Scabies

DEFINITION

It's caused by an infestation by the human itch mite and may produce a rash very similar to other forms of eczema.

Symptoms

Scabies signs and symptoms include:

Itching, often severe and usually worse at night
Thin, irregular burrow tracks made up of tiny blisters or bumps on your skin

The burrows or tracks typically appear in folds of skin. Though almost any part of the body may be involved, in adults and older children scabies is most often found :

Between the fingers
In the armpits
Around the waist
Along the insides of the wrists
On the inner elbows
On the soles of the feet
Around the breasts
Around the male genital area
On the buttocks
On the knees

In infants and young children, common sites of infestation usually include the :

Scalp
Palms of the hands
Soles of the feet

CAUSES

The eight-legged mite that causes scabies in humans is microscopic. The female mite burrows just beneath skin and makes a tunnel where it deposits eggs.
The eggs hatch, and the mite larvae work their way to the surface of skin, where they mature and can spread to other areas of skin or to the skin of other people. The itching of scabies results from your body's allergic reaction to the mites, their eggs and their waste.
Close physical contact and, less often, the sharing of clothing or bedding with an infected person can spread the mites.
Animals and humans all are affected by their own distinct species of mites. Each species prefers one specific type of host and doesn't live long away from that preferred host.
Humans may have a temporary skin reaction from contact with the animal scabies mite. But people generally can't develop full-blown scabies from this source, as they might from contact with the human scabies mite.

PREVENTION

To prevent re-infestation and to prevent the mites from spreading to other people, take these steps:

Clean all clothes and linen.
Use hot, soapy water to wash all clothing, towels and bedding used within three days before beginning treatment. Dry with high heat. Dry-clean items you can't wash at home.
Starve the mites.
Consider placing items you can't wash in a sealed plastic bag and leaving it in an out-of-the-way place, such as in your garage, for a couple of weeks. Mites die after a few days without food.

DIAGNOSIS

To diagnose scabies, examines skin, looking for signs of mites, including the characteristic burrows. When locates a mite burrow, he or she may take a scraping from that area of skin to examine under a microscope. The microscopic examination can determine the presence of mites or their eggs.

Ink test for mite:Take a dark washable wide-tip marker, and rub around the suspicious bumps or burrows. Then take an alcohol wipe or alcohol-soaked gauze and wipe away the ink. If there's a scabies burrow under the skin, the ink often remains, showing you a dark irregular line. Occasionally a tiny dark dot is visible at the end of the burrow - that's the mite.

HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICATION FOR SCABIES

SULPHUR
It is one of the supreme remedy for recurrent maltreated, obstinate, suppressed cases of scabies. There is presence of voluptuous tingling & itching in the bends of joint in between fingers, as soon as he gets warm in bed, also it is worse when undressing. Itching is accompanied by burning & soreness, especially after scratching. The skin appears rough & scaly with formation of little vesicles & pustules.

Adapted to persons of a scrofulous diathesis, subject to venous congestion; especially of portal system. Persons of nervous temperament, quick motioned, quick tempered, plethoric, skin excessively sensitive to atmospheric changes. For lean, stoop-shouldered persons who walk and sit stooping like old men. Standing is the worst position for sulphur patients; they cannot stand; every standing position is uncomfortable. Dirty, filthy people, prone to skin affections. Aversion to being washed always after a bath.
Sepia – Top Remedy for Scabies
Sepia is one of the most effective medicines for scabies cases where a person complains of itching vesicles not relieved by scratching. The skin turns pinkish from scratching. The condition gets worse in the open air while the person feels better in a warm room. Scabies which is present mostly at the bends of the elbows and knees and where scratching does not provide any relief is also treated well with Sepia, making it a popular prescription among Homeopathic medicines for scabies.The eruptions is predisposed to crack and ulcerate as soon as it appears. There is presence of itching & burning sensation which is worse in the evening, open air. Better in warm room. Scabies comes periodically every spring. It is also useful in those cases of scabies after previous used of sulphur. Adapted to persons of dark hair, rigid fibre, but mild and easy decomposition.
Kali Sulphuricum – Excellent Remedy for Scabies
Kali Sulphuricum is considered one of the most suitable medicines for scabies cases where the symptoms include dry and harsh skin with extreme itching. Peeling and flaking of the skin are observed. Kali Sulphuricum is one of the best medicines for removal of scabs (desquamation of the skin) after skin infections. Scabies that worsens with heat is also treated well with Kali Sulphuricum, rating it among the best medicines for scabies.
Psorinum – Effective Remedy for Scabies
Psorinum is another of the most prescribed medicines for scabies. It has shown the most remarkable results in case of unhealthy skin with an abnormal tendency to skin diseases. In such cases, the person complains of intolerable itching which gets worse from lying in bed. In fact, so severe is the itching that the person scratches until the skin starts to bleed. Psorinum is the best treatment option among medicines for scabies with dirty, rough, scabby, greasy skin along with violent itching.
ARSENIC ALB
The eruption appears on the bends of knees. The eruptions could be dry as well as full of small pustules. There is presence of burning and itching which is worse at night, application of cold water by local application of warmth. The scabies has tendency to alternate with bronchial asthma.

