Treating Scabies

Other Recommendations to Treat Scabies

It is important that all scabies eggs and mites be killed. Clothes, bedding, and towels used by the infested person should be washed in hot water and dried in a hot dryer two days before scabies treatment begins. No special cleaning is necessary for coats, furniture, rugs, floors, and walls.

 

Treating Scabies in Significant Others

Anyone who is diagnosed with scabies (as well as his or her sexual partners and those who have close, prolonged contact with the infested person) should receive treatment for scabies. If your healthcare provider has instructed family members to be treated, everyone should receive treatment at the same time to prevent another infestation.

 

Relieving Scabies-Associated Itching

Treating scabies usually results in killing the mites. However, itching may continue for two to three weeks and does not mean that you are still infested. Your healthcare provider may prescribe additional medication, such as antihistamines, to relieve severe itching.

 

No new burrows or rashes should appear 24 to 48 hours after effectively treating the infestation.

 

Are There Home Remedies?

There is no home remedy that can treat scabies. People should see their doctor so that medicine can be prescribed to kill the mites and eggs.

 

Treating Scabies-Associated Nodules

If nodules, which are commonly found on the scrotum and penis, remain for more than a couple of weeks after successfully treating scabies, the doctor can inject them with steroid medication.

 

Does Scabies Treatment Result in Immunity?

Scabies treatment does not result in immunity, so it is possible to become infested again. If a person becomes reinfected, symptoms of scabies are more likely to occur within several days of the infection.