| 5 star (19) | 73% | |
| 4 star (4) | 15% | |
| 3 star (1) | 4% | |
| 1 star (1) | 4% | |
 (1) | 4% |
Terry ( Ont) on 06/14/2023: 
Truemermaid (Al) on 07/01/2018:
After one year with dealing with scabies the only thing we found to work for my husband's dry skin was Ted's remedy for pet mange. 50/50 peroxide and borax left on the skin overnight. Overnight was the key because borax bath soaks that cleared the other members of our household during reinfestations were not absolving the problem for him. Thus, every few days he would need to repeat treatment to avoid reinvesting the household. Permethrin (bought from local farm store) repelled mites from our furniture but did not kill immediately (3 days in non-humid environment). We tried both ivermectin and moxidectin however both repelled but did not eliminate the problem.
One method I found to help with clothing, especially shoes and belts, was freezing them for at least 10 minutes. Extreme changes in temperatures kill the mites but hot baths were too drying on my husband's skin and made the problem worse. His flaky dry skin was harboring the bugs and one peroxide/borax treatment overnight ended our war!
I hope this helps anyone dealing with this and know you are not dirty for keeping scabies. There is not enough information or research from the local USA doctor community to help adults with this disease.
Smittymom (Des Moines, LA) on 04/09/2014:
I also made up a spray bottle of about 20oz warm water and added 2 Tbs borax and 2Tbs hydrogen peroxide. I spray this all over my house and when I have an itch I put it on my skin and let it dry there. After that I still use the coconut oil (2Tbs melted) with 4-5drops of Thieves oil-its got clove in it--and I put that on the itchy spots as well. We also put the tea tree oil in the baths at night as well-we then air dry to let the oil and borax stay on our skin. After that I cover in the coconut oil I have found some very dry/leathery like spots on my skin after borax-but its so much better than a scabies itch-so I will lotion or oil up. We also put borax in all our laundry loads washing everything on super hot (we turned our hot water heater all the way up) and drying everything completely (and putting all pillows in the dryer daily for 20-30min)
We will continue the nightly bath ritual (which takes about 4 hours for 6 people it seems). For a few more days at least-until the baby is completely healed-and then we will probably do every 2-3 days for awhile just in case-I'm not risking re-infection--this has been a nightmare.
This was an AMAZING find!! Borax and Hydrogen Peroxide made all the difference for the cure!!!! Thank You Thank You thank you!!! Getting our lives back. :)
Jaime (San Francisco Ca.) on 01/30/2014:
Earthdweller (Mo) on 12/24/2013: 
I have scabies over a large portion of my body. The worst is my right leg which became infected and swollen. That's what led me to seek an MD in the first place.
I just finished a round of Cipro (antibiotic) and was also given a shot of Medrol at that time. That seemed to take care of the majority of the swelling & infection.
But the leg is still very red with some swelling. When I treat it with borax / h202 it oozes clear pus here and there, but it's very minor compared to when I first went to the Dr. I see a few of the scabie "trails" after putting the solution on, and if they itch I scrub them real well and I can finally get them to sting and die, as they then fade and go away.
My point is that I believe the remedy is the best I've seen, and it does work, but persistence is very, very important as is cleaning your environment. That is why repeating the process every day is required until you can get yourself & the environment rid of the beasts.
Another important point is that if you have thickened skin (as I have on my leg) you may need to use a stronger penetrating agent (such as DMSO) to get the borax under the skin to where the mites and their eggs are.
I still haven't had a full nights rest yet. An hour or two after going to sleep I awaken shivering. I live in a small (less than 1000 sq ft) house which is heated by a wood stove. The bedroom stays about 10 degrees cooler than the living room, but it's close to 69 degrees in the bedroom. I have no idea what is causing that. Perhaps it's a side effect from leaving the permethrin on too long, or perhaps it's my ultra dry skin caused by the borax treatments.
Right now for example I'm sitting right in front of the stove, it's 80 degrees and I'm beginning to shiver. I've been out of bed for 6 hours now and I'm starting to notice some itchyness on my back and a little on my arms. So I'm about to go the bathroom, switch on the electric heater and do some spot applications of the borax / h202 solution where I itch and put on fresh clothing.
Thats my update. I will keep posting in hopes that this information my help others, even if it's just to provide a measure of comfort by knowing you're not alone in your struggle.
Bye for now.
Earthdweller (Mo) on 12/23/2013:
The reason for my post is to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU THANK YOU TED! For this remedy. I was actually looking for a remedy for scabies when I came across this.
I've been suffering from this since October but now I have real hope. MDs won't help, search engines obscure results in favor for establishment treatments that don't work and cost boo-kew bucks, and that is simply ridiculous and downright psychopathic in this information age. Just shows how screwed up values are in this country.
Last night at my wits end I decided to try yet another internet search for something, anything to make some progress on this problem. When I found this I immediately checked to see if I had any h202 around. I had 3oz of 3%, so diluted made 10.5oz to which I added 1.5 tbls of Borax.
After showering the 3% permethrin off of me I'd been wearing for 4 days (yes I know that's bad), and applying the borax/h202 solution to my poor tortured body, I felt tingling, stinging where I tried it on my lower leg. After giving myself a rather nasty burn from using a self made concoction of sulfur powder+vaseline+cayenne extract, I only did the worst spot to see what happened. After a few minutes the stinging went away entirely so I proceeded to another spot. Same response, so I repeated this over my entire body. The stinging is a bit uncomfortable but it doesn't last long and it tells you the solution is working.