Great Prostration, with rapid sinking of the vital forces; fainting. The disposition is:
1. Depression, melancholy, despairing, indifferent.
2. Anxious, fearful, restless, full of anguish.
3. Irritable, sensitive, peevish, easily vexed.
The greater the suffering the greater the anguish, restlessness and fear of death. Mentally restless, but physically too weak to move. Indicated by its periodicity and time aggravation: after mid-night, and from 1-2 a.m. And by its intense restlessness, mental and physical: its anxiety and prostration.
CARBO-VEG
The eruptions are dry almost over the whole body, especially worse on extremities. There is presence of itching which is worse after undressing at night. Scabies can occur after abuse of mercurial salts. Concomitant symptoms like dyspepsia, belching, passing flatus should help the physician to select drug. Once infection takes place, there is presence of acrid, bloody, foul discharge. The pus smells like asafoetida. There is presence of excessive burning in lesion which is worse by local application of heat as well as cold.

Cachectic persons whose vitality has become weakened or exhausted. Persons who have never fully recovered from the exhausting effects of some previous illness. Weakness of memory and slowness of thought.
CAUSTICUM
It is an extremely important drug when scabies are suppressed by local application of mercury and sulphur. There is excessive itching of whole body at night, also when secondarily infected there is presence of humid vesicles oozing corroding pus. The other concomitant symptoms are yellowish looking skin, warts, involuntary urination when coughing, sneezing or walking. The patient on the whole is extremely sensitive to cold air.

Adapted to persons with dark hair and rigid fibre; weakly, psoric, with excessively yellow, sallow complexion; subject to affections of respiratory and urinary tracts.
HEPER SULPH
The eruptions that resemble scabies are present on folds of skin, hands and feet. The eruptions are pustular and crusty, oozing a foul, old cheese like discharge. The skin is extremely sensitive to cold air. The itching is worse at night and better by warm application. Presence of scabies in an individual where eruptions are suppressed by mercury.

For torpid lymphatic constitutions; persons with light hair and complexion, slow to act, muscles soft and flabby. The slightest injury causes suppuration. Diseases where the system has been injured by the abuse of Mercury. In diseases where suppuration seems inevitable, Hepar may open the abscess and hasten the cure. Oversensitive, physically and mentally; the slightest cause irritates him; quick, hasty speech and hasty drinking. Patient is peevish, angry at the least trifle; hypochondriacal; unreasonably anxious. Extremely sensitive to cold air, imagines he can feel the air if a door is opened in the next room; must be wrapped up to the face even in hot weather; cannot bear to be uncovered; takes cold from slightest exposure to fresh air.
LYCOPODIUM
Eruptions on the scalp, extremities, genitals and abdomen. The eruptions are yellowish brown, moist, purulent. Itching and burning sensation is worse by warmth and better by cold application, especially itching while burning is better by local application of heat. GIT concomitants like weak digestion, craving for sweets, flatulence should help one to prescribe the drug.

For persons intellectually keen, but physically weak; upper part of body emaciated, lower part semi-dropsical; predisposed to lung and hepatic affections; especially the extremes of life, children and old people. Deep-seated, progressive, chronic diseases. Pains: aching-pressure, drawing; chiefly right-sided, four to eight p.m. affects right side, or pain goes from right to left.
PSORINUM
This nosode should be used in those cases of scabies where one has a repeated history of scabies in the past or scabies are suppressed with the help of conventional medicine resulting into internal affection e.g. asthma, migraine, heart trouble, etc. the eruptions are present on bends of elbow. The scabies appear in every winter and disappear in summer. There is presence of violent itching, worse by warmth of bed or by scratching.

Especially adapted to the psoric constitution. In chronic cases when well selected remedies fail to relieve or permanently improve; when Sulphur seems indicated but fails to act. Lack of reaction after severe acute diseases. Appetite will not return.