Scabies Rash
Here's a simple test that you or your doctor can do when you're asking the "is it scabies rash" question. First, look carefully for fresh itchy bumps or thin grayish squiggly lines (burrows) in the skin, especially at hands, inner wrists, fingerwebs, elbows, armpits, ankles, feet, diaper area, belt-line, and abdomen. Infants and young children can get scabies rash on the face, scalp, and neck, unlike older folks. Magnifying glass and bright light can help.
Take a dark washable wide-tip marker, and rub around the suspicious bumps or burrows. Then take an alcohol wipe or alcohol-soaked gauze and wipe away the ink. If there's a scabies rash burrow under the skin, the ink often remains, showing you a dark irregular line. Occasionally a tiny dark dot is visible at the end of the burrow - that's the mite.
At the doctor's office, we might use mineral oil and a scalpel to scrape the burrow and a fresh bump or two onto a microscope slide, to look for the mite, or its eggs and feces. But the ink test can be done at home, if you're curious that way. In children recently adopted from institutional care, we do have a pretty low theshold to treat for scabies rash for intensely itchy skin rashes.
Scabies Rash
OTHER RELATED INFORMATION
Here's a simple test that you or your doctor can do when you're asking the "is it scabies rash" question. First, look carefully for fresh itchy bumps or thin grayish squiggly lines (burrows) in the skin, especially at hands, inner wrists, fingerwebs, elbows, armpits, ankles, feet, diaper area, belt-line, and abdomen. Infants and young children can get scabies rash on the face, scalp, and neck, unlike older folks. Magnifying glass and bright light can help.
Take a dark washable wide-tip marker, and rub around the suspicious bumps or burrows. Then take an alcohol wipe or alcohol-soaked gauze and wipe away the ink. If there's a scabies rash burrow under the skin, the ink often remains, showing you a dark irregular line. Occasionally a tiny dark dot is visible at the end of the burrow - that's the mite.
At the doctor's office, we might use mineral oil and a scalpel to scrape the burrow and a fresh bump or two onto a microscope slide, to look for the mite, or its eggs and feces. But the ink test can be done at home, if you're curious that way. In children recently adopted from institutional care, we do have a pretty low theshold to treat for scabies rash for intensely itchy skin rashes.
Scabies Rash
3 comments:
In Florida, a few of my clients have asked their dermatologists about doing the skin scrape test and mineral oil and none of them have been willing to do this. They seem to use biopsies instead, but a dermatologist told me that this often won't identify the scabies rash properly.
http://www.itchyskinrash.net/pictures-of-scabies.html
Wow, I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't even know about scabies until I read this article. Thank you for sharing these information. It sure helped me learn something new today. :)
i started getting a rash on my back a month ago, now its on my stomach and itching like crazy went to doc said its a rash so looked it up on comp looks just like scabbies ive tried everything i saw on sites i can even feel the scabbies moving grose i tried tea tree/neem oil/peroxide/and rid for hair but could still feel them moving and still itched then i saw a site that said to use dog flea dip well im despearete i bought a one put it on and i cant feel them moving anymore i cant believe it worked hopfully it will take them all away it seems alot better
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