Re: Help me get rid of scabies

The shortcut is to go to the doc, but that's not always desired by people for something that can be treated at home. In my experience, I was able to successfully treat it with natural ingredients & a strict, strict cleanliness regime, which I share below. The reason someone might want to go a natural route is because of 1) embarassment, 2) worry of the strong and severe potential side effects of the doctor-prescribed chemical treatments & of course 3) money.

I'm not a doctor so don't take this as medical advice; I'm just saying this is what worked for me. I got this "thanks" to a family member that came to visit & we didn't know he had it til later after he left. All I did was hug him goodbye. But he was pretty bad with it, we found.

1) Aggressive cleanliness. Wash things you use DAILY. Clean jeans, shirts, bed sheets, pillowcases. I washed everything fresh, every morning, before I used them during the day. EVERYTHING.

2) Wash your hands thoroughly with hot water, soap, sanitizer after scratching because SCRATCHING WILL TRANSFER THE MITE OTHER PLACES ON YOUR BODY! Try to scratch with toilet tissue if you can, then throw away.

3) Keep the areas covered if at all possible, long sleeved shirts, jeans/pants, long nightgowns or pajamas with long sleeves, to prevent giving it to your loved ones.

4) Tea tree oil... tea tree oil... tea tree oil. YES this is highly effective! I had scabies for a few weeks before I realized what it was... but once I started using tea tree oil, it was gone in two weeks.

Apply it with every itch... at night before bed... during the night (since you will probably be up scratching)... etc. Yes it is a bit strong, but it will dry up & KILL OUT the mites. If the skin becomes dry, simple moisturizer over a few days will take care of it. This is what I did. I used a deep moisturizer after the mites were gone and within a couple days my skin returned to normal.

5) Coconut & Olive oils. I am an aromatherapist & found that for me personally, by mixing about 3/4 cup of combined coconut & olive oils (bought from the grocery store & then I mixed here at home) as a base in a small jar, bottle, or cup... then using an eyedropper, about five to seven drops of tea tree oil & five drops of lavender (make sure first that you are not allergic to any of these ingredients) this makes a wonderful natural medicine for the scabies areas. I did not have orange or peppermint oils but I recommend a drop or two of each as well. I personally used the mixture several times a day when the itching got severe.

6) Wash with RID lice shampoo in the same manner as if using for body lice. Do the follow up treatment in a week (and if you're really worried about it, do another a week later. I only did two treatments.) While it will not kill what is under the skin (that's what the tea tree is for!), it will help kill whatever is *on* the skin. It is not as strong as the doctor-prescribed pyremethrin treatment (& therefore somewhat safer... read some of the side effects of that stuff!) but it will help, is readily available over the counter, & much *much* cheaper.

Have everyone in your home wash with it too, when you do, just like a lice treatment, & wash everyone's clothes and bedsheets daily too, separate from yours. Always wash in hot water, soap, & dry on a hot setting.

7) The other thing I did that helped greatly during the day with itching and also drying up the places was Medicated Baby Powder by Johnson & Johnson, with Aloe, E, & Zinc Oxide (yellow & white bottle). I would sprinkle this quite liberally wherever I itched, & even (I know it sounds funny but it worked) in my pants legs, as I had some terrible spots on the insides of my legs & on my waist. While it did not heal the problem by itself (I was doing this before the tea tree) it did help make life bearable. The tea tree though was what started the healing process, for me.

I am (happily & gratefully) scabie free & thankfully did not spread it to my loved ones.