I felt great and was able to fall asleep quickly, although I was pretty confident I would reinfest myself getting from the bathroom to the bed. Sure enough, I awoke about 2 hrs later with a couple of itchy areas. I was hoping it might just be the result of ultra dry skin, but it wasn't. So after 30 minutes passed without being able to fall asleep again I arose and went straight to the bathroom to see how bad the re-infestation was. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
So I showered off the old borax and had just enough to reply. The stinging was there again but not as severe or long lasting. But I knew this would be a sure cure if I could clean up my environment. Although I tried to be careful after the 2nd treatment I was highly confident I would be re-infested before I could leave the house to replenish supplies and mount a serious effort to evict the little buggers with borax.
When I returned home that afternoon I could feel some of the itching return, though FAR FAR less than before. Although I was dog tired and need to get some sleep I knew what would happen if I tried before carefully and thoroughly cleaning everything.
I have sprayed a solution of borax & water on the waterbed (no bedding on it), the carpets and in the bathroom. I'm waiting for it to dry before hoping in the shower to apply the 3rd round of borax / h2o2 solution.
This time I used a large garbage bag and unloaded the dryer directly into it. I sure hope I've cleaned those dang things out of here and tonight will be first night of restful sleep. Trying to decide whether to shower first or get the bedding ready to sleep on.
Anyway, I'm now confident I have the knowledge & tools to overcome this ordeal and get on with my life one again.
EarthDweller
Kevin (New York) on 10/15/2013:
Kimberly (Columbus) on 05/16/2013:
Justin (Melbourne, Florida) on 06/07/2012:
Liz (Riverside, Calif) on 10/28/2011:
P. S. I did invest in a steamer and was obsessed with cleaning for the 2weeks, and I washed bedding everyday and never wore the same thing twice without washing. Good luck to all you people fighting these little critters, try this it works! Thank you Earth Clinic.
Scabies Are Curable (Minneapolis, Minnesota) on 07/30/2011:
Teresa (Kissimmee, Florida, Us) on 01/24/2011: 
Tee (Marietta, Ga) on 01/22/2011: 
Deb (London, Ky. Usa) on 12/06/2010:
I came to the internet for research on scabies and found this site. I read for a treatment on the critters and found the Peroxide and borax treatment. Now, I'm not sure if it was scabies or not, but my 9 month old grand-daughter sure loves me for getting rid of her itchy, red, infectious blisters on the bottoms of her feet and bosy. I used about 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup peroxide in as warm water as she could stand, and I soaked her in it for about 5-10 minutes once daily for 2 days. Afterwards, I let her air dry in a very warm house and left it on her for about 2 hours and then gave her a bath in olive oil soap, which I had purchased because the dermatologist said she was allergic to coconut oil. Which she is not. After the bath with theolive oil soap ($1.50 a bar), I rinsed her off with fresh water and patted her dry, and then rubbed her down with extra virgin olive oil and proceeded to pat her dry again. Her blisters are now all gone and her skin is soft without any harm to her body as those poisonous creams the doctors were prescribing for her.
An old lady probably in her 90's had mentioned to me before I came here for help about using virgin olive oil on her and all of her ailments would disappear. I was skeptical, Not anymore, Thanks old lady from wal-mart check-out line. I appreciate you and this site for the cure of my granddaughter's feet!!! I was careful to not let her get any of the bathing solution in her mouth and eyes too. She has an appointment in 2 days with the doctor and the dermatologist on the same day. I will mention this solution for whatever it was ailing my baby...
Run Scabies Runminneapollis (Minneapolis, Mn) on 11/12/2010:
Red (Austin, Tx) on 07/31/2010: 
Better But With Side Effects
Itchy (Houston, Tx) on 01/11/2010:
My son got infected. Don't know how. Despite the warnings to treat everyone in the house, I only had my son taking the Borax baths. Well, now I'm infected, my other son, and my mother who does not live with us. I am going to start bathing everyone twice a day. But I wanted to report I saw two fresh welts on both my hands last night and began itching so I got a spray bottle and mixed warm water, borax, and peroxide. No measuring just pouring in, but you can't put too much borax because it will not dissolve and spray out. Itching stopped immediately when sprayed on. So I sprayed the kids down also. Usually there would be a bump left in those spots. Woke up this morning...no bump! Also, the itching in the morning would normally wake the kids up early in the morning. Every one was sound asleep!
Try this. My spray bottle was 8 oz so I'd say approx. 1tbs of borax, 1 tbs of peroxide, and 6oz of warm water (you need room to shake the botte to mix) Shake well the borax has to dissolve.
Gemini (Greenville, North Carolina, Usa) on 12/27/2009:
He started scratching before me. In the beginning we thought it was because he had his hair cut the day the "itch" began. Once he showered and attempted to settle down for bed the itch became more intense. I assumed he had an allergy to something and gave him Benadryl. That night he was miserable after the Benadrly wore off and I slept like a baby. 3 days later I started to itch. I had red whwelts around my waist and buttocks. He only had red bumps on his arm and the small of his back.
When my Doctors office was open that next morning, I was the first in line. He diagnosed us as having scabies and prescribed permethrin for us both. IT DID NOT WORK! Second application DID NOT WORK!
So I hit the web, stumbled across Earth Clinic and began researching treatments for these evil mites... We have suffered 4 weeks with of lack of sleep and we cut off the connection with family and friends in fear the too may be infected with our unwanted critters.
I would recommend to anyone that has Scabies to try the Borax Soak- With all of the hair brained things we have tried this was the only that showed any progress for success... 3 cups borax, 2 cups epsom salt, 2 cups hydrogen peroxide in the hottest bath that you can tolerate. Soak for 30 mins. Do not rinse, pat dry and apply clear fingernail polish to the bumps. My theory was it would suficate them. We repeated this soak twice a day for 7 days. At the present we are on the road to recovery...(fingers crossed) I only have old bumps that have now dried and are fading and my hubby has 2 red angry whelts along with older bumps drying and fading. This is a far cry better than the HUNDREDS of spots, bumps, whelts, patches and brusing (from scratching)We will continue to do this soak every other day forever or until we have had zero break outs and all spots are healed for at lease 2 weeks.
