Scabies are a microscopic insect that burrow into your skin and leave marks that look like flea or misquito bites. It is very diffucult to be rid of because they are micoscopic and they reproduce rapidly. It burrows into the top layer of your skin, digs a tunnel and makes a nest using the fibers of your clothes, then it lays 1-3 eggs every day which hatch in a few days. They become larvae which then travel down the tunnel to the surface of your skin and hang onto the hair on your skin until they turn into adults a few days later, then they burrow into your skin and continue this disgusting process. If you scratch your skin, the eggs get under your nails and you tranfer them to other parts of your body very quicklty. This spreads it and makes it harder to get rid of. The adults cannot live outside your body for more than 72 hours; however, the eggs can last for years in clothes, furniture, etc. You must kill the eggs left under your skin before they hatch or you could have this stuff for years!
I was fortunate to know right away that I had Scabies because someone close to me was diagnosed and was undergoing treatment when I visited him. He told me right off that he was being treated for Scabies (didn't know what that was at the time) and that his dermatologist said that he was not contagious as long as he was undergoing the treatment, but we found this to be untrue in my case! I noticed the first itchy spots the very next day and all I did was sit on his couch for a couple hours watching a movie. Most people don't find out they have Scabies for weeks and by that time they are severely infested and so his their home, car, office, or places they frequent. This makes it more difficult to rid themselves of this horrible disgusting parasite and to prevent others from catching it. Here's what I did to get rid of it in 5 days and what I passed onto my friend, who was much more infested than me, and also was able to get rid of it completely in about 2 weeks.
Here's what you need to purchase at the store:
- Organic apple cider vinegar (ACV) not white vinegar (1 part vinegar 8 parts water) in new clean spray bottle. Used to sterilize.
- Hydrogen peroxide.
- Q-tips
- Bleach (1 part bleach 4 parts water) in spray bottle. Used to sterilize.
- 100% peppermint oil
- 100% tea tree oil
- Non-itch formula (1/4 cup coconut oil with 3 drops peppermint oil and 6 drops tea tree oil). Also kills adult Scabies and their larvae.
- A box of Borax or Baking soda sanitizes the wash.
- Plastic mattress cover and plastic bags that can be sealed or tied shut completely. Mattress cover should cover your entire mattess (like the kind that zips up).
- Either purchase Castle peppermint liquid soap, or put a few drops of peppermint oil in your shampoo and liquid body soap.
- Purchase a new nylon body scrubber to wash with don't use washclothes.
Antibacterial soap to wash hands throughout the day or you can use any liquid soap with a few drops of peppermint oil. Using antibacterial soap too much will dry out your hands eventually, I found out later.
You must be deligent at all times to get rid of this horrible pest, not just for yourself, but for those you care about or come in contact with throughout the day.
1. Remember at all times that you are highly contagious and infected until ALL red spots are completely gone (about 10 days since the last spot left). DON'T EVER SCRATCH IT that's how you spread it. As soon at it itches, apply the non-itch formula, even if this means you must wake up in the middle of the night to apply the formula.
2. Don't touch or hug anyone! If you come in close contact with someone while you are infected, you MUST warn them that you are infected and that they should check themselves twice daily to see if they get bite marks, which typically show up first under their arms, on their back, or inside their thighs.
3. Clean and sterilize anything that you've touched until ALL red spots are gone! Such as: bedsheets, pillows, blankets, clothes, towels, brushes, combs, door knobs, car seat, steering wheel, office chair, toilet seats (use covers). Wash everything in hot water, add 1/4 cup baking soda or Borax to wash, and dry in hot dryer. If you can't wash it, spray it with the Apple Cider vinegar solution or dryclean it, or throw it out inside a plastic bag and put in trash outside the home.
4. To keep from having to wash bed pillows every day, I wrapped mine tightly with plastic trash bags.
5. Remove rugs from bathroom floor. If your bathroom is carpeted, cover the carpet with rugs that can be washed after every shower.
6. My daily routine was as follows:
- Didn't do anything until I first stripped bed of sheets, pillow cases, blankets, pjs, underwear and put in them in washer right away (not in the laundry basket, but in the washer). But didn't turn on washer until I got out of shower. If you get up and go into kitchen and make coffee or do something before you do this, you may be spreading the pest to other places in your house without knowing it. So get in the shower first thing. They seem to reproduce more active during the night, thus they could be on the surface of your skin, so if you have any on your skin when you wake, you could easily transfer them to another location that you or someone else could pick up later.
- Spray mattress and pillows (that are wrapped in plastic bags) with bleach formula.
- Stand in shower and put hydrogen peroxide all over your body, especially on the sores. Wait 5 minutes, then shower with hot water as hot as you can stand it.
- While in shower, first wash hands from hyrodgen peroxide - don't get in eyes, wash hair with peppermint soap (I used Castle peppermint liquid soap, but you can put a few drops of peppermint oil in any body wash or liquid soap and use this), then wash body with peppermint soap. If you shave, use throwaway shavers and don't use them more than once. Don't use peppermint soap on private areas and careful not to get in eyes, only because it stings. Use your regular soap on private areas and your regular shampoo and cream rinse after using the peppermint soap. Don't use regular soap on other areas of your body. You need to keep as much of the non-itch formula on your skin throughout the day as possible because when the larvae come to the surface of your skin and come in contact with the peppermint and also the tea tree oil, it kills them. It wears off after a few hours. The coconut oil is not only used to dilute the peppermint oil and tea tree oil, but the coconut oil also has natural antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties that help to keep the skin clean. The coconut oil also helps to smother the adult Scabies. I read that you can also use olive oil, but I used coconut oil because I already knew of its other benefits. I've used coconut oil for years to keep from catching colds, flu, etc. The peppermint and coconut oil are also natural exfolients that keep the skin moist and will help to keep the skin from drying out due to all the washings.
