Download this information as a PDF
Dr Buckley recommends:_________________________________
1. The person with scabies and all their household contacts and close personal contacts (e.g. girlfriend, boyfriend, child minder) need to be treated.
2. Apply the cream or lotion from your neck downwards covering every square inch of your body. Pay particular attention to applying the lotion all over the hands, wrists, feet, ankles, armpits, buttocks and groin. The lotion can be applied with your hand or with a 2” paint brush.
3. After the lotion or cream has been in contact with the skin for 12 hours (e.g. overnight) you may have a bath or shower and wash it all off. Reapply the lotion or cream in the same way one week later. In most cases it is not necessary to disinfect clothing or bed linen after scabies.
4. Reapply cream or lotion to the hands if you wash them during the 12-hour treatment period.
5. Two applications of the lotion is sufficient. The itch may persist for up to a week or two after the treatment. Do not apply the treatment more than two times without consulting with Dr Buckley. If the itch hasn’t totally settled two weeks after the second treatment please return to Dr Buckley.
6. Small children (< than two years old), elderly patients and anyone with a weakened immune system should also have their face and scalp treated. Otherwise, these people should be treated the same as adults, as outlined above.
7. Remember, scabies is common and harmless. However, it can cause a very uncomfortable itch. It is contagious and all close personal contacts and household contacts need to be treated whether they are itching or not.
8. Make sure you have enough liquid or cream to treat everyone who needs it. Adults need 100ml of lotion or 15g tube of cream per treatment (i.e. 200ml bottle of lotion or 30g tubes of cream for the full treatment). Children 5 – 12 years of age will need half this amount; children 1 – 5 years of age will need quarter of adult amount, children 2 months to 1 year will need one-eighth of the adult amount.