Please keep in mind... I had our home sprayed and carpets cleaned along with wearing all clothing once and washing clothing asap in hot water and borax.
As for the occasional itch we use hand sanitizer. It cools the spot and we think it slows or kills the mites. I will admit that I have developed a mental issue with this ordeal. I fear that they will never go away fully. Everytime I feel anything crawly or itchy I automatically assume we were defeated again by the evil mites.... This is by far one of the most horrible experience of my life.
Good luck to all with this horrible illness. I pray that you find relief. I will follow up in soon to relay our progress. Happy Holidays, Genny
Kymom (Bowling Green, Ky) on 11/27/2009:
After suffering for about 10 days with intense itching in the palms of my hands and fingers, I went to a dermatologist. I had been treating myself for hand eczema using suggestions from EC. The Derm felt I had scabies. I got the cream RX filled, but came to this site for recommendations to try first. That night I bathed in 2 cups of Borax with 1 bottle of hydrogen peroxide for 30 minutes. I slept all night without a terrible itching episode for the first time in nearly 2 weeks. I bathed the same for another 2 nights and also kept borax in my shower to use as a scrub in the mornings. I changed my sheets every day and only wore clothing one time. I washed everything in hot water and added borax to the laundry detergeant. Luckily, I am the only one here at home who has suffered. Don't know where they came from, but I have such peace of mind knowing that we can fix the problem without harmful creams. And the relief was almost instant! I am continuing to use Borax with my laundry detergeant and scrub with it on the spots that may come up.
Thank you to Earth Clinic for this site and for all of you who post here. I also had a terrible case of acid reflux for a month solid that I cured with apple cider vinegar after reading here. It took 4-6 weeks, but I have absolutely no symptoms now.
Lori (Edmond, Oklahoma, Usa) on 11/13/2009:
For my children I used 1 cup borax and 1/2 cup of peroxide. I also decided to use the antibacterial soap. I did this because although we have all been afflicted with the bites, my husband hands and arms are totally clear. Where he works he always has to use the antibacterial gel, you know the inst-wash stuff. and he just rubs it on like lotion. So we've started using that too. Just in case anyone else thinks it might help. Good luck to all of you. We'll be taking bath #2 tonight, and another tomorrow. Then start again next friday. Also I'm gonna try the Diatomaceous earth powder. Have any of you ever heard of Dri-Die? It's supposed to kill bedbugs, and other creepy crawlies. Is it anything like DE? Thanks...Lori
L Dizzwl (Chicago, Il) on 09/18/2009:
Codysmom (Annandale, Va, USA) on 08/07/2009:
After 4 weeks of uncomfortable itching all over, I finally figured out that I had scabies. I decided to try the hydrogen peroxide and borax remedy posted on this site and it worked like a charm. I did have to soak in a bath of hot water, hydrogen peroxide (1 bottle) and 2 laundry scoops of the borax for two days, 30 minutes each soak. Then the next two days I didn't have time for baths so I just scrubbed borax all over while I was in the shower. I scrubbed for a good 10 minutes. I now just have slight itching in a couple of areas and I will continue to scrubb with borax until the itching is gone. This whole rememdy cost me $4 and I didn't have to go to the doctor for that pesticide cream. Yea for this site.
Eman8723 (Greenville, TX) on 07/18/2009:
Jennifer (Sacramento, CA) on 06/24/2009:
Crystal (Austin, Tx) on 01/18/2009:
Lee (Kelowna, BC) on 08/29/2006:
| 5 star (19) | 73% | |
| 4 star (4) | 15% | |
| 3 star (1) | 4% | |
| 1 star (1) | 4% | |
| (1) | 4% |
Terry ( Ont) on 06/14/2023:
Truemermaid (Al) on 07/01/2018:
After one year with dealing with scabies the only thing we found to work for my husband's dry skin was Ted's remedy for pet mange. 50/50 peroxide and borax left on the skin overnight. Overnight was the key because borax bath soaks that cleared the other members of our household during reinfestations were not absolving the problem for him. Thus, every few days he would need to repeat treatment to avoid reinvesting the household. Permethrin (bought from local farm store) repelled mites from our furniture but did not kill immediately (3 days in non-humid environment). We tried both ivermectin and moxidectin however both repelled but did not eliminate the problem.
One method I found to help with clothing, especially shoes and belts, was freezing them for at least 10 minutes. Extreme changes in temperatures kill the mites but hot baths were too drying on my husband's skin and made the problem worse. His flaky dry skin was harboring the bugs and one peroxide/borax treatment overnight ended our war!
I hope this helps anyone dealing with this and know you are not dirty for keeping scabies. There is not enough information or research from the local USA doctor community to help adults with this disease.
Smittymom (Des Moines, LA) on 04/09/2014:
I also made up a spray bottle of about 20oz warm water and added 2 Tbs borax and 2Tbs hydrogen peroxide. I spray this all over my house and when I have an itch I put it on my skin and let it dry there. After that I still use the coconut oil (2Tbs melted) with 4-5drops of Thieves oil-its got clove in it--and I put that on the itchy spots as well. We also put the tea tree oil in the baths at night as well-we then air dry to let the oil and borax stay on our skin. After that I cover in the coconut oil I have found some very dry/leathery like spots on my skin after borax-but its so much better than a scabies itch-so I will lotion or oil up. We also put borax in all our laundry loads washing everything on super hot (we turned our hot water heater all the way up) and drying everything completely (and putting all pillows in the dryer daily for 20-30min)
We will continue the nightly bath ritual (which takes about 4 hours for 6 people it seems). For a few more days at least-until the baby is completely healed-and then we will probably do every 2-3 days for awhile just in case-I'm not risking re-infection--this has been a nightmare.