- Before getting out of shower, spray shower wall, floor and everything in shower with the bleach formula. Get out of shower and towell off, then put the same towell on the floor and stand on this until you are ready to dress.
- After towelling off and combing hair with pre-sterilized brush (soaked in bleach or ACV formula), apply the non-itch formula to each sore then rub it into the rest of your body all over, including the face.
- Spray down sink, toilet, and bathroom floor with ACV solution and wipe up with same towel and put this towell in washer with bedding.
- Put on clean clothes that have not not worn yet or that have been washed in hot water with Borax or bleach.
- Turn on washer. Put everything in dryer and dry hot for 50 minutes (before you leave for work so that they are ready when you arrive home later).
- Take ACV spray with you to work along with the non-itch formula.
- Put a clean towell over car seat and then spray towel on seat and steering wheel each morning before getting into car with the ACV spray.
- While at work, use caution. Do not touch anyone (shake hands) or exchange materials with others that you have touched. Do not scratch, apply non-itch formula to sores several times during the day and as as often as needed. Spray office chair with Apple cider vinegar solution before sitting on it. It's best if you can stay home and isolated if possible. However, I know that everyone can't do this.
- When you arrive home, get clean towels and clothes (not those in the dryer these are for later) and repeat steps to take a shower BEFORE sitting down or touching anything don't take clean items out of dryer until AFTER you have showered. If you have to sit down on anything, put a clean towel down first, but recommend you shower as soon as you can. Don't forget to put the towel you sat on in the washer before someone else sits on it. Also, don't put dirty clothes in hamper, put them in a trash bag. If you did, spray hamper with bleach formula.
- Now take clean bedding, pjs, etc. Out of dryer and make bed. You should be clean the rest of the night, but I also sprayed my feet with the Apple Cider vinegar spray each time before I put them into bed. Try to get up during the night to reapply the non-itch formula. Once it wears off, you can get bitten again very easily and this whole process has to start all over again!
- Repeat this routine daily until ALL red spots are gone. Takes about 10 days after last bite is totally healed.
It's hard and exhausting, but you can win and get rid of these things if you are patient, deligent, and don't give up!
Day 1 - I started out with six sores the morning after I came in contact with infected person. I had five bites under my right arm, one under my left arm. These things are extremely itchy and when you scratch them, they hurt! When hot water hits them they string! I Began treatment later that evening (day 2), next morning I had 7 more (13 total) under left arm, under breast, inside left upper thigh and inside right leg by knee, and even one on the back of my neck. Day 3, no new ones and the first ones started to get lighter. Day 4, no new ones and first ones were almost gone. Day 5 all but two bites were almost gone. There were two that would not go away. Kept applying hydrogen peroxide could see welts around the bite area that were the eggs under the skin. Skin looked normal until I soaked the area with the hyrodgen peroxide. Eventually 2 days later they started to go away too. However, when I was still recovering from the last one, I was forced to take care of my quad son to feed him, because his caretaker had a death in the family. While I was feeding him dinner (darn it I should have worn latex gloves), he got three small bites on his neck. I treated it right away with hydrogen peroxide, but by the next morning his face, neck, shoulders, and scalp were covered with hundreds of bites! So, I covered myself up as much as possible, wore latex gloves and began treating him too. My last sore was nearly gone by now, so I thought I was ok, but I WAS NOT! My poor son. The only place he can feel is above his shoulders and the entire area is covered with bites. He can't stop scratching rubs his head and neck on his wheelchair headrest, so it is making it harder to get rid of. I let all his caretakers go and I stayed home from work to care for him. After putting the hyrogen peroxide all over his face and neck using a q-tip, they burn itch horibbly. Then applied the non-itch formula all over his body, did better. 2nd night he could actually sleep thru the night thank God. But, even though I covered myself all over while caring for him, I still woke up with a new bite on my arm! These things are so horrible and very hard to get rid of.
I recommend that you go online and read everything you can about what other people had to go through with this horrible parasite and what things they did that helped. Best site I found was www.earthclinic.com/cures/scabies.html. Don't totally trust what doctors tell you (even a dematologist) and don't waste money purchasing products created to treat this pest they aren't guaranteed and the household items I used worked fine! My friend's dermatologist did not tell him that others could get infected if they sat on his infected couch like it did! If you don't follow the above instructions, you may continue to get reinfested and end of having to take some really bad stronger medicine that could cause other major health problems. Just read others' unbelieveable stories on the internet who have been through this. Some were infected for years!
Another thing to note. My friend went to his dermatologist. The standard remedy given is to prescribe Permethrin cream, which includes a toxic synthetic chemical commonly used as a pesticide! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin#Stereochemistry. They tell you to cover your body with this stuff and leave it on ALL NIGHT! Are they kidding this chemical is banned in 40 countries but not in the USA. This chemical is known to cause cancer, seizures, and Parkinson's disease!
I am a Christian and I believe that the Lord helped me figure out how to get over this stuff quickly by 1) leading me to the treatment info I needed to get be rid of it, and 2) reminding me to be deligent about doing what needed to be done when it needed to be done and stick with it, even when it was in the middle of the night when I was dead tired and didn't want to get up and put the non-itch formula on my sores. It seems to itch the most at night. I was so, so tempted to just scratch it and go back to sleep. I thank God He helped me through this so that my son and I could be free of it and not infest anyone else. I pray that my journal and instructions help someone else get free from these awful things. Hang in there, pray, trust the Lord and He will get you through it!
Found out later that you DO NOT want to put the bleach on your skin. Causes the adult to burrow deeper into your skin. Use the hyrogen peroxide - works better at killing them inside their tunnels - the eggs too.
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