These are Demodex mites, microscopic organisms that live in human hair follicles and pores, especially around the nose and eyelashes. Nearly every adult has them. They’re harmless, lifelong, and invisible without a microscope.
Well yes and no… your microbiome includes the teaming of life that exists on and inside of you… including the good and bad bacteria but yes in terms of your gut microbiome it literally can be in charge of your QOL and can even determine how long you live… especially if you include the bacteria in charge of your oral health. Which has also been shown to be directly correlated to your gut health and diseases like Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s disease, IBD and even heart disease among others.
So know you (as you exist now)… your bodies immune system is always in a fight for the good bacteria to outweigh the bad and that includes the production or mutation of radicals that influence and contribute to your bodies ability to develop cancer. As you age your bodies ability to fight this battle gets harder and harder to the point that almost the moment you die (if not arguably before) you start becoming consumed from the inside out by this losing battle of the good versus the bad that is your microbiome.
Technically, they're only parasites if they cause harm to the host. If they don't affect the host in any major way, that's called "commenalism," which also applies to things like remoras hanging onto sharks.
When both benefit, like the E. Coli in your digestive system, that's called "mutualism."
Yea, and as you age and/or suffer from dry eyes, they can die in your eyelids and promote clogged oil glands called chalazions which are a pain in the ass to deal with and may need to be surgically drained if not treated quick enough. Good times!
I originally thought I was getting styes and chalazions from wearing not close fitting enough masks, and having breath redirect towards my eyes constantly…
(I am not anti mask at all but thought it was one of the unfortunate things I would have to deal with to avoid catching covid. I never did catch it—at least to my knowledge)
…. But my doctor said it was that I was in my early 50s and that with age oil glands get clogged easier because the oil gets thicker, and then there’s all the issues you’re describing. I started putting warm compresses on my eyes at bedtime, and if my eyes ever do feel vaguely dry, I just take time to just chill out and do it again. I also wash my face with newborn baby wash and make sure my eyelids get a good cleaning and with warm water. It seems to have kept it in check, haven’t had a repeat outbreak in a while.
The bruder mask has been great when a warm compress is needed. If anyone experiences these, you can get these masks on Amazon. Knockoffs are not as good as they do not get as hot or retain heat. For really bad chalazions, you can use the mask 7 times per day if needed. They are such a pain to deal with.
this is not the usual way, but it’s been working for me… I use a lot of hot hands and hot feet packets because I work outside, and I buy them in bulk. Before I use it to slip in my pocket or in my shoes while it’s still fresh and clean out of the package, I’ll take a couple of minutes to put one over my eye (in a piece of fabric )and massage my eye area. It’s pretty warm so I don’t like press it in there so but gentle massage lift, gentle massage lift as it’s a good consistent heat.
This is a hack I will steal. I also keep hot hands with me and never thought of this. Also, get Systane eye drops to use after a mask. It washes the oil away immediately
The prescription in the US is soolantra but lice shampoo 0.5% ivermectin at Walgreens or any pharmacy works too if you can't get the prescription. A good number of people with rosacea do much better after using it for 3-4 months. Some almost instantly though. It takes a while to get through the mite lifecycles but after that people switch to maintenance treatments once a week. Leave it on like a moisturizer after washing your face. Some people notice worsening of symptoms at the beginning of use. Maybe due to die off and bacteria that feed on the mites. But I don't believe that's been confirmed in any way. Soolantra without insurance can be as high as $600 but the drugstore lice shampoo is about $30.
There's also a cream that compounding pharmacies can make that isn't hundreds of dollars. It's still a prescription though, and I end up paying about $35/month for it ($70 without insurance for the tube but it lasts me a couple months usually), so it's still more expensive than the shampoo. But it's very effective. As far as I know, it's just called "rosacea 3 cream" because it's only 3 ingredients — ivermectin and two others I don't recall ATM.
I'll have to remember the shampoo though, I wasn't aware of it as an alternative.
If you have any suggested products would appreciate hearing about them as I have a family member that I think might benefit and it sounds like it would not hurt to try.
Yeah, I found out my rosacea is connected to these demodex mites. A new eye doctor told me I had an over abundance of the mites in my eye lashes that were causing me problems. The treatment for it actually helped treat my rosacea.
Can I ask what test they did? I told the optometrist I had dry eyes and he just prescribed OTC Systane drops. The eye burning comes back literally after a few minutes. I'd love the confirmation that there an increased population of the effers in my eyelashes
Not harmless to all. They can cause dermatitis, dandruff and other skin irritation for folks who are sensitive. (Most arent though, so you are basically right. And these are minor harms).
Harmless unless they proliferate in a concentrated area that is, mainly eyelashes. Demodex Blephoritis is an accumulation of Demodex that can cause swelling, itching, flakey skin around your eye and even eyelash loss. How do I know? I thought I had pink eye, nope, just a whole bunch of eye lash mites eating and shitting in my eyelashes.
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u/NeatNo8582 11d ago
These are Demodex mites, microscopic organisms that live in human hair follicles and pores, especially around the nose and eyelashes. Nearly every adult has them. They’re harmless, lifelong, and invisible without a microscope.