This was an AMAZING find!! Borax and Hydrogen Peroxide made all the difference for the cure!!!! Thank You Thank You thank you!!! Getting our lives back. :)
Jaime (San Francisco Ca.) on 01/30/2014:
Earthdweller (Mo) on 12/24/2013:
I have scabies over a large portion of my body. The worst is my right leg which became infected and swollen. That's what led me to seek an MD in the first place.
I just finished a round of Cipro (antibiotic) and was also given a shot of Medrol at that time. That seemed to take care of the majority of the swelling & infection.
But the leg is still very red with some swelling. When I treat it with borax / h202 it oozes clear pus here and there, but it's very minor compared to when I first went to the Dr. I see a few of the scabie "trails" after putting the solution on, and if they itch I scrub them real well and I can finally get them to sting and die, as they then fade and go away.
My point is that I believe the remedy is the best I've seen, and it does work, but persistence is very, very important as is cleaning your environment. That is why repeating the process every day is required until you can get yourself & the environment rid of the beasts.
Another important point is that if you have thickened skin (as I have on my leg) you may need to use a stronger penetrating agent (such as DMSO) to get the borax under the skin to where the mites and their eggs are.
I still haven't had a full nights rest yet. An hour or two after going to sleep I awaken shivering. I live in a small (less than 1000 sq ft) house which is heated by a wood stove. The bedroom stays about 10 degrees cooler than the living room, but it's close to 69 degrees in the bedroom. I have no idea what is causing that. Perhaps it's a side effect from leaving the permethrin on too long, or perhaps it's my ultra dry skin caused by the borax treatments.
Right now for example I'm sitting right in front of the stove, it's 80 degrees and I'm beginning to shiver. I've been out of bed for 6 hours now and I'm starting to notice some itchyness on my back and a little on my arms. So I'm about to go the bathroom, switch on the electric heater and do some spot applications of the borax / h202 solution where I itch and put on fresh clothing.
Thats my update. I will keep posting in hopes that this information my help others, even if it's just to provide a measure of comfort by knowing you're not alone in your struggle.
Bye for now.
Earthdweller (Mo) on 12/23/2013:
The reason for my post is to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU THANK YOU TED! For this remedy. I was actually looking for a remedy for scabies when I came across this.
I've been suffering from this since October but now I have real hope. MDs won't help, search engines obscure results in favor for establishment treatments that don't work and cost boo-kew bucks, and that is simply ridiculous and downright psychopathic in this information age. Just shows how screwed up values are in this country.
Last night at my wits end I decided to try yet another internet search for something, anything to make some progress on this problem. When I found this I immediately checked to see if I had any h202 around. I had 3oz of 3%, so diluted made 10.5oz to which I added 1.5 tbls of Borax.
After showering the 3% permethrin off of me I'd been wearing for 4 days (yes I know that's bad), and applying the borax/h202 solution to my poor tortured body, I felt tingling, stinging where I tried it on my lower leg. After giving myself a rather nasty burn from using a self made concoction of sulfur powder+vaseline+cayenne extract, I only did the worst spot to see what happened. After a few minutes the stinging went away entirely so I proceeded to another spot. Same response, so I repeated this over my entire body. The stinging is a bit uncomfortable but it doesn't last long and it tells you the solution is working.
I felt great and was able to fall asleep quickly, although I was pretty confident I would reinfest myself getting from the bathroom to the bed. Sure enough, I awoke about 2 hrs later with a couple of itchy areas. I was hoping it might just be the result of ultra dry skin, but it wasn't. So after 30 minutes passed without being able to fall asleep again I arose and went straight to the bathroom to see how bad the re-infestation was. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
So I showered off the old borax and had just enough to reply. The stinging was there again but not as severe or long lasting. But I knew this would be a sure cure if I could clean up my environment. Although I tried to be careful after the 2nd treatment I was highly confident I would be re-infested before I could leave the house to replenish supplies and mount a serious effort to evict the little buggers with borax.
When I returned home that afternoon I could feel some of the itching return, though FAR FAR less than before. Although I was dog tired and need to get some sleep I knew what would happen if I tried before carefully and thoroughly cleaning everything.
I have sprayed a solution of borax & water on the waterbed (no bedding on it), the carpets and in the bathroom. I'm waiting for it to dry before hoping in the shower to apply the 3rd round of borax / h2o2 solution.
This time I used a large garbage bag and unloaded the dryer directly into it. I sure hope I've cleaned those dang things out of here and tonight will be first night of restful sleep. Trying to decide whether to shower first or get the bedding ready to sleep on.
Anyway, I'm now confident I have the knowledge & tools to overcome this ordeal and get on with my life one again.
EarthDweller
Kevin (New York) on 10/15/2013:
Kimberly (Columbus) on 05/16/2013:
Justin (Melbourne, Florida) on 06/07/2012:
Liz (Riverside, Calif) on 10/28/2011:
P. S. I did invest in a steamer and was obsessed with cleaning for the 2weeks, and I washed bedding everyday and never wore the same thing twice without washing. Good luck to all you people fighting these little critters, try this it works! Thank you Earth Clinic.
