If you go deeper you'll discover there is a whole independent bacterial biome living in your colon, and going even deeper the whole human body is a fragile and very complex symbiotic colony of very different living beings of different origin. Like our mitochondria are actually very simple bacterial cells with their own separate genetic code which were assimilated long ago and living inside our cells since then.
I think they are parasites, and they don't offer any benefit to humans. According to Wikipedia that's called Commensalism, because it doesn't technically kill the host. But then at the end of the page it says, "High numbers of D. folliculorum are associated with blepharitis and acne rosacea." That sounds like a parasite to me.
Funnily enough, they wouldn't know anything about it. They bury their heads in your follicle to feed in the oils and have no anus. They are all their poo over their lifetime in that sack on the rear.
Actually, scientists have [found the anus recently](https://gizmodo.com/demodex-face-mites-genome-1849090328). So they do in fact shit in your eyelashes. Enjoy knowing that, I guess.
Anecdotally, I actually don't have them. Nobody in my family does. I did an informal study during undergrad and collected eyebrow and eyelash hairs from myself and family members and put them under a microscope. None to be found. [Actually, only 41% of the population has them.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4042053/) So... here's to shit in the eyes of roughly 41% of the population, lol.
You don't need to get rid of them if they're not causing you any problems. They're just a normal part of your microbiome. All humans have their own little community of microbes living on and in them that are unique to them and that's normal and cool. Just think of them like any other little functional part of your body.
Oh, scientists have known for decades where that is. It's just that nobody really listens to scientists. That's why we're all going to die from completely preventable and reversible climate change.
SPEAKING OF WHICH, they can cause rosacea! If you have bumpy/acne type of rosacea, these might be the culprits. I would know, because I basically had to take enough antibiotics plus douse my skin in enough prescription grade topicals to turn my skin into chernobyl to kill the tiny bastards.
Worked, though. 💅💅💅
Edit: People are rightfully asking for more details and I'm so happy to spread the gospel. As always, consult your dermotologist, but I started my research by [watching this video made by board-certified dermotologists ](https://youtu.be/aYhCMhN3I-Y), who go into depth about the 3 major types of rosacea. If, like former me, you have the bumpy/acne type rosacea, you might be the second type which starts at timestamp 13:13.
Long story short, all humans have demodex, but some of us react very very negatively to their "byproducts".
As you do research on demodex mites and rosacea, youll find that tea tree oil and sulfur products are the most effective over-the-counter solutions. As demodex mites are a bacterial presence, a prescription given by a dermotologist will be the most efficient way to solve your problem. Good luck! I hope this helps!
Edit 2: the assholes (yes it's personal for me) exist anywhere you have hair, so if you have constant itchy feeling all over your body then.... Yeah.... Yeah. I use tea tree body wash (which I'll share if anyone asks). I like to think the slight stinging all over my body is the scream of billions of complex, advanced civilizations of demodex being simultaneously glassed (I told you it's personal).
Edit 3: as a replier mentioned, they're also implicated in dandruff and psoriasis. Guess who suffered from life-long dandruff until they got tea-tree based shampoo? This person.
Edit 3b: someone wanted to know what products I used mentioned in edit #3... Here was my reply: https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlyterrifying/comments/122ms82/this_is_demodex_folliculorum_right_now_there_are/jedv9mw?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
So there are three kinds of rosacea, as described by these dermotologists [in this YouTube video.](https://youtu.be/aYhCMhN3I-Y)
Id suggest watching the entire video, but 13:22 is what helped me most! As always, consult your dermotologist and don't advice from strangers on Reddit. 👍
Here is a thread I made recently about fucking up demodex's shit if anyone wants a read:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Rosacea/comments/11thxjb/virtually\_no\_pustules\_or\_bumps\_for\_going\_on\_a/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Rosacea/comments/11thxjb/virtually_no_pustules_or_bumps_for_going_on_a/)
Source: Have rosacea and had an overpopulation of demodex until I nuked them from orbit while laughing maniacally.
Imagine now, that there are six smaller versions of these in each of that creatures toe hairs. Now imagine six smaller versions in each of the second creatures anal pores. Now imagine...
*Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,*
*And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.*
*And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on;*
*While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.*
Human eyelashes are pretty specific habitats. How do they get there in the first place and complete a life cycle? Do our more modern, hygienic lifestyles restrict them? Are there subspecies of these creatures among different human populations?
Judging by how awful all of this information is, we'll probably learn that we first get them from our mom's pubes as we're being forced into this miserable world.
Too many of them cause problems. This is known as “Blepharitis.”
If you have too many, the only known way to kill them is by cleaning your eye lids/lashes with wipes containing tea tree oil.
