Scabies - Norwalk,CT

Updated on January 30, 2015
C.M. asks from Norwalk, CT
8 answers

How do you know when the scabies are gone? My Bf and I got it from an infested hotel. We seem to have gotten rid of it however I have things in plastic bags and washing laundry daily. I live in an apt. This has been veru expensive and time consuming. I guess what I really need to know is how long before its safe to go back to normal laundering and take things out of plastic. Alos we just moved and I have things packed in boxes and we havent unpacked. We are so paranoid. One month of this has been hell.

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So What Happened?

Thank you for the replies. Yes I am sure I have scabies. If you have ever had it then you know how annoying and scary it is. I have used the prescribed cream. and I have had this twice in the last 4 weeks. My Dr prescribed a cream and sent me home. No information about the disease, nothing. They lived more than 3 days and is why I have things in plastic bags and am washing clothes regularly in hot water and borax. and YES you can definitely get this from infected/infested bedding or why would you have to wash everything? its more than just skin to skin contact. I am proof of that.So I need info on how long for some people to continue this treatment of bagging things and washing everything before I can go back to my life. I have my daughter who comes for visits and sleeps over regularly. I do not want her to get it.so Ms May does it still seem weird that I would post this on a MOM site? Unbelievable...thank you to the moms that were helpful.
Scabies is NOT AN STD..and to Ms May..if you have nothing helpful to add kindly leave my thread. I am going thru hell..do I really need to respond to your juvenile comments?
Thank you to all the other moms and your helpful tips. I did use tea tree oil and Neem, I also am cleaning like crazy. I bought a steamer cleaner to clean the floors for even more protection. Im trying to give it another week or so to ensure they are all gone/dead. My daughter is dorming in college and comes and stays weekends.Thats all she needs to take back with her. It really frustrates that these things cant be seen but felt. I'm still dealing with such itchy skin problems-aftermath.. You guys were great-thanks again

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M.P.

answers from Asheville on

My college roommate got scabies from her boyfriend. When this happened, I did a lot of research on not contracting it myself! Here's what I remember:
Scabies aren't like bedbugs. The mites don't live long away from the body. I think the recommended time frame for leaving things in plastic bags is around a week.
Scabies are the worst- my poor roommate was miserable. The only contact I would have with her is to help her put the cream on her back, where she couldn't reach. Yes, I'm a good friend. :)

3 moms found this helpful

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P.M.

answers from Portland on

According to the Mayo Clinic website:

"Prevention
By Mayo Clinic Staff

To prevent re-infestation and to prevent the mites from spreading to other people, take these steps:

Clean all clothes and linen. Use hot, soapy water to wash all clothing, towels and bedding you used at least three days before treatment. Dry with high heat. Dry-clean items you can't wash at home.
Starve the mites. Consider placing items you can't wash in a sealed plastic bag and leaving it in an out-of-the-way place, such as in your garage, for a couple of weeks. Mites die if they don't eat for a week."

I wish you the best!

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J.B.

answers from Dallas on

I am so sorry. My son got scabies at day care when he was a year old and it was a nightmare. He was first misdiagnosed with eczema by the pediatrician and after a couple of weeks of using the eczema cream with no change we went to a dermatologist, but by then me, my husband, my other son, and my mom all had it. The dermatologist took one look at us an immediately said scabies. Here are the things he said and we did:
* we got the permethrin cream and had to apply it from head to toe on everyone, including my daughter and my dad and our part time nanny. The doc said it was just a matter of time before they got it, so to treat everyone. We applied it on day one and then had to reapply again 3 days later. That cream is very harsh to the skin and even now, two years later, I have very sensitive skin. I have had to change all my cosmetic and skin care products since using the cream.
*The doc said that although the scabies are dead and gone, the itching will continue for the next few days to weeks. The itching is not from the actual mite but from an allergic reaction to the mites saliva. So the itching will last for however long it takes your body to get over the allergen. So just because you are still itching, don't panic. The cream most likely worked. The dermatologist gave us some percentage of people that it doesn't work for and I don't remember the exact number, but I remember it was very low.
*We were also told that scabies hate tea tree oil (as do lice and scabies and lice are the same thing just one in the hair and one in the skin) so we took a bath with a few drop of tea tree oil in it (from the vitamin shoppe) pretty much every other day for the next month or so, until I felt comfortable that the ordeal was over.
*I also made a spray using water and tea tree oil that I sprayed on the couch, beds, and other hard to wash items. The dermatologist said it wasn't necessary, but that it wouldn't hurt either, so I did it because it made me feel better, plus it made my house smell good.