Scabies Are Curable (Minneapolis, Minnesota) on 07/30/2011:
Teresa (Kissimmee, Florida, Us) on 01/24/2011:
Tee (Marietta, Ga) on 01/22/2011:
Deb (London, Ky. Usa) on 12/06/2010:
I came to the internet for research on scabies and found this site. I read for a treatment on the critters and found the Peroxide and borax treatment. Now, I'm not sure if it was scabies or not, but my 9 month old grand-daughter sure loves me for getting rid of her itchy, red, infectious blisters on the bottoms of her feet and bosy. I used about 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup peroxide in as warm water as she could stand, and I soaked her in it for about 5-10 minutes once daily for 2 days. Afterwards, I let her air dry in a very warm house and left it on her for about 2 hours and then gave her a bath in olive oil soap, which I had purchased because the dermatologist said she was allergic to coconut oil. Which she is not. After the bath with theolive oil soap ($1.50 a bar), I rinsed her off with fresh water and patted her dry, and then rubbed her down with extra virgin olive oil and proceeded to pat her dry again. Her blisters are now all gone and her skin is soft without any harm to her body as those poisonous creams the doctors were prescribing for her.
An old lady probably in her 90's had mentioned to me before I came here for help about using virgin olive oil on her and all of her ailments would disappear. I was skeptical, Not anymore, Thanks old lady from wal-mart check-out line. I appreciate you and this site for the cure of my granddaughter's feet!!! I was careful to not let her get any of the bathing solution in her mouth and eyes too. She has an appointment in 2 days with the doctor and the dermatologist on the same day. I will mention this solution for whatever it was ailing my baby...
Run Scabies Runminneapollis (Minneapolis, Mn) on 11/12/2010:
Red (Austin, Tx) on 07/31/2010:
Better But With Side Effects
Itchy (Houston, Tx) on 01/11/2010:
My son got infected. Don't know how. Despite the warnings to treat everyone in the house, I only had my son taking the Borax baths. Well, now I'm infected, my other son, and my mother who does not live with us. I am going to start bathing everyone twice a day. But I wanted to report I saw two fresh welts on both my hands last night and began itching so I got a spray bottle and mixed warm water, borax, and peroxide. No measuring just pouring in, but you can't put too much borax because it will not dissolve and spray out. Itching stopped immediately when sprayed on. So I sprayed the kids down also. Usually there would be a bump left in those spots. Woke up this morning...no bump! Also, the itching in the morning would normally wake the kids up early in the morning. Every one was sound asleep!
Try this. My spray bottle was 8 oz so I'd say approx. 1tbs of borax, 1 tbs of peroxide, and 6oz of warm water (you need room to shake the botte to mix) Shake well the borax has to dissolve.
Gemini (Greenville, North Carolina, Usa) on 12/27/2009:
He started scratching before me. In the beginning we thought it was because he had his hair cut the day the "itch" began. Once he showered and attempted to settle down for bed the itch became more intense. I assumed he had an allergy to something and gave him Benadryl. That night he was miserable after the Benadrly wore off and I slept like a baby. 3 days later I started to itch. I had red whwelts around my waist and buttocks. He only had red bumps on his arm and the small of his back.
When my Doctors office was open that next morning, I was the first in line. He diagnosed us as having scabies and prescribed permethrin for us both. IT DID NOT WORK! Second application DID NOT WORK!
So I hit the web, stumbled across Earth Clinic and began researching treatments for these evil mites... We have suffered 4 weeks with of lack of sleep and we cut off the connection with family and friends in fear the too may be infected with our unwanted critters.
I would recommend to anyone that has Scabies to try the Borax Soak- With all of the hair brained things we have tried this was the only that showed any progress for success... 3 cups borax, 2 cups epsom salt, 2 cups hydrogen peroxide in the hottest bath that you can tolerate. Soak for 30 mins. Do not rinse, pat dry and apply clear fingernail polish to the bumps. My theory was it would suficate them. We repeated this soak twice a day for 7 days. At the present we are on the road to recovery...(fingers crossed) I only have old bumps that have now dried and are fading and my hubby has 2 red angry whelts along with older bumps drying and fading. This is a far cry better than the HUNDREDS of spots, bumps, whelts, patches and brusing (from scratching)We will continue to do this soak every other day forever or until we have had zero break outs and all spots are healed for at lease 2 weeks.
Please keep in mind... I had our home sprayed and carpets cleaned along with wearing all clothing once and washing clothing asap in hot water and borax.
As for the occasional itch we use hand sanitizer. It cools the spot and we think it slows or kills the mites. I will admit that I have developed a mental issue with this ordeal. I fear that they will never go away fully. Everytime I feel anything crawly or itchy I automatically assume we were defeated again by the evil mites.... This is by far one of the most horrible experience of my life.
Good luck to all with this horrible illness. I pray that you find relief. I will follow up in soon to relay our progress. Happy Holidays, Genny
Kymom (Bowling Green, Ky) on 11/27/2009:
After suffering for about 10 days with intense itching in the palms of my hands and fingers, I went to a dermatologist. I had been treating myself for hand eczema using suggestions from EC. The Derm felt I had scabies. I got the cream RX filled, but came to this site for recommendations to try first. That night I bathed in 2 cups of Borax with 1 bottle of hydrogen peroxide for 30 minutes. I slept all night without a terrible itching episode for the first time in nearly 2 weeks. I bathed the same for another 2 nights and also kept borax in my shower to use as a scrub in the mornings. I changed my sheets every day and only wore clothing one time. I washed everything in hot water and added borax to the laundry detergeant. Luckily, I am the only one here at home who has suffered. Don't know where they came from, but I have such peace of mind knowing that we can fix the problem without harmful creams. And the relief was almost instant! I am continuing to use Borax with my laundry detergeant and scrub with it on the spots that may come up.
