Stories about people suffering from scabies have been around since ancient times. Already in the twelfth century, a detailed description of the course of the disease by the physician Avenzoar was made. But he failed to identify the causative agent. And until 1834, scabies was considered a humoral disease.
What is scabies and where can you find it
Scabies is primarily a skin disease. The cause of this disease is the scabies mite (female). The main source of infection is a sick person. It is enough to touch the infected area of the skin, and in a couple of days you will start to itch.
The causative agent of scabies can live outside the sick person's body for some time. For example, on personal hygiene items (towels, textile scarves), furniture and common items (public transport or nightclub chairs, exercise equipment in a fitness center). When the skin of a he althy person comes into contact with an infected object, infection occurs.
This disease affects all age groups. In addition, scabies is highly contagious. Often the whole family comes for treatment, and sometimes even with neighbors.
Types and signs of "scabby beauty"
Modern medicinedivides this disease into several types.
Typical scabies. Stripes of ticks and small bubbles at the ends are clearly visible on the skin. Plus, the patient has unbearable itching. These are all signs of classic scabies. It occurs in 95% of cases.
Norwegian scabies. It is also called "cork". It occurs mainly in people with reduced immunity. How does scabies of this type manifest itself? The peculiarity is that there are no characteristic passages (stripes) and bubbles. All these elements are under the crusts.
"Clean scabies". This species has a blurred clinical picture. This happens due to a combination of good immunity stability and frequent hygiene measures (change of underwear and bed linen several times a day, frequent hand washing, and so on).
Pseudo scabies. It is also called "cat's mange". This type of tick is often found in pets. The main difference is the absence of burrows in the patient's skin.
Signs of scabies
How does typical scabies manifest itself? The main symptom of the disease is severe itching. Two reasons contribute to this:
1. Vital activity of the female scabies mite. She moves in the epidermis and lays her eggs there.
2. While in human skin, the female releases toxic substances. In response, the body releases histamine. As a result, the desire to scratch becomes even stronger.
The main feature of itching with scabies isthis is an increase in the evening and at night.
The second is the location of the rash. Favorite places of the classic form of the disease on the human body are areas with thin skin.
Typical scabies on the arms and legs is more often localized between the fingers, in the elbows and knees, in the groin, in women under the breasts.
The cortical form of the disease is more often located on the soles of the feet, hands, under the nails, in the armpits or buttocks.
In children, it is quite often localized in the scalp. You can see the moves made by the tick only if you look closely.
At night, the female mite is active, and therefore itching in the evening and at night intensifies. That is why many medical procedures are carried out before bedtime. In addition, areas of the affected skin are better visible, which facilitates the treatment process.
Unfortunately, humans do not develop immunity to this disease. After recovery, you should also be wary of a new meeting with this "beauty".
How do you know it's scabies?
To establish a diagnosis, a simple visual examination and patient complaints are sufficient. No specific testing is required in most cases.
The only caveat: if only the groin area is affected, it will be necessary to pass some tests. And all because a number of other sexually transmitted diseases have similar symptoms. For example, syphilis, groin lice, and so on.
How to protect loved ones from a disease like scabies
Treatment (photo illustrates a typical scabies course)should be carried out in conjunction with preventive measures aimed at ensuring the safety of relatives and friends of patients. To do this, you first need to isolate sick people. Change and process bedding, underwear and personal hygiene items. Boil fabric items if possible. What cannot be boiled - douse with steam. Treat all surfaces with disinfectants that the sick person has come into contact with. And by and large, everything that the patient touches must be treated daily until complete recovery, and plus a couple of days after the cure.
For the prevention of infection of a he althy person, there is also a prescription in folk therapy. You need to prepare a strong saline solution (60-90 grams of s alt per glass of water). Moisten the skin with saline solution, without wiping, allow to dry. You can use this prevention method for at least 7 days.
It is possible to get rid of this infection only by external means. Traditional medicine is not against the treatment of folk remedies, if it is effective. In any case, it is always better to consult a doctor and only after starting therapy.
Treatment methods
Everyone who has experienced the disease knows that scabies is very unpleasant. Treatment with folk remedies is done with the help of pleasant baths, ointments and decoctions. They can be combined in various ways. The duration of the course depends on the degree of skin damage and ranges from 3 to 10 days.
Baths should be hot. This is done so that the skin becomes softer, which allows better penetration of therapeuticfunds. Warm water also soothes itching. It is recommended to wash with a hard washcloth after taking a bath. The causative agent of scabies is removed mechanically.
A bath in the treatment of scabies is enough to take for fifteen minutes. Further, it is recommended to apply ointments, herbal juices or decoctions to infected areas of the skin.
Therapeutic baths
With a disease such as scabies, treatment with folk remedies should be consistent. First - cleansing, then - the destruction of the pathogen.
