Scabies - symptoms, treatment

Scabies are a dangerous skin disease that is contagious. The name of the causative agent of the disease is translated from the ancient Greek language as tantalizing or gnawing meat, and from Latin - combing.

Causes of scabies

This disease is caused by a skin parasite - an itch mite , which is transmitted from the infected skin. Long-term contact is necessary to ensure that a healthy person or animal is infected, so attentive treatment of one's surroundings can prevent the appearance of the disease.

Scabies are also transmitted sexually or at home through household items - bedding, household appliances, etc. Particularly high probability to get infected in domestic conditions or through the handshake of Norwegian scabies, in which the body of a sick person is housed up to a million mites.

Features of mite infection:

1. A greater chance of catching scabies at night than in the day, because during the day the parasite is inactive, and at night the females are selected on the surface of the skin.
2. To penetrate the skin, the tick takes at least 30 minutes.
3. The tick, which is not on the host's body, ceases to be active fast enough, and then perishes in a few days.

How does scabies manifest?

Scabies is manifested as an immune-allergic reaction to the products of the mite's vital activity. Therefore, the human skin turns red and it itchs badly when infected. Within the next 4 weeks, from the time the mite settles in the skin, the person does not feel any symptoms. This condition is retained only in cases where the infection is primary. If the person has already had scabies, the symptoms appear already during the first 24 hours: this is due to the fact that the immune system has developed a strong reaction to the tick.

Scabies occur most often on the hands, because this part of the body is less protected and at the same time often in contact with the environment.

Scabies in adults are manifested in the same way as in children: the age of a person does not affect the course of the disease, in contrast to the state of the immune system.

Since scabies are constantly combing, injured skin can penetrate bacteria that lead to multiple abscesses. Therefore, the rash is also a common symptom of the disease, although it is secondary.

Sometimes, with a prolonged course of the disease on the patient's skin, one can find so-called itch scoops-the ways in which the tick moved. This whitish uneven stripes are no longer than 1 cm.

How to get rid of scabies?

To get rid of scabies, it's not enough to use pharmacy and folk remedies: for recovery, you need to observe a special regime that will reduce the number of mites, and prevent contamination of others.

Prophylaxis of scabies

1. Treatment is conducted not only by an infected person, but also by all those who live with it.
2. The medication should be taken at a certain time according to the scheme prescribed by the doctor.
3. The drug must be treated whole body, regardless of the extent of the lesion.
4. Treatment is carried out at night, because at this time of day the tick becomes active.
5. Bathing of the patient is carried out first before the treatment, and then after it: in any case, the drug should be applied to the skin for at least 12 hours.
6. Bed linen patient is replaced after the passed course of treatment.
7. In 2 weeks after the end of treatment the patient should see the doctor, so that the latter decided to prolong the treatment.

Pharmacies for scabies

Several drugs are used to treat scabies:

1. Spray from scabies - Spregal.
2. Sulfur ointment.
3. Benzyl benzoate.

Treatment of scabies with folk remedies

Folk remedies for scabies can be considered additional measures that can slightly ease the patient's condition.

In people's treatment scabies use the following means:

1. Birch tar. They only smear the affected areas of the skin.
2. A mixture of turpentine (1 tsp) and butter (2 tbsp.).
3. Lavender essence. It is applied to the entire body and after 1 day they take a bath.