Scabies typically cause an itchy rash to form on your skin. You may also experience scales forming around the rash and intense itching.

Scabies are caused by mites that burrow under the upper layer of human skin, feeding on blood and laying eggs. The skin condition can feel extremely itchy and causes discolored lines on your skin along with bumps.

Scabies mites are transmitted by skin-to-skin contact with someone who has the skin condition or by extended contact with their clothing, bedding, or towels.

Anyone can get scabies, and it’s most common where living conditions are crowded. The condition can often be treated with medicated creams.

Scabies is caused by the mite known as the Sarcoptes scabiei. These mites are so tiny that they can’t be seen by the human eye. When viewed by a microscope, you’d see they have a round body and 8 legs.

Scabies can often look like pimples, hives, on tiny bites under the skin. In some cases, a scaly patch may form in the same area.

You can’t see scabies, so you have to identify them by the rash they cause. Here are a few key indicators:

  • The most common symptoms of scabies are a rash and intense itching that gets worse at night.
  • The scabies rash looks like blisters or pimples: raised bumps with a clear top filled with fluid. Sometimes they appear in a row.
  • Scabies can also cause lines on your skin, along with discolored bumps.
  • Your skin may have scaly patches.
  • Scabies mites attack the entire body, but they particularly like the skin around the hands and feet.

Scabies can sometimes look similar to rashes caused by:

Treatment is usually a topical medication that’s prescribed by a doctor.

To help relieve some of the bothersome symptoms associated with scabies, a doctor may also prescribe additional medications to control itching and swelling.

Itching may continue for weeks, even if the first medication application works. Be sure to look for new tracks or bumps. These signs may indicate that a second treatment is necessary.

Anyone exposed to scabies should be treated.

There are many natural treatments that may help to relieve the symptoms of scabies, including:

Tea tree oil

Tea tree oil can help heal a skin rash and stop itching. However, it’s not as effective at fighting scabies eggs deep within the skin.

Try adding a small amount of tea tree oil to a squirt bottle and spray it on your bed linen and sheets.

Neem

The neem plant eases inflammation and pain and has antibacterial properties. It is available as an oil and in soaps and creams online.

Clove oil and other essential oils

Clove oil is an insecticide and has been shown to kill scabies mites.

More research is needed, but other essential oils may also have the potential to treat scabies. Options that you can try include lavender, thyme, and nutmeg.

People who are pregnant, breastfeeding or chestfeeding, or otherwise have health concerns should consult their doctors before trying any of these at-home remedies.

Scabies eggs are laid under the skin and hatch into larvae after about 4 days. In another 4 days, the mites are mature and ready to lay the next generation of eggs. This cycle continues until medical treatment halts it.

Scabies can live and breed on your skin for several weeks before your immune system has an allergic reaction and symptoms appear.

Scabies mites don’t live on animals. They crawl and are unable to jump or fly. Scabies mites can’t live away from a human host for more than 3 days, but they can survive for 1 to 2 months with a host.

Bed bugs can’t cause scabies since scabies are specific to the Sarcoptes scabies mite. Scabies mites must live in human skin to feed and breed. Bed bugs don’t live on human skin but instead feed on blood from humans or animals and are mostly active at night.

In addition, scabies mites are generally smaller than bed bugs. When fully grown, each mite is no bigger than the size of the point of a pin. Bed bugs are reddish-brown, oval-shaped insects. They can be as large as 1 to 6 millimeters — and so are visible to the human eye.

The mere thought of playing host to a family of scabies mites is unpleasant. It should be noted, however, that scabies mites don’t transmit diseases. That said, extensive scratching could cause secondary infections, such as impetigo.

In rare instances, Norwegian or crusted scabies can develop. This is a more severe version that only occurs as a result of a weakened immune system or when a scabies infestation goes untreated for months or years.

Scabies typically cause an itchy rash to form on your skin. They can be transmitted by skin-to-skin contact with someone who has the skin condition or by extended contact with their clothing, bedding, or towels.

Scabies can often look like pimples, hives, on tiny bites under the skin. In some cases, a scaly patch may form in the same area.

To help relieve symptoms associated with scabies, a doctor may also prescribe additional medications to control itching and swelling. Anyone exposed to scabies should be treated.