Thank you to Earth Clinic for this site and for all of you who post here. I also had a terrible case of acid reflux for a month solid that I cured with apple cider vinegar after reading here. It took 4-6 weeks, but I have absolutely no symptoms now.
Lori (Edmond, Oklahoma, Usa) on 11/13/2009:
For my children I used 1 cup borax and 1/2 cup of peroxide. I also decided to use the antibacterial soap. I did this because although we have all been afflicted with the bites, my husband hands and arms are totally clear. Where he works he always has to use the antibacterial gel, you know the inst-wash stuff. and he just rubs it on like lotion. So we've started using that too. Just in case anyone else thinks it might help. Good luck to all of you. We'll be taking bath #2 tonight, and another tomorrow. Then start again next friday. Also I'm gonna try the Diatomaceous earth powder. Have any of you ever heard of Dri-Die? It's supposed to kill bedbugs, and other creepy crawlies. Is it anything like DE? Thanks...Lori
L Dizzwl (Chicago, Il) on 09/18/2009:
Codysmom (Annandale, Va, USA) on 08/07/2009:
After 4 weeks of uncomfortable itching all over, I finally figured out that I had scabies. I decided to try the hydrogen peroxide and borax remedy posted on this site and it worked like a charm. I did have to soak in a bath of hot water, hydrogen peroxide (1 bottle) and 2 laundry scoops of the borax for two days, 30 minutes each soak. Then the next two days I didn't have time for baths so I just scrubbed borax all over while I was in the shower. I scrubbed for a good 10 minutes. I now just have slight itching in a couple of areas and I will continue to scrubb with borax until the itching is gone. This whole rememdy cost me $4 and I didn't have to go to the doctor for that pesticide cream. Yea for this site.
Eman8723 (Greenville, TX) on 07/18/2009:
Jennifer (Sacramento, CA) on 06/24/2009:
Crystal (Austin, Tx) on 01/18/2009:
Lee (Kelowna, BC) on 08/29/2006:
Terry ( Ont) on 06/14/2023:
Truemermaid (Al) on 07/01/2018:
After one year with dealing with scabies the only thing we found to work for my husband's dry skin was Ted's remedy for pet mange. 50/50 peroxide and borax left on the skin overnight. Overnight was the key because borax bath soaks that cleared the other members of our household during reinfestations were not absolving the problem for him. Thus, every few days he would need to repeat treatment to avoid reinvesting the household. Permethrin (bought from local farm store) repelled mites from our furniture but did not kill immediately (3 days in non-humid environment). We tried both ivermectin and moxidectin however both repelled but did not eliminate the problem.
One method I found to help with clothing, especially shoes and belts, was freezing them for at least 10 minutes. Extreme changes in temperatures kill the mites but hot baths were too drying on my husband's skin and made the problem worse. His flaky dry skin was harboring the bugs and one peroxide/borax treatment overnight ended our war!
I hope this helps anyone dealing with this and know you are not dirty for keeping scabies. There is not enough information or research from the local USA doctor community to help adults with this disease.
Smittymom (Des Moines, LA) on 04/09/2014:
I also made up a spray bottle of about 20oz warm water and added 2 Tbs borax and 2Tbs hydrogen peroxide. I spray this all over my house and when I have an itch I put it on my skin and let it dry there. After that I still use the coconut oil (2Tbs melted) with 4-5drops of Thieves oil-its got clove in it--and I put that on the itchy spots as well. We also put the tea tree oil in the baths at night as well-we then air dry to let the oil and borax stay on our skin. After that I cover in the coconut oil I have found some very dry/leathery like spots on my skin after borax-but its so much better than a scabies itch-so I will lotion or oil up. We also put borax in all our laundry loads washing everything on super hot (we turned our hot water heater all the way up) and drying everything completely (and putting all pillows in the dryer daily for 20-30min)
We will continue the nightly bath ritual (which takes about 4 hours for 6 people it seems). For a few more days at least-until the baby is completely healed-and then we will probably do every 2-3 days for awhile just in case-I'm not risking re-infection--this has been a nightmare.
This was an AMAZING find!! Borax and Hydrogen Peroxide made all the difference for the cure!!!! Thank You Thank You thank you!!! Getting our lives back. :)
Jaime (San Francisco Ca.) on 01/30/2014:
Earthdweller (Mo) on 12/24/2013:
I have scabies over a large portion of my body. The worst is my right leg which became infected and swollen. That's what led me to seek an MD in the first place.
I just finished a round of Cipro (antibiotic) and was also given a shot of Medrol at that time. That seemed to take care of the majority of the swelling & infection.
But the leg is still very red with some swelling. When I treat it with borax / h202 it oozes clear pus here and there, but it's very minor compared to when I first went to the Dr. I see a few of the scabie "trails" after putting the solution on, and if they itch I scrub them real well and I can finally get them to sting and die, as they then fade and go away.
My point is that I believe the remedy is the best I've seen, and it does work, but persistence is very, very important as is cleaning your environment. That is why repeating the process every day is required until you can get yourself & the environment rid of the beasts.
Another important point is that if you have thickened skin (as I have on my leg) you may need to use a stronger penetrating agent (such as DMSO) to get the borax under the skin to where the mites and their eggs are.
I still haven't had a full nights rest yet. An hour or two after going to sleep I awaken shivering. I live in a small (less than 1000 sq ft) house which is heated by a wood stove. The bedroom stays about 10 degrees cooler than the living room, but it's close to 69 degrees in the bedroom. I have no idea what is causing that. Perhaps it's a side effect from leaving the permethrin on too long, or perhaps it's my ultra dry skin caused by the borax treatments.
