Demodex mites live and mate on your face – what you need to know

Look at these pore souls.

Dr. Scott Walter – a board-certified dermatologist in the Denver area – is raising awareness about Demodexa type of tiny eight-legged mite that lives in the hair follicles and oil glands on our face, chest and neck.

“If you’re not familiar, Demodex are tiny little mites that live in our hair follicles and oil glands – and if you understand this, they come out at night to eat our dead skin cells and mate,” Walter said on TikTok on Thursday. “And even wilder, they can sense light with their primitive eyes, which lets them know the coast is clear for them to come out and play.”

Almost all adults have these shameless squatters, research has found.

They are more common in older people and less common in children under 5 years of age, although the mites can be transmitted through contact with hair and eyebrows and sharing personal hygiene products such as makeup brushestweezers, eyeliner and mascara.

There are two types that affect humans: Demodex folliculorum, which is about a third of a millimeter long and lives mainly in the hair follicles on the face, especially around the eyelashes and eyebrows, and Demodex brevis, which is less than a quarter of a millimeter in size and remains suspended in oil. glands.

To demonstrate the ubiquity of these strange pests, Walter placed pieces of clear packing tape on his forehead and cheeks and examined the remains under a microscope.

He saw a mighty mite with a ‘full belly’.

“Fun fact: Demodex mites don’t poop because they don’t have the other end, so they eat and eat and eat,” Walter explained.

Demodex tends to live for about two weeks. One study reported that the mites lay their eggs in the follicles or oil glands. They hatch after three or four days and develop into adults in about a week. When the mites die, their bodies decompose within the follicle or gland.

Most people do not experience Demodex symptoms and are not even aware of this nauseating nuisance.

However, they have been linked to skin conditions such as rosacea, acne and dermatitis, and they can worsen vision problems and damage eyelids and eyelashes.

Mark Sandemanan honorary professor at Federation University Australia, recommends consulting a doctor if you suffer from eyelid inflammation.

“Controlling such reactions can be as simple as limiting mite numbers with a wash or treatment prescribed by a medical professional — just know that it’s likely impossible to get rid of our mite friends completely,” Sandeman wrote in 2022 on the site of The Conversation.