Hopefully you are on the tail end of your nightmare and will feel like you are in the clear soon. I know how terrible it is and even now, two years later, if I feel more itchy than normal I panic. And when we got a note about lice being found on another student in my daughters class I went on the full defensive. Lice is too similar to scabies for me, and I don't ever want to deal with either again.

And for what it's worth, I have never heard of scabies being an STD, and I worked as a med tech in a ob/gyn clinic for over 10 years. I have seen and heard and been to trainings about my fair share of STDs over the years. Pubic lice. . . yes. Scabies. . . no. Scabies is a skin mite, and can live off the body for up to three days (and the egg can live off the body until they hatch, then the mite have 3 days to find a host). There is plenty of skin to skin contact that occurs outside of sex.

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O.O.

answers from Los Angeles on

I have a friend who was an LPN at a nursing home. They had an episode of it and my friend became infected. She had to use a cream and her husband and kids had to use it as well. She washed the towels and sheets. I don't remember it going on any longer than that.
There *might* have been a second cream apication--I'm not sure.

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D..

answers from Miami on

ETA - Just want to remark about the STD comment and scabies: Not sure where anyone is getting that scabies is an STD. My 3 year old got it from playing in the DIRT at the Renaissance Fair. The pediatrician knew all about scabies and it was absolutely NOT a surprise to her. If scabies were caused by an STD, she would have told us...

Original:
How did you get rid of it? Did you go to the doctor? My son got a bad case of scabies. I felt awful because I had been putting calamine lotion on him and it actually created a better environment for those eggs the scabies were laying.

If you both are healed up and don't itch anymore, it should be okay. I don't know why it's taking a month. Talk to the doctor and get some real information.

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B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

According to what I found, scabies only live about 36 hours when they are off a human host.
They are not a virus - they are a skin mite (like tiny microscopic spiders) that burrow under your skin (and it's the female mites that do this).
When animals get scabies (slightly different variety of mite) it's called mange.
It's possible to get it off used sheets (ew - that's just extremely gross the hotel didn't change bedding between guests) - it's not the typical method of catching it.
The usual way they get spread is through sexual contact and they are considered to be mostly a STD.
Although close hugging and other prolonged physical skin to skin contact can also spread them.
(You know it's probably innocent but when ever a STD crops up, I've got to wonder how faithful your boyfriend might be.)

http://www.medicinenet.com/scabies/page3.htm

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

The medicine the doc gives you kills them. Then as you use it regularly for a couple of weeks they are dead and gone. They need a person to stay alive from what I've read so if they aren't living and infesting the skin on your fingers I think they're over. But the one that has the answers would likely be the pharmacist or doc.

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M.P.

answers from Portland on

Because you got this at a hotel are you sure it's not bed bugs? Scabies has a line of pustules in a line on a nerve pathway. Bed bugs bite randomly.

I've not heard of scabies infestations in a hotel/motel. I've seen scabies several times. Scabies is a virus. Bed bugs are just bites. It's really tough to get rid of bed bugs. They hide in seams and cracks.

Scabies are a tiny mite that burrows under the skin and is caused by close skin to skin contact or after using bedding and towels used by someone with scabies. I would expect that you used bedding and towels were freshly laundered. The web site I found said it's unusual to get scabies without close skin contact. I suppose mites could be in the blanket or spread which are not washed after each guest. The article said that one can only get scabies if the person with scabies is still in a crusted phase.

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