Right now for example I'm sitting right in front of the stove, it's 80 degrees and I'm beginning to shiver. I've been out of bed for 6 hours now and I'm starting to notice some itchyness on my back and a little on my arms. So I'm about to go the bathroom, switch on the electric heater and do some spot applications of the borax / h202 solution where I itch and put on fresh clothing.
Thats my update. I will keep posting in hopes that this information my help others, even if it's just to provide a measure of comfort by knowing you're not alone in your struggle.
Bye for now.
Earthdweller (Mo) on 12/23/2013:
The reason for my post is to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU THANK YOU TED! For this remedy. I was actually looking for a remedy for scabies when I came across this.
I've been suffering from this since October but now I have real hope. MDs won't help, search engines obscure results in favor for establishment treatments that don't work and cost boo-kew bucks, and that is simply ridiculous and downright psychopathic in this information age. Just shows how screwed up values are in this country.
Last night at my wits end I decided to try yet another internet search for something, anything to make some progress on this problem. When I found this I immediately checked to see if I had any h202 around. I had 3oz of 3%, so diluted made 10.5oz to which I added 1.5 tbls of Borax.
After showering the 3% permethrin off of me I'd been wearing for 4 days (yes I know that's bad), and applying the borax/h202 solution to my poor tortured body, I felt tingling, stinging where I tried it on my lower leg. After giving myself a rather nasty burn from using a self made concoction of sulfur powder+vaseline+cayenne extract, I only did the worst spot to see what happened. After a few minutes the stinging went away entirely so I proceeded to another spot. Same response, so I repeated this over my entire body. The stinging is a bit uncomfortable but it doesn't last long and it tells you the solution is working.
I felt great and was able to fall asleep quickly, although I was pretty confident I would reinfest myself getting from the bathroom to the bed. Sure enough, I awoke about 2 hrs later with a couple of itchy areas. I was hoping it might just be the result of ultra dry skin, but it wasn't. So after 30 minutes passed without being able to fall asleep again I arose and went straight to the bathroom to see how bad the re-infestation was. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
So I showered off the old borax and had just enough to reply. The stinging was there again but not as severe or long lasting. But I knew this would be a sure cure if I could clean up my environment. Although I tried to be careful after the 2nd treatment I was highly confident I would be re-infested before I could leave the house to replenish supplies and mount a serious effort to evict the little buggers with borax.
When I returned home that afternoon I could feel some of the itching return, though FAR FAR less than before. Although I was dog tired and need to get some sleep I knew what would happen if I tried before carefully and thoroughly cleaning everything.
I have sprayed a solution of borax & water on the waterbed (no bedding on it), the carpets and in the bathroom. I'm waiting for it to dry before hoping in the shower to apply the 3rd round of borax / h2o2 solution.
This time I used a large garbage bag and unloaded the dryer directly into it. I sure hope I've cleaned those dang things out of here and tonight will be first night of restful sleep. Trying to decide whether to shower first or get the bedding ready to sleep on.
Anyway, I'm now confident I have the knowledge & tools to overcome this ordeal and get on with my life one again.
EarthDweller
Kevin (New York) on 10/15/2013:
Kimberly (Columbus) on 05/16/2013:
Justin (Melbourne, Florida) on 06/07/2012:
Liz (Riverside, Calif) on 10/28/2011:
P. S. I did invest in a steamer and was obsessed with cleaning for the 2weeks, and I washed bedding everyday and never wore the same thing twice without washing. Good luck to all you people fighting these little critters, try this it works! Thank you Earth Clinic.
Scabies Are Curable (Minneapolis, Minnesota) on 07/30/2011:
Teresa (Kissimmee, Florida, Us) on 01/24/2011:
Tee (Marietta, Ga) on 01/22/2011:
Deb (London, Ky. Usa) on 12/06/2010:
I came to the internet for research on scabies and found this site. I read for a treatment on the critters and found the Peroxide and borax treatment. Now, I'm not sure if it was scabies or not, but my 9 month old grand-daughter sure loves me for getting rid of her itchy, red, infectious blisters on the bottoms of her feet and bosy. I used about 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup peroxide in as warm water as she could stand, and I soaked her in it for about 5-10 minutes once daily for 2 days. Afterwards, I let her air dry in a very warm house and left it on her for about 2 hours and then gave her a bath in olive oil soap, which I had purchased because the dermatologist said she was allergic to coconut oil. Which she is not. After the bath with theolive oil soap ($1.50 a bar), I rinsed her off with fresh water and patted her dry, and then rubbed her down with extra virgin olive oil and proceeded to pat her dry again. Her blisters are now all gone and her skin is soft without any harm to her body as those poisonous creams the doctors were prescribing for her.
An old lady probably in her 90's had mentioned to me before I came here for help about using virgin olive oil on her and all of her ailments would disappear. I was skeptical, Not anymore, Thanks old lady from wal-mart check-out line. I appreciate you and this site for the cure of my granddaughter's feet!!! I was careful to not let her get any of the bathing solution in her mouth and eyes too. She has an appointment in 2 days with the doctor and the dermatologist on the same day. I will mention this solution for whatever it was ailing my baby...
Run Scabies Runminneapollis (Minneapolis, Mn) on 11/12/2010:
Red (Austin, Tx) on 07/31/2010:
Better But With Side Effects
Itchy (Houston, Tx) on 01/11/2010:
My son got infected. Don't know how. Despite the warnings to treat everyone in the house, I only had my son taking the Borax baths. Well, now I'm infected, my other son, and my mother who does not live with us. I am going to start bathing everyone twice a day. But I wanted to report I saw two fresh welts on both my hands last night and began itching so I got a spray bottle and mixed warm water, borax, and peroxide. No measuring just pouring in, but you can't put too much borax because it will not dissolve and spray out. Itching stopped immediately when sprayed on. So I sprayed the kids down also. Usually there would be a bump left in those spots. Woke up this morning...no bump! Also, the itching in the morning would normally wake the kids up early in the morning. Every one was sound asleep!
