what are scabies
What are scabies?
Scabies are little tiny mites who burrow under the skin. They affect people every age. It does not matter the cleanliness of the individuals since scabies affects everyone that come into contact with the pesky mite.
The tiny mite will burrow into the skin and sometimes is visible as a small black dot under the skin. They travel underneath the layers of the skin eating their way through as they proceed. As they travel under the skin they cause irritating itching and possibly sores that will crust over as the sores try to heal.
Scabies can be easily spread by having contact with people that have the mite touching bedding towels clothing and other materials the mites have reached. They are easily spread from one person to another but only with direct contact as the mites cannot jump like fleas.
The symptoms of scabies begins as light itching then progresses to severe itching with red spots on the affected areas of the body. They tend to cause secondary lesions on the skin due to the continuous scratching. Younger children and older adults have a more severe case of itching with the youngsters experiencing worse skin reactions to the mite bites.
Immediate knowledge of exposure to scabies is not common. It generally takes several weeks before the signs and symptoms will appear for people having the scabies for the first time. The people with prior exposure to scabies tend to experience the symptoms sooner.
The diagnosis of scabies is often provided based on the symptoms shared with the physician. The diagnosis will be confirmed when the physician examines the skins for the signs of the mites. Physicians might possibly scrap the affected areas of the skin to examine the skin with a microscope to view the mites. The skin scrapping is not painful for many people since it is similar to the current scratching experienced.
