What started off like a simple heat rash started to progress aggressively within a week’s time. My little one was having trouble sleeping all night long and would constantly wake up crying. All our best efforts to put her back to sleep went in vain as she kept waking up within minutes of falling asleep.
Initially, we thought its quite a normal behavior for the little one, but soon I realized she was not waking up because of hunger or any other common reason, but because of severe itching caused by the rashes. I decided to check the condition with our pediatrician and he diagnosed her with atopic dermatitis and prescribed us a steroid cream which needs to be applied over the rashes.
However, the cream is of very little help as the rashes started to spread to her legs, wrists, and neck area and the itching got worse. This time around we decided to get her checked with a dermatologist instead of a pediatrician. Just by looking at the rashes, he started to question my wife (baby’s mother) and checked her hands, wrists, and legs. He immediately recognized the condition to be scabies, and the baby got the condition from her mother.
Our dermatologist prescribed us with 5% permethrin cream and the baby was prescribed sulfur cream which should be mixed with zinc cream to avoid irritation. Doctor recommended against the use of permethrin on the baby as she was just 45 days old when the condition was diagnosed.
Our treatment with permethrin cream proved to be very effective and my wife who was experiencing severe itch all over her body started to feel better after a couple of applications which are one week apart from each other.
While our little angel started to feel better after application of sulfur for three continuous nights and all her rashes started to dry out. But, the results lasted only for two weeks and she started to develop rashes again and it was quite frustrating. We approached the dermatologist and he told us to treat the rashes with steroid cream again. Application of steroid cream yielded zero results for the baby and she started to feel the itching again.
With mounting frustration, I do not want to load my little girl with more chemicals and steroids and started to look for an effective alternative. I came to know neem, tamanu oil, tea tree oils are quite effective in eradicating scabies but these oils did not produce any positive results for the baby and the rashes continued to grow in size and started to spread again.
Then I turned towards Siddha, one of the oldest alternative for modern medical science. It is not only the oldest, perhaps it is the simplest and straight forward medicinal system there is. I came to the leaf of a particular plant called “Kuppaimeni” (Acalypha indica) to be effective against persistent scabies and luckily the plant was found in large numbers near my place in India, Tamilnadu. With mounting frustration on persistent scabies mites, despite the hesitation from my wife on trying out the remedy for my two-month-old girl, I decided to try it out. I felt it is safer than all the steroids and chemical based creams to control the mite.
Plucked some kuppaimeni plants from the surroundings and separated its leaves, washed it well, and made it into a paste by adding little crystal salt. I applied this paste all over her body except for the face and left it for 15 minutes before giving her a bath using lukewarm water.
After just three days of this treatment, I noticed all the rashes starting to dry out and spreading of new rashes stopped completely. After seven days of the treatment, all rashes got flattened out with skin becoming relatively bright and healthy. Not only her skin got healthier, but her behavior also changed completely. She sleeps better and is calmer than ever before. All thanks to this amazing plant called “Kuppaimeni” or Acalypha Indica. If you are from the southern part of India, this plant is found almost everywhere, you just need to look for it.
How to use the Kuppaimeni leaves for scabies
Take out a handful of leaves from its plant, wash it off and grind it into a fine paste by adding little salt and water.
Apply this fine paste to the affected areas of your skin or throughout the body except for your face. Leave it on for 15 to 20 minutes and take a bath in lukewarm water or cold water.
Continue doing this every morning for 7 to 10 days for a complete cure.
How to Prepare Kuppaimeni or Acalypha Indica Oil
This oil can be used regularly to prevent future occurrence of scabies and make your body more immune to scabies mites.
- Heat 100ml of organic or pure coconut oil in low flame or simmer.
- Add a handful of kuppaimeni leaves to this oil and stir it around till the leaves become brittle and turn off the heat.
- Let the oil cool down and filter out the leaves.
- You can apply this oil for itch prone areas of your skin before going to sleep at night and let it dry out.
- You can also use this oil all over your baby except for the face, leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes before giving it a bath.
Some Useful Tips to Control Scabies In Babies
- Try to keep the baby’s body cool. Use only cotton cloths or use no clothes at all if you live in a hot zone. Using cloths in hot temperatures will increase your baby’s body temperature and it becomes a heaven for scabies mites to thrive.
- While Air conditioner might seem like a perfect weapon to combat the heat, I found my baby’s body temperature increased significantly after keeping her in an air-conditioned room. This is because our body tries to keep itself warm and increase our body’s temperature when we place ourselves in an air-conditioned room.
- Place your baby under a fan at room temperature, the breeze from the fan will help to maintain the baby’s body temperature.
- Avoid holding on to your baby or keeping her on your lap for longer time periods. Longer time periods of physical contact with your baby will increase its body temperature.
- If you live in a hot and humid environment, then try to bath your baby two times a day. This will not only help to maintain your baby’s body temperature, but it will also help to prevent or slowdown scabies infestation.
- If you are a nursing mother of scabies infected baby, then try to avoid oily foods or deep-fried foods or any foods that could potentially increase your body temperature like chicken for example.
Hope these simple tips and simple cure prove to be useful for you and for your baby, especially if you live in an environment where you can easily get hold of this magical plant.
Sources:
http://ewijst.org/issues/vol_4/ewijst040042995.pdf
https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/folk-knowledge-on-medicinal-plants-used-for-the-treatment-of-skindiseases-in-bhadrak-district-of-odisha-india-2167-0412-10002562.php?aid=77502
http://manieric85.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-magic-of-acalypha-indica-ada-namma.html
