Does my husband have scabies?My husband broke out in a rash about 6 months ago. It started when he was sleeping on a mattress on our living room floor (I was preg. and had to sleep in recliner so he wanted to be near me). It started out as a few bumps on his scalp but now has spread to his body (mostly on his collar-bone and lower back, a few on his thigh but not many). It is a pimple-like rash that he says itchies like crazy. The bumps on his head do not seem to be the same as the ones on his body so we are not sure if the two are related. The bumps look almost like chicken pox (size and shape). He went to the Redi-med about a month after they started because his head was getting really bad and the dr didn't even look at him and said it was scabies. We both did the treatment of the 5% prem. and washed our bedding and all our clothes. It did nothing to help. Two weeks later he went to our family dr and he said it was not scabies and gave him some liquid steroid stuff to put on his head and lotion for his body. He said he thought it was over- active oil glands. That didn't help either so he went to the dermatologist. He told him everything he had been told and done and he agreed with the family dr that it was not scabies but he thought it was a bacterial infection and he agreed with my husband the bumps on his head were different from his body. He pres. some pills that start with Dox. but I can't remember the rest. They seemed to help get rid of the bumps on his head but did nothing for his body. He had a 25 day pres. and within a few days of the pres. running out the bumps on his head started to come back. He went back to the derm. and he gave him a different pres. of Erithomyason (not spelled right) at 400mg, three times a day. My husband mentioned to the dr that he seemed to itch worse when he was home and asked if maybe it could be an allergy. This is what I thought because when the bumps start they look almost like hives and you can sit there and actually watch them pop out. He said he still thought it was a bacterial infect. and that the pills should kill anything in him. He took the pills for like a week and the itching got worse. We don't know if he was allergic to the pills or what but he had to stop taking them. He had been going crazy with itching. He went to an allergist this Wed. because we didn't know where else to turn. The allergist didn't think it was an allergy though we did find out that my husband is highly allergic to dust, mold, grass and weeds. He thought it was a non-contagious parasite and gave my husband the scabies cream to use again. And another pres. for the pills he was on the first time that seemed to him with the head bumps. He said he didn't think it was scabies because neither myself or our 5 month old have had any bumps. I've been trying to research on the internet to see what it could be and I couldn't find anything about non-contagious parasites. They all seemed to be contagious which makes me think that it is not a parasite. My husbands bumps seem to be on his chest/stomach area and the small of his back and a few on his upper leg/hip area. And of course all over his scalp. He doesn't seem to have them in the typical areas that scabies seem to be and from what I read adults don't usually get them on their scalp.
Sorry to make this so long but I just want to know if anyone else has had something like this and what it was. He is miserable and I'd like to be able to find something to get rid of this. He just did the cream treatment again Wed. night and the dr. said to leave it on and reapply more Thursday night and then wash it off on Friday. We washed our bedding again and our clothes. It's only Friday so I am hoping this will work but I would appreciate any suggestions anyway.
Thank you,
Amber
I do have some pics of the bumps/rash but I can not figure out how to attach them to my question. I am willing to email them to people though if they think they can help.
I figured out how to add the pics.
http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab174/lildevil3630/lowerback.jpg
http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab174/lildevil3630/chest.jpg
http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab174/lildevil3630/back.jpg
http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab174/lildevil3630/rightleg.jpg
Answer by onebigfellah
Well...speaking as someone who has had Scabies...
When I had Scabies, I did not get bumps or rashes. I had constant itching in random locations all over my body...some locations itched more frequently than others.
It almost sounds like an allergic reaction to something... Hives will give you a rash with bumps.
Has he tried taking something like a Benadryl to see if it is in fact allergies?
Now...what may have caused the allergies... Here are some thoughts... Have you bought a new pillow for him recently; a new mattress; changed laundry detergents; using a different soap in the shower??
I am not a doctor, but those are my thoughts on the subject.
Hope that helped a bit!
Answer by zitdr_02
Thanks for the history, but to be honest, a few good, clear pictures of your husband's lesions would help me out better. (Dermatology is a visual science). I can say that the distribution is certainly not what you'd expect for scabies, so I doubt that it's that. There are some skin disorders which can "sort of" resemble scabies, but which are not contageous, and perhaps he has one of those. But, again, without a few good pictures, I'd be hardpressed to diagnose those. I would suggest that you amend your question, by adding some pictures, or feel free to send them to me, and maybe I can help you out. .
Answer by Belliger
[oh! you upload the pics to any "image" site of your choice, then quote the URL, http://www.etc.etc.com/, like I have done below. Maybe have a scroll through the other "Skin" postings here, to see what others have done, - looking for the heading, "Picture included!"
[If you would like me to look at them, you could email them to me at < belliger@nym.hush.com > ]
Hello,
Does it look anything like this rash? ...
http://www.lib.uiowa.edu:8080/hardin/md/pictures22/dermnet/contact_dermatitis_rhus343.jpg
... that is a Poison Ivy rash. Are there any plants in the house or garden?
"In the US, poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac produce more cases of allergic contact dermatitis than all other contactants combined," [Habif, 1996].
One strong clue to a "poison ivy" dermatitis, is that little blisters tend to be formed in *rows* or straight lines... here is another picture that shows this clearly... http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/md/pictures22/dermnet/contact_dermatitis_rhus34.jpg
... (the first picture also shows it, but not so clearly).
( In chicken-pox, each and every little blister is tightly surrounded by a red ring, see here... http://howtodealwithstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/chicken-pox.jpg ... Poison Ivy blisters are not.)
I agree it isn't scabies, for any number of reasons, and never was.
I'm most impressed that you have discounted Scabies on the basis of the distribution of the rash ! You are right that Scabies only occurs on the scalp in babies.
The difference, - between Doxycycline and Erythromycin, working temporarily for the scalp but *not* for the body, - does suggest either that (a) they might be different problems,
Or that (b), - they are the same problem, - just that the scalp problem spots, especially, may be getting infected, - - - so that the antibiotic treatment is only fixing that "super - infection," without curing the root of the problem.
If they are they same rash, - (b), - then an allergic contact dermatitis on the scalp, might also suggest a reaction to a (medicated) shampoo or shampooing-soap, or to a hair-spray, hair fixative, hair-perfume or after-shave, or to a nickel-plated hair-brush or to a nickel-plated comb?
Bad contact dermatitis of the scalp looks like this... http://library.med.utah.edu/kw/derm/mml/22320084.jpg
The collar-bone, upper chest- and lower back distribution, might indeed be consistent with some contactant dripping from the scalp onto the collar bones, upper chest and small of the back.
"Overactive Oil Glands" of the scalp means, medically, "seborrheic dermaitis," (pronounced seb- o- REE'' -ik ), and that rash looks like this... (note the heavy dandruff flaking, which is characteristic),... http://www.surviving-hairloss.com/images/seborrheic_dermatitis.jpg
and the corresponding body rash involves the breast-bone especially... http://www.medical-look.com/diseases_images/seborrheic_dermatitis.jpg
Has your husband tried antihistamines for the body rash yet?
Hope this helps,
Best wishes,
Belliger
retired uk gp,
special interest in dermatology.
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Get the facts on the chickenpox vaccine, treatment, causes (varicella zoster virus, VZV), symptoms and signs (itchy, red rash).
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