Scabies - Essential Data About Scabies Symptoms

By Elvira Dale


Scabies symptoms, though easy to identify, are not known by many people, yet this condition can afflict thousands of people every year. The very first thing you should know is that it will take up to two weeks for any type of symptoms to appear, especially if a person has just been infested with the mites. Regardless of the symptoms appearing, scabies are still as contagious as ever. The mites are still contagious, even though there are no symptoms to be seen. This actually has nothing to do with whether or not you have good hygiene; it has to do with the nature of the mites themselves. Infestations are possible through direct contact with another person or an object that has the scabies on them. Medication for mites can be comparable to treatments used for eliminating head lice.

You can get a conclusive diagnosis that you have scabies at your doctor's office with just a simple, pain free test. If you have an area that is causing you to itch to a very high degree, then think about anyone close to you who may have a similar symptom. Your doctor will look at the area, and it may appear to be a rash that is red. There may also be a blemish that resembles a pimple. The test is only a matter of your doctor carefully scraping the top of the rash area and regarding it with a microscope. The size of a mite has been compared to a grain of pepper so it's easy to understand why it's necessary to view the sample under magnification. Although there are many possible symptoms, most of them will occur on the skin in some form of irritation or another.

As long as your skin provides an optimal place to live and breed, the mites will continue to proliferate until they are stopped. Although scabies can breed virtually anywhere, there are a few locations on the body that they are able to multiply much more easily. There are some differences between men and women regarding the most likely places for a scabies infestation to occur.

The rash and other effects of the scabies mite infection habitually appear on several locations throughout your body. A habitual location for a scabies infestation is on the wrists and the back of the elbow. The webbing between your fingers is a normal place to see infestations. The armpits are conducive to scabies growth and infestation most likely because the area will be moist. Another popular area for an infestation is the belly, most especially the umbilicus. Then there are gender specific areas of likely infestation, as well.

There is a higher prevalence of scabies seen in the US at universities and colleges. The data on scabies from the colleges not only comes from the universities across the country, but also from notable health-related organizations. Although it can be assumed that sexual intercourse plays a role in the spread of scabies, it only requires physical contact that is nonsexual in nature. What is necessary is continuous skin to skin contact which allows the mites spread from person to person. People that have many different sexual partners are at a higher risk of contracting and spreading scabies. Scabies is typically transmitted from one individual to the other through skin to skin contact over some period of time.

The way scabies look on your body does not vary and they can show up in several different places. Depending on how you became infested will be the determining factor on where the symptoms are likely to appear. For example, personal items can be a vehicle for the mite. Once your scabies symptoms have appeared and you have verified that you have a scabies infestation, launder or dry-clean any personal items - such as clothing - that might be infested also and make sure no one else uses them in the meantime.




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