Scabies mites often target people’s feet because the extremities provide an ideal environment for making burrows and laying eggs. The thin, warm, damp skin found on parts of the feet such as the webbed areas between toes makes it easy for the mites to penetrate the body and multiply.

Scabies infestations are increasingly common. As the UK Health Security Agency points out, the annual number of reported cases leapt from 1,516 in 2019 to more than three times that figure (4,872) in 2024. London is one of the hardest-hit places: 34% of scabies sufferers in 2024 were living here. Pharmacy chain Boots calls the problem ‘the scabies surge’, and the scabies treatment supply shortage that occurred a few years ago may be to blame for it.

Although anyone can develop scabies, your risk is greater if you live, study or work in close proximity to many other people. Scabies spreads rapidly in nurseries, schools, universities’ halls of residence, shared houses, nursing homes and hospitals. ‘Young people, who are more likely to live in communal settings, appear to be affected the most,’ remarks the Guardian in relation to the current surge.

If you think scabies is affecting your feet, you can rely on our London podiatry team’s skills and expertise – please contact us today to book an appointment.

What Exactly Is Scabies?

Scabies is an intensely itchy, contagious skin condition that’s plagued people since ancient times. It’s caused by an infestation of parasitic mites, each less than half a millimetre long. Their medical name, Sarcoptes scabiei, comes from the Greek word for flesh-cutting and the Latin for scratch.

After mating, the female mites burrow several millimetres into the skin and lay eggs. Their offspring hatch, grow and mature in around 14 days, so are soon ready to reproduce.

Scabies Transmission and Symptoms

You may well develop scabies if you have skin-to-skin contact for a few minutes or more with someone who has the condition, as this gives mites the opportunity to crawl onto your body. It’s also possible for scabies to be transmitted via skin contact with contaminated items, including socks and other clothing, shoes, towels and bedding, though this is less likely as the mites die after a few days without a human host.

Once on your skin, scabies mites will search for a suitable area to colonise, such as between toes or fingers. When people have scabies for the first time, symptoms take around a month to appear. Any subsequent infestations become apparent within days, as the body’s immune system recognises the problem.

A scabies sufferer usually only has around a dozen adult mites, and those mites and their burrows will be concentrated in specific areas such as the feet. However, this is more than enough to cause distressing symptoms:

• Constant, severe itching that’s particularly bad at night – the mites like warmth so are most active when you’re tucked up in bed. If vigorous scratching breaks the skin, you may develop sores and skin infections.
• Silvery, wavy raised lines several millimetres in length – these are the mites’ burrows.
• A rash composed of red spots – an allergic reaction to the mites, their eggs and their waste. It can cover large areas of the body.

WebMD has photos of scabies burrows and rashes.

If an infestation really takes hold (for example, if the individual is immunocompromised), thick, yellowish skin plaques containing many thousands of mites form – this is crusted scabies.

Reasons Why the Mites Thrive on Feet

The feet are a major target for scabies mites in search of a breeding ground because:

• The toe webs and sides of feet are thin and soft, so they’re easy to tunnel into. Among children and elderly adults, the soles are often targeted too, as they’re usually thinner than the soles of other age groups.
• Much of the skin on feet is glabrous, i.e. smooth and hairless. Hair and sebum would make it hard for scabies mites to grip skin and dig into it.
• The feet are often warm and moist/sweaty, providing the environmental conditions the mites need to maintain their internal water balance, breed and thrive.

Diagnosing and Treating Scabies of the Feet in London

Our superb podiatry team can often diagnose a scabies infestation affecting the feet with just a physical examination. But if there’s any doubt, the diagnosis can be confirmed by magnifying skin with a dermatoscope, applying ink to reveal burrows or testing a skin sample.

Eradicating scabies involves using a scabicide cream or tablets and decontaminating belongings (usually by washing them at high temperatures).

Stop scabies mites targeting your feet – book an appointment with Feet By Pody in London today.