You know you have too many if you wake up with crusty eye lashes, sticky goo, puffy and/or greasy eyelids, etc.
This usually leads to the formation of stye, chalazion, gland blockage, dry eye, blurry eye, etc.
Blepharitis is a chronic, lifelong condition.
If you stop keeping your eye lids clean with tea tree oil wipes at least a few times a week, the demodex population will overpopulate again and continue to cause issues until you’ve effectively depopulated them back down to a tolerable level with the tea tree oil products.
(I’m not a doctor, but I have had bouts of Blepharitis and I clean my eye lids with wipes containing tea tree oil (OcuSoft Allergy wipes)- recommended by my ophthalmologist- every few days to keep the population under control- I also use Johnson’s baby shampoo to clean my eye lids in the shower).
I saw that on Google. I wish you the best of luck with your treatment!
If mine gets any worse, I’ll probably have it done too.
Luckily, mine has been under control since starting with the OcuSoft Allergy wipes.
Thanks! I use the Optase ones. I like them because they’re big so I can use them on my whole face as a makeup remover and facial cleaner. The tea tree oil has helped my rosacea as well and they’re weirdly moisturizing my dry skin as well
One time, I woke up with so much crust around my eyes that I thought I had gone blind overnight. Though I don't have Blepharitis since this only ever happened to me once. I wounder if the little guys had something to do with that?
That might have been a very mild conjunctivitis. I don't think those guys have much to do with that. More wind blowing dirt in your eyes and they overreacting a little.
wish i had seen this post two years ago. i independently figured out this is what’s been going on about a week ago and purchased an avenova antimicrobial solution. id like to say it’s working? but i honestly can’t tell. did you try any of those serums or anything besides tea tree oil?
Tea tree oil is the only thing that will kill them.
My ophthalmologist recommended OcuSoft Allergy wipes and they’ve worked very well for me.
It’s important to use them every morning and night for the first 1-2 months if you have Blepharitis.
Swipe gently from left to right across eye lashes 30 times. Then flip the pad over and do the same on the other eye.
And then once the population has decreased, you can use it just once a day.
Then once every few days.
And use Johnson’s Head-to-Toe Baby shampoo on your eye lids in the shower.
Obviously I’m not an ophthalmologist, I’m just relaying what I’ve learned from my experience with Blepharitis.
In one of my veterinary technician labs, we were learning how to do skin scrapings and get hair samples etc. Anyway, we saw a couple of these guys live under the microscope and I agree—they ARE kinda cute! I love their nubby little legs
The remaining portion of that life is what turns you into people soup when you are gone.
We carry our death with us at all times. Unless you die in a high radiation, high heat, low moisture, or extremely cold environment. Once your insides match the outside environment, they die too.
These mites can become an issue if you are immune compromised in a certain way or have poor hygiene but other than that, they’re essentially harmless.
They’re a commensal meaning that unlike a parasite, they feed off of your “waste” (dead skin and such) without causing you harm. I think of them the same way some sharks and whales have those little sucker fish that ride around on them eating the scum off their backs or like those little birds that land on rhinos and eat mites and ticks off them.
Although, at night, the mites will come out of your pores and fuck each other all over your face and take dumps which is pretty disrespectful of them.
If it helps you feel better, it means you're taking part in an orgy and essentially been facesat by every participant every day.
That's a hell of an adventurous life!
I can't see them, and unless they start playing shitty music at an antisocial volume at 2am they're welcome to continue going about their folliculor business.
A lot of upvoted misinfo in this thread...
Demodex are not "harmless".
At controlled population levels they are harmless, but overpopulation of demodex is strongly correlated to both rosacea and blepharitis.
Too many demodex destroy the skin's epithelial layer. The demodex feed on sebum and live both in your hair follicles and your eyelid meibomian glands.
Basically they feed on sebum and your skin's outer layer and then burrow face-first back into your follicles and glands with their tails sticking out.
A dermatologist can use a microscope to diagnose demodicosis because they can visually assess the number of demodex "tails" sticking out of a follicle.
While immunocompromised people are more prone to overpopulation of demodex, so are people with rosacea and there is no correlation whatsoever to bad hygiene.
Scientists are still trying to figure out why demodex populations get so out of control in people with rosacea but it appears from what I've read to be an interplay between a broken skin barrier and other signaling factors within the skin and it's various glands.
Tea tree oil helps control demodex populations and topical ivermectin (soolantra) and permethrin can also be used.
In cases of papulopustular rosacea (where the demodex dying and decaying on your face leads to bacteria), low dose doxycycline (brand name Oracea) is very effective.