Bath with s alt and chamomile. You will need a lot of chamomile and even more s alt for this procedure. S alt bath is prepared at the rate of 1 kg of s alt per 10 liters of water. A decoction of chamomile is made in the ratio of 100 grams of grass per 1 liter of liquid. First you need to steam the skin. After the bath, you do not need to wipe yourself, let the s alt be absorbed. Then wash the affected areas with a decoction of chamomile, without wiping, let dry. It is optimal to take such a bath before going to bed.
You can also apply s alt treatments at night. Before going to bed, prepare two containers. One with water, the other with s alt. If you feel itching, moisten the skin first with water, and then rub it with s alt. After a few minutes, the irritation will subside.
Herbal bath. You will need herbs of succession, burial ground, celandine, elecampane, birch leaves, pine needles. Pour 100 grams of any component individually or in combination (at your discretion) with 1 liter of boiling water and keep on low heat for 15 minutes. Strain the broth and add to a hot bath. With severe itching, you can increaseconcentration up to five tablespoons per glass of water.
Bath with juniper. One hundred grams of berries and branches of juniper pour a bucket of hot water. Boil for a quarter of an hour. Next, the broth is filtered and added to the bath. You can also wipe the affected areas of the skin with a prepared decoction.
Bath with a decoction of soapwort. Pass one hundred grams of soapwort through a meat grinder to obtain a homogeneous mass. Then it is poured with one liter of boiling water and boiled over low heat for 15-20 minutes. Next, the broth is filtered and added to the bath. It gives a very good effect in combination with sulfuric ointment.
Scabies: treatment with folk remedies based on lard or natural fats
Natural medicinal ointments are the most effective. Thanks to the base (lard, oil, lanolin, petroleum jelly), a gradual and gentle softening of the skin occurs. Through the soft epidermis, medicinal substances will easily reach the scabies mite.
Turpentine ointment. Mix turpentine and lard (you can butter) in a ratio of 1:2. Mix well until a homogeneous mass is obtained. It is rubbed into the skin as it is absorbed, several times a day. This potion can be applied to the scalp.
Ointment from Lavrushka. To prepare this remedy for scabies, you need to crush dry bay leaves. Mix the resulting powder with butter or lard in a ratio of 2:1. We heat the resulting mass in a water bath for 30 minutes. Apply to affected areas of skin.
Ointment from wild rosemary andhellebore. To prepare this remedy, you need 150 grams of wild rosemary and 150 grams of white hellebore. Mix herbs with 0.5 kg of pork fat and put in the oven for 12 hours. You can heat in a water bath for 6 hours. When the ointment has cooled, you can use it. This remedy is applied to the skin twice a day.
Ointment from celandine. You will need to grind celandine grass into powder and mix it with petroleum jelly or lanolin in a ratio of 1:4.
Ointment from elecampane and wormwood. Leaves of elecampane and annual wormwood mixed in a ratio of 1:3. As a basis, you can take lard or butter (not s alted). Apply 2 times a day.
Treatment with sulfur ointment
This is the most effective remedy for scabies. To prepare the ointment, you will need sulfur powder and lard. The latter is used as a basis. You need to mix in the following proportion: one part of powder and three parts of lard.
Treatment of scabies with sulfuric ointment is carried out two or three times during the day. Apply the medicine to clean skin.
Ointment from sulfur and tar. This tool is applied once, and it can not be washed off during the day. It is necessary to combine one tablespoon of melted lard and the same amount of laundry soap, rubbed on a grater, with two teaspoons of sulfur powder and 1 spoon of birch tar. All this must be mixed until a homogeneous mass is obtained.
A few more helpers in the fight against an itchy infection
With a disease such as scabies, treatment with folk remedies allows the use of juices and gruels made from herbs. They arehave a good therapeutic effect in the fight against the disease. In terms of effectiveness, these scabies remedies are not inferior to those described above.
Celandine. The juice and gruel from the leaves of this plant are applied to the affected areas of the skin several times a day. You can mix celandine milk with cream.
Dymyanka pharmacy. Pass the leaves and grass of the plant through a meat grinder. Squeeze juice. You need to apply it two or three times during the day. In severe forms, this remedy has an excellent effect.
Tar treatment in its pure form has an excellent damaging effect on the scabies mite and wonderfully relieves itching. Apply it on the skin and do not wash off during the day. After the bath, you need to re-apply tar to the affected areas.
Well-s alted bread kvass will relieve itching. It is convenient to make baths for hands, and the temperature of the liquid should be as high as possible.
Laundry soap. This is the safest remedy for children. First you need to grind the soap, you can do it just with a knife or rub it on a grater. Then beat into a thick foam and apply to the affected areas of the skin.
Of course, the disease is unpleasant - scabies. Alternative treatment in most cases will help you get rid of it. After all, its effectiveness has been tested by time.
