How To Avoid Spreading Scabies And Get Rid Of The Rash Quickly

Our bodies can become hosts for many kinds of parasites, from worms to lice and everything in between. One that is very common is a mite known as Sarcoptes scabiei. This mite causes irritation and rashes on the skin, known as scabies. Scabies is, therefore, not an infection or illness as many might think. Instead, it is actually a parasitic infestation and should be treated swiftly to reduce the spread across your body and other individuals. You should take a few steps to reduce the risk of spreading scabies to others and remove the infestation from yourself.

Spreading Scabies

Scabies Symptoms

The most common symptom of scabies is intense irritation of the skin. This irritation causes itchiness and a raised red rash and spots. It’s incredibly uncomfortable for sufferers and should be dealt with as quickly as possible. These rashes don’t always have the same appearance from person to person, and some rashes may be made up of small or large raised spots as well as being close together or significantly spread out. You may also find something known as a scabies burrow, which is essentially a raised line where eggs have been laid.

Common Infestation Areas

You can get scabies mites anywhere on the body as these parasites are too picky with where they live, but a few areas are much more likely to become the infestation site than others. More often than not, these areas tend to be sheltered by either a fold in the skin or regularly covered by clothing, creating a warmer environment for the mites. Between the fingers and across the hands is a very common location, as it’s also a common first-contact point too. They can also find their way to the folds of the knees and elbows, the belly button, genital areas, and even the soles of feet.

Are Mites Visible?

These scabies mites are very rotund and appear almost bloated with small appendages allowing them to crawl along the surface of your skin. However, you won’t be seeing them in any sort of detail as they are microscopic organisms. At the very most, you might be able to make out the tiniest of black specks on your skin if you manage to spot one. The best way to spot or at least identify an infestation of scabies is to notice the symptoms, such as the obvious rash on the skin.

How Does It Spread?

It’s important to make sure you’ve done plenty of research about scabies as this will provide you with a better understanding of how these mites operate and, therefore, will help you to prevent spreading them. Basically, simply touching someone that has these mites is enough to transfer them to a new host. Although this tends to require prolonged skin-to-skin contact as mites will need to physically move themselves to a new host. Due to their size, they obviously move fairly slowly, but they can also be transferred by clothes and towels. They quite commonly spread via sexual contact, too, as this involves significantly prolonged contact.

Common Treatments

This isn’t something that can be left to its own devices like you would with certain viruses like the common cold. As scabies is caused by a parasite, they can essentially take up residence in your skin indefinitely. When left alone, scabies can lead to bacterial infections and more serious complications like septicaemia and heart or kidney disease. To get rid of these scabies mites, you should visit your GP as soon as possible, who will be able to prescribe you specific medications that will kill these mites. This medication will either be in the form of a topical ointment or a prescribed pill. These treatments won’t take long to work, and your scabies should be cured within around three days time. But of course, it all depends on the individual case, and treatment may take longer for some people, especially those with more severe infestations.

Preventing The Spread

If you or someone close to you has been unfortunate enough to contract scabies, then try not to worry too much. It’s fairly straightforward to prevent the spread to others, and the focus here should be on limiting physical contact as much as possible until the infestation is dealt with. Provide the person with scabies with their own bath and hand towels, for example, and try to keep your distance from each other to reduce the chances of mites moving to the other. Avoid sharing clothes with the person that has the mites too. You might wonder if you can catch scabies from pets, but luckily, this isn’t possible. Dogs and cats have their own variation known as mange, and while these mites can get on our skin, they aren’t adapted to being able to use human skin as a habitat and therefore won’t lay any eggs.