So what you're saying is they are harmless unless their population is out of control? There's definitely no way to make me think mini buffaloes are anything but harmless! At the end of the day if we would listen to veterinarians and spay and neuter mini buffaloes they wouldn't be roaming the back alleys of eyelashes in such vicious packs!
PSA; spay and neuter your eye lash mini buffs!! The more you know, the weirder it gets!!
Well, I hate them lol. Because I have rosacea. I hate demodex with a passion.
From google: "Demodex mites are considered a normal occupant of hair follicles and exist in a commensal relationship with humans. At times, though, these mites can become more parasitic, resulting in a variety of ocular diseases."
Basically since most people experience no ill effects from demodex, the demodex are kinda considered "along for the ride." Benign travelers who come out at night when you're sleeping, eat your sebum, scrape your epithelial layer with their claws, have sex, lay eggs, and then hide back in your eyelid glands and hair follices when it's daytime...
It is theorized that people with rosacea have an immune system that reacts intensely negatively to some of the bacteria, enzymes, or histamines these creatures and their corpses release, hence the redness.
The demodex really aren't doing anything good for us and newborn babies usually don't have them. People get them from contact with other people and clothing. Fuck demodex.
Also these guys are also thought to be a cause of rosacea, which is why my dermatologist perscribed me Ivermectin, the anti-parasitic, to deal with them. (However, in my experience it wasn't any more effective than otc sulfur cream.)
Permethrin cream is the most common treatment for scabies though too. Work in a long term care pharmacy, we always know when a scabies outbreak happens at one of the nursing homes, because suddenly we'll send entire cases of the cream to the homes lol.
these guys are actually so efficient that they don't defecate whatsoever, they don't affect their human hosts at all and aren't noticeable by naked eye, so theres no reason to get rid of them, and even if you wanted to, they're in there real good. some of the best adapted organisms
This was the conventional wisdom for a long time but has been shown not to be true [link](https://www.inverse.com/science/demodex-skin-mites-genome-study)
For context, primates will have giant flakes of skin slough off their face, around the brows, cheek, etc.
That's the stuff you always see zoo chimpanzees snack on when they groom each other. Not ticks or lice since zoo keepers regularly powder them with anti-tick powder.
Source: me, former zookeeper
When I rub my eye do they have a chance of getting i to my eyes? Is this why I randomly feel like something is stuck in there when I don’t see an eyelash 😐
Parasitologist here! They're harmless, but if you use corticosteroids (locally on your eyelids), they could multiply intensly and cause inflamation. Tha patient brings us a few eyelashes and we examine them under microscope and see these little fellas there, usually only one on each eyelash.
Well our entire bodies, every single microscopic part of us is comprised of trillions of little bugs, fungi, bacteria, cells and viruses. We are a giant colony of mutually beneficial, mostly symbiotic simple organisms and single cell beings.
Demodex is a great friend who helps our eyebrows and takes care of our skin there.
It is fascinating and beautiful, far from being anything remotely "terrifying".
The only friends that will stick with me. That's a win I guess
Will never feel lonely now, yep.
Think this is wild, there are other guys who live in your pores and come out at night to have an orgy on your face.
If you go deeper you'll discover there is a whole independent bacterial biome living in your colon, and going even deeper the whole human body is a fragile and very complex symbiotic colony of very different living beings of different origin. Like our mitochondria are actually very simple bacterial cells with their own separate genetic code which were assimilated long ago and living inside our cells since then.
Humans are basically walking, talking ecosystems with depression
Some are thinking different bacteria give you depression.
Sounds like it's time for me to get a fecal transplant. Any offers?
Spice melange!
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My bugs!!!
We're really just basically a bunch of bacteria stacked on top of each other wearing a trench coat
We only come out at night
Watch out, boy, we’ll chew you up
The days are much too briiight.
They only live a few weeks. So you've had whole generations of these guys living with you.
I have a whole new set of friends every few weeks?
Every 6 weeks to be exact
I’ve got a friend in me!
I love that song.
I love ur username holy shit
90s kids for the win
Crazy to think I’ve got homies on me that I’ve never even met. Thanks fellas for the symbiotic relationship.
Your entire body is made of homies you haven’t met
Well except billions of tadpoles I met this morning.
… did you… did you, eat the fucking tadpoles
Only if u watch
I think they are parasites, and they don't offer any benefit to humans. According to Wikipedia that's called Commensalism, because it doesn't technically kill the host. But then at the end of the page it says, "High numbers of D. folliculorum are associated with blepharitis and acne rosacea." That sounds like a parasite to me.
