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Debbie Miller Dermatology
2565 NW Lovejoy St. #100Portland, OR 97210(503) 279-9700
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Scabies

Our team of professionals and staff believe that informed patients are better equipped to make decisions regarding their health and well-being. For your personal use, we have created an extensive patient library covering an array of educational topics, which can be found on the side of each page. Browse through these diagnoses and treatments to learn more about topics of interest to you.

Another great resource for you is www.skincancer.org

As always, you can call our office to answer any questions or concerns.

Scabies is a harmless but very itchy and highly contagious skin condition caused by mites that burrow into the skin and lay eggs. Symptoms include a severe itch, often worse at nighttime, and thin burrow tracks made of tiny bumps or blisters on the skin. Humans are allergic to the mites, which is what causes the itching.

Typically, scabies appear in folds of the skin, such as the armpits, around the waist, inside the wrists, between the fingers, on the soles of feet, on the back of knees or on inner elbows. In children, they more commonly appear on the face, scalp, neck, palms and soles. Scabies is spread through direct contact with an infected person or by sharing clothing and linens. It is so contagious that frequently when one person in a family is diagnosed with scabies, all family members are treated for it. It takes about 21 days for eggs to mature and new mites to begin burrowing through the skin.

Generally a visual examination of the skin is all that is needed to diagnose scabies. However, your dermatologist may take a small scrape of the skin to examine under a microscope. The typical treatment is prescription medicated creams applied liberally all over the body. It takes a few days of treatment before the sensation of itchiness begins to go away.

To help prevent further spreading, be sure to clean all clothes and linen in hot water and dry with high heat. Dry clean items you cannot machine wash in this manner or place the item in a sealed plastic bag and put it away for two weeks. The mites will die without a food source for this length of time.


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Patient Education

Patient Education
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Our Location

2565 NW Lovejoy St.
#100
Portland, OR 97210
(503) 279-9700

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Dermatologist Portland - 2565 NW Lovejoy St., Portland, OR, 97210 - (503) 279-9700
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