How to Treat Scabies

October 6, 2005

A clinical review in the British Medical Journal looks at an

embarrassing problem some of your children may be facing: Head lice.

Head lice -- also going by the moniker scabies -- is highly contagious

and spreads through direct skin-to-skin contact. A patient with an

" ordinary case " of head lice has an average of 12 mites on their

bodies, but those suffering from crusted scabies may have millions of

them. Outbreaks of head lice rise and fall cyclically, according to

the report, peaking for unknown reasons every 15-25 years.

British Medical Journal September 17, 2005; 331 (7517): 619-622

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

Scabies is an infection of your skin with the microscopic mite

Sarcoptes scabei. This infection is relatively common, found all over

the world, and affects people of all races and social classes. Scabies

spreads rapidly under crowded conditions where there is frequent

skin-to-skin contact between people, such as in hospitals,

institutions, child-care facilities, and nursing homes.

You can suspect you have scabies when you have intense itching,

especially at night. You might also see pimple-like irritations, which

are the burrows these parasites build. They are typically on the

webbing between your fingers but can be on other areas.

The conventional treatments as described in this recent British

Medical Journal article review aren't safe solutions, as those creams,

lotions, and shampoos, which may not even work, contain toxic

insecticides like permethrin and malathion, and combing them out isn't

an option at all. You are better off avoiding them.

It would seem far wiser, and certainly safer, to consider an

alternative strategy. Lice are another common parasite infection of

your skin that is also typically treated with the above toxic

chemicals. However, essential oils like anise and ylang ylang applied

on the infected areas seem to work quite well for this infection and

should be as effective for scabies.

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