should not go to day care or school until they are treated to prevent transmission to other children.

 

 

What do scabies look like?

The scabies parasite or Sarcoptes scabiei is a little creature of only 0.4 mm long. This means he is not visible without a microscope. See scabies photo.

So how can this little creature cause so much trouble? To start with  the female mite burrows her scabies eggs (about 25) under the skin. After about 3 days the larves and hatch and after 14 to 17 days have become adult mites.

 

Scabies skin rash.

The first signs of scabies are usually little red bumps, pustules and nodules. This scabies skin rash itches very much due to the allergic reaction to the burrowed mites.
Sometimes you can see tiny grey tracks on the skin where the burrowed mites are.

The first signs of an infant infected with the human scabies mite are:

• Irritability.
  
• Sleeplessness.
  
• Tiredness.
  
• Skin rash.

 

Scabies home treatment for infant
with pustules and nodules on the leg.

The symptoms are mostly due to the terrible itching that for some reason is worse at night. The rash usually starts in the body folds, hands and wrists.

With little children a typical sign is the rash on the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet and on the scalp and back of the neck.

Scabies Home Treatment.

For young children the most used scabies home treatment is Elimite (Permethrin 5%). Permethrin is considered safe to use on infants older than 2 months.

How to use:

• This cream should be applied in a thin layer from the neck down before your child goes to bed.
  
• Then apply some to the hairline, temple, scalp and fore head.
  
• Prevent the cream from going in the eyes, nose and mouth.
  
• Leave overnight for 8 to 12 hours then wash it off with water and soap.
• This scabies home treatment should be repeated after 5 to 7 days.
  

 

Because little children scratch the affected area it is possible they have also scabies eggs under the finger nails. Keep the infant’s nails as short as possible and apply some cream on the finger tips as well. Use mittens to prevent your child from putting his fingers in his mouth.

 

Other scabies home treatment used for infants:

Crotamiton. Or Eurax is an antipruritic and is only suitable for children older than 3. Crotamiton helps to relieve itching of the skin and skin irritation caused by scabies.

Sulfur ointment or sulfur soap. The oldest known treatment for scabies but not as affective. Because it is least toxic it is often used as scabies home treatment for infants, pregnant women and breast feeding women.

Lindane.  Most doctors stopped using Lindane because of its high toxicity to the human body. If Lindane is not correctly used it can cause damage to the central nervous system.

Malathion. Malathion in low doses (0.5% preparations) is used as a treatment for head lice,body lice and scabies. It is a less toxic alternative to Permethrin when you need to treat your child’s hair and scalp.

 

Besides the cures for scabies mentioned above, to completely eradicate scabies you have to:

• Check family members and treat them as well if suspected they have scabies.
  
• Wash clothes, towels, combs, brushes and bedding in very hot water.
  
• Strollers, prams and car seats can also be sprayed with an insect spray.
  
• Vacuum furniture, rugs and mattresses carefully. Fortunately the scabies mite unlike the bed bug can not live more than a few days without his human host.

Itching may continue up until 2 weeks after starting the treatment because of the dead mite’s bodies remaining in the skin. If itching continues after 2 weeks another treatment may be required or the rash was not caused by scabies at all.

 

 

Burrowed scabies mites.

Before starting a scabies home treatment it is important to have a positive diagnose of scabies.

Diagnosis of scabies is done by scraping the affected area together with some oil and viewing it under a microscope.

This way it is possible to see not only the scabies mites but also the scabies eggs and mite fecal matter.

 

 

As a mom you may wonder; Is scabies home treatment with Permethrin, Lindane or malathion safe for my baby?

An other option is to use a natural or homeopathic product with the risk that it doesn’t work and the scabies rash spreads, making your infant suffer even more.

Permethrin is the most used scabies home treatment for young children and in 97% of the cases affective.

 

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The information on this page is given as a reference guide and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical help.