Laos forum
home now - itchy bumps still occuring
Have questions? Jump to our menu of forum quicklinks
Add your reply
You need to be logged in to add a reply.
Not a member? you can join here.
Welcome to Travelfish, original Asia travel intelligence you can trust
Menu
grasshopper-
322
Joined Travelfish
30th September, 2009
Posts 25
Member profile
Profile private
Messaging not enabled.
Just finished a 6 week tour of Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Starting getting itchy bumps on my skin in Laos...not mosquitos - just small hard glossy bumps that then turn a bit dark - then new ones appear - any ideas? Not wearing or sleeping in anything from trip.
#1 Posted: 2/1/2010 - 14:17
SBE
Joined Travelfish
14th April, 2008
Location Global Village
Posts 1793
Member profile
Profile page
Private message
Were you on any beaches? Sounds like sandfly bites to me. Do a google for sandfly bite pictures and see if your bumps looks similar. Sandflies are tiny, like midges and you don't notice they've bitten you straight away. Try not to scratch too much as the bumps tend to ooze pus and go septic.
#2 Posted: 2/1/2010 - 19:00
Advertisement
MADMAC
Joined Travelfish
6th June, 2009
Posts 5066
Member profile
Profile private
Messaging not enabled.
Could also be some sort of skin mite (like Chiggers back in the states). If it persists, you might want to check with a dermatologist to get to the bottom of it.
#3 Posted: 3/1/2010 - 10:57
------------------------------
Victory in Pattani
grasshopper-
322
Joined Travelfish
30th September, 2009
Posts 25
Member profile
Profile private
Messaging not enabled.
I went to the doctor as the bumps were spreading - guess what I contracted overseas....scabies...I suspect from bedding at a homestay since I didn't have any "close and constant" physical contact with anyone except my boyfriend. Off to the pharmacy to get a special lotion that stays on for 12 hours - that should take care of the pesty little buggers. And then rewashing everything in the hottest water possible. I hope none of my fellow travelers suffer the same fate - certainly not a serious problem but quite annoying.
#4 Posted: 4/1/2010 - 06:26
Tilapia
Joined Travelfish
21st April, 2006
Location Canada
Posts 1304
Member profile
Profile page
Private message
Bummer.
You could have become infested while sitting or standing next to, and having direct contact with, someone on a bus or even in a crowded market if the person who you got them from was highly contageous. People with really bad infestations of "Norwegian" scabies are very contageous because the sores become crusty and flake off, and there are loads of mites in the exfoliating scales. Prolonged contact is not always necessary.
It is possible that transmission occured via infested bedding. If that is what happened, it would be because the bedding wasn't washed between uses. A strong argument for bringing one's own bedsheet(s) to homestays and other places on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder.
#5 Posted: 5/1/2010 - 21:46
dagardiners
Joined Travelfish
30th December, 2009
Posts 7
Member profile
Profile private
Messaging not enabled.
*laugh* oh the memories. i picked up a few hitch-hiking scabies while in Nepal. I couldn't fathom what was happening as i could feel them but couldn't see what was biting me! after a few days i was quite convinced i was going mad...i believe the LP guide clued me in to the source of my madness and a visit to a pharmacy somewhere along the Annapurna trek fixed the problem with some horrid rose-smelling cream. traveling certainly has it's moments. :)
#6 Posted: 5/1/2010 - 23:52
grasshopper-
322
Joined Travelfish
30th September, 2009
Posts 25
Member profile
Profile private
Messaging not enabled.
It was definitely a strange feeling...the cream I got was not stinky and has seemed to work. What was quite frustrating was that my boyfriend kept telling me...just don't scratch and they'll go away....duh,,,they won't just go away and when your palms and knuckles itch like crazy....hard to scratch. They would never prevent me from travel again though, I would just take the cream with me.
#7 Posted: 6/1/2010 - 01:37