Try this. My spray bottle was 8 oz so I'd say approx. 1tbs of borax, 1 tbs of peroxide, and 6oz of warm water (you need room to shake the botte to mix) Shake well the borax has to dissolve.
Gemini (Greenville, North Carolina, Usa) on 12/27/2009:
He started scratching before me. In the beginning we thought it was because he had his hair cut the day the "itch" began. Once he showered and attempted to settle down for bed the itch became more intense. I assumed he had an allergy to something and gave him Benadryl. That night he was miserable after the Benadrly wore off and I slept like a baby. 3 days later I started to itch. I had red whwelts around my waist and buttocks. He only had red bumps on his arm and the small of his back.
When my Doctors office was open that next morning, I was the first in line. He diagnosed us as having scabies and prescribed permethrin for us both. IT DID NOT WORK! Second application DID NOT WORK!
So I hit the web, stumbled across Earth Clinic and began researching treatments for these evil mites... We have suffered 4 weeks with of lack of sleep and we cut off the connection with family and friends in fear the too may be infected with our unwanted critters.
I would recommend to anyone that has Scabies to try the Borax Soak- With all of the hair brained things we have tried this was the only that showed any progress for success... 3 cups borax, 2 cups epsom salt, 2 cups hydrogen peroxide in the hottest bath that you can tolerate. Soak for 30 mins. Do not rinse, pat dry and apply clear fingernail polish to the bumps. My theory was it would suficate them. We repeated this soak twice a day for 7 days. At the present we are on the road to recovery...(fingers crossed) I only have old bumps that have now dried and are fading and my hubby has 2 red angry whelts along with older bumps drying and fading. This is a far cry better than the HUNDREDS of spots, bumps, whelts, patches and brusing (from scratching)We will continue to do this soak every other day forever or until we have had zero break outs and all spots are healed for at lease 2 weeks.
Please keep in mind... I had our home sprayed and carpets cleaned along with wearing all clothing once and washing clothing asap in hot water and borax.
As for the occasional itch we use hand sanitizer. It cools the spot and we think it slows or kills the mites. I will admit that I have developed a mental issue with this ordeal. I fear that they will never go away fully. Everytime I feel anything crawly or itchy I automatically assume we were defeated again by the evil mites.... This is by far one of the most horrible experience of my life.
Good luck to all with this horrible illness. I pray that you find relief. I will follow up in soon to relay our progress. Happy Holidays, Genny
Kymom (Bowling Green, Ky) on 11/27/2009:
After suffering for about 10 days with intense itching in the palms of my hands and fingers, I went to a dermatologist. I had been treating myself for hand eczema using suggestions from EC. The Derm felt I had scabies. I got the cream RX filled, but came to this site for recommendations to try first. That night I bathed in 2 cups of Borax with 1 bottle of hydrogen peroxide for 30 minutes. I slept all night without a terrible itching episode for the first time in nearly 2 weeks. I bathed the same for another 2 nights and also kept borax in my shower to use as a scrub in the mornings. I changed my sheets every day and only wore clothing one time. I washed everything in hot water and added borax to the laundry detergeant. Luckily, I am the only one here at home who has suffered. Don't know where they came from, but I have such peace of mind knowing that we can fix the problem without harmful creams. And the relief was almost instant! I am continuing to use Borax with my laundry detergeant and scrub with it on the spots that may come up.
Thank you to Earth Clinic for this site and for all of you who post here. I also had a terrible case of acid reflux for a month solid that I cured with apple cider vinegar after reading here. It took 4-6 weeks, but I have absolutely no symptoms now.
Lori (Edmond, Oklahoma, Usa) on 11/13/2009:
For my children I used 1 cup borax and 1/2 cup of peroxide. I also decided to use the antibacterial soap. I did this because although we have all been afflicted with the bites, my husband hands and arms are totally clear. Where he works he always has to use the antibacterial gel, you know the inst-wash stuff. and he just rubs it on like lotion. So we've started using that too. Just in case anyone else thinks it might help. Good luck to all of you. We'll be taking bath #2 tonight, and another tomorrow. Then start again next friday. Also I'm gonna try the Diatomaceous earth powder. Have any of you ever heard of Dri-Die? It's supposed to kill bedbugs, and other creepy crawlies. Is it anything like DE? Thanks...Lori
L Dizzwl (Chicago, Il) on 09/18/2009:
Codysmom (Annandale, Va, USA) on 08/07/2009:
After 4 weeks of uncomfortable itching all over, I finally figured out that I had scabies. I decided to try the hydrogen peroxide and borax remedy posted on this site and it worked like a charm. I did have to soak in a bath of hot water, hydrogen peroxide (1 bottle) and 2 laundry scoops of the borax for two days, 30 minutes each soak. Then the next two days I didn't have time for baths so I just scrubbed borax all over while I was in the shower. I scrubbed for a good 10 minutes. I now just have slight itching in a couple of areas and I will continue to scrubb with borax until the itching is gone. This whole rememdy cost me $4 and I didn't have to go to the doctor for that pesticide cream. Yea for this site.
Eman8723 (Greenville, TX) on 07/18/2009:
Jennifer (Sacramento, CA) on 06/24/2009:
Crystal (Austin, Tx) on 01/18/2009:
Lee (Kelowna, BC) on 08/29/2006:
