Some horrible infestation

[Mayor Cantrell]

So I'm not sure whether it's lice, bedbugs, or something worse, but whatever it is, I got it bad.

There are an assortment of welts and red bite dots on my skin. One welt even has a scab on it. Most of this is occuring around my waist, but I've been itching other places too. At night, I'll feel these tiny little pricks occasionally, and the itch comes sometime after that.

I've washed and dried my clothes, pack, and banjo case three times, on high settings. Nonetheless, the fuckers are killing me. I really don't want to infect anyone, and I feel like an asshole just hanging out in any enclosed place.

I have some Nix, which contains .1% permethrin (which kills lice and bedbugs.) Do you know if it would be a bad idea to just rub that stuff all over my clothes and stuff, then wash it and take a shower? Maybe that would work.


It's even worse because I have a staph wound on my hip, which is making my life hell. I can hardly walk a mile with my gear now. Luckily I'm on antibiotics.

 

[Tao_of_Pi]

I'm not sure about the welts, but everything else sounds like scabies. Permethrin is used for scabies (it's an insecticide after all), but I doubt your cream is strong enough to wipe them out. The wash cycles are most likely killing the scabies on your gear, but unless you kill the ones on your skin it wont do you any good.

Arrow has the right idea, you should to get to a clinic. But ask them for Ivermectin in pill form, scabies are less immune to it and it's way better than pissing around with those shitty cremes they give you.

 

[veggieguy12]

Check the boards for posts about scabies, I know of one (at least).
And good luck!

 

[finn]

What kind of area are you in? Urban? Grasslands? If you aren't seeing little jumping bugs, then it could be scabies, but it could also be chiggers or bedbugs. What kind of place are you sleeping in?

 

[Franny]

Sounds a lot like scabies to me too. No matter what though, it's a small insect/arachnid, correct?

Scabies mites can't live off the body for more than a couple hours. Washing your shit is great, but it won't do a thing to get rid of scabies. Permethrin creams and ivermectin will work, but if you're without those resources you can try this:

mix hydrogen peroxide and 20 mule team borox to make a paste.
SCRUB yourself with it.
wait about 20 minutes.
rinse.

This tears up the mite's exoskeleton and kills it. You've really got to scrub though, since scabies mites live in the actual hair follicle, not just on the skin.