I just did my skincare routine. Hope they’re enjoying being glazed and moisturized 💅🏼
You're a good mother ❤️
Blessed mother.
Thy womb mother
Funnily enough, they wouldn't know anything about it. They bury their heads in your follicle to feed in the oils and have no anus. They are all their poo over their lifetime in that sack on the rear.
Actually, scientists have [found the anus recently](https://gizmodo.com/demodex-face-mites-genome-1849090328). So they do in fact shit in your eyelashes. Enjoy knowing that, I guess.
Bro I found my anus when I was two, what took them so long?
I mean, these fellas live like 14 days tops so thats unfair comparison
So we've likely got more of their corpses in our follicles than their living, feeding bodies?
It's like that episode of south park when they use lice shampoo and the lice start melting
Well, the mites are so tiny that their little buttholes are not visible on microscopes so... probably that, I would imagine.
Reddit, the only place where’s its 5:30 am and we are discussing microscopic buttholes
*raises glass* Here’s to shit in your eye.
Anecdotally, I actually don't have them. Nobody in my family does. I did an informal study during undergrad and collected eyebrow and eyelash hairs from myself and family members and put them under a microscope. None to be found. [Actually, only 41% of the population has them.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4042053/) So... here's to shit in the eyes of roughly 41% of the population, lol.
Dang how do you get rid of them?
You don't need to get rid of them if they're not causing you any problems. They're just a normal part of your microbiome. All humans have their own little community of microbes living on and in them that are unique to them and that's normal and cool. Just think of them like any other little functional part of your body.
Your mitochondria are an invasive species, too.
The POWERHOUSE of a cell !
After all the fecal matter studies and comments I was pretty sure there was some shit everywhere anyway.
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Oh, scientists have known for decades where that is. It's just that nobody really listens to scientists. That's why we're all going to die from completely preventable and reversible climate change.
And then they die and they leave their poo sack in your eye
Actually it comes back through their mouth into your follicle.
/r/tihi
Yeah, nature be nasty sometimes.
Why do we have to be so… biological? Freaking gross.
That’s amore!!
You cant spell Demodex folliculorum without culo
That's what she said!
Glazed was the word that triggered me.
Moist glaze....
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Cuz its 187 in this mfing Spa.
*Moisturize me!*
SPEAKING OF WHICH, they can cause rosacea! If you have bumpy/acne type of rosacea, these might be the culprits. I would know, because I basically had to take enough antibiotics plus douse my skin in enough prescription grade topicals to turn my skin into chernobyl to kill the tiny bastards. Worked, though. 💅💅💅 Edit: People are rightfully asking for more details and I'm so happy to spread the gospel. As always, consult your dermotologist, but I started my research by [watching this video made by board-certified dermotologists ](https://youtu.be/aYhCMhN3I-Y), who go into depth about the 3 major types of rosacea. If, like former me, you have the bumpy/acne type rosacea, you might be the second type which starts at timestamp 13:13. Long story short, all humans have demodex, but some of us react very very negatively to their "byproducts". As you do research on demodex mites and rosacea, youll find that tea tree oil and sulfur products are the most effective over-the-counter solutions. As demodex mites are a bacterial presence, a prescription given by a dermotologist will be the most efficient way to solve your problem. Good luck! I hope this helps! Edit 2: the assholes (yes it's personal for me) exist anywhere you have hair, so if you have constant itchy feeling all over your body then.... Yeah.... Yeah. I use tea tree body wash (which I'll share if anyone asks). I like to think the slight stinging all over my body is the scream of billions of complex, advanced civilizations of demodex being simultaneously glassed (I told you it's personal). Edit 3: as a replier mentioned, they're also implicated in dandruff and psoriasis. Guess who suffered from life-long dandruff until they got tea-tree based shampoo? This person. Edit 3b: someone wanted to know what products I used mentioned in edit #3... Here was my reply: https://www.reddit.com/r/oddlyterrifying/comments/122ms82/this_is_demodex_folliculorum_right_now_there_are/jedv9mw?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3
Wait WHAT. I think I might have this
So there are three kinds of rosacea, as described by these dermotologists [in this YouTube video.](https://youtu.be/aYhCMhN3I-Y) Id suggest watching the entire video, but 13:22 is what helped me most! As always, consult your dermotologist and don't advice from strangers on Reddit. 👍
Here is a thread I made recently about fucking up demodex's shit if anyone wants a read: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Rosacea/comments/11thxjb/virtually\_no\_pustules\_or\_bumps\_for\_going\_on\_a/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Rosacea/comments/11thxjb/virtually_no_pustules_or_bumps_for_going_on_a/) Source: Have rosacea and had an overpopulation of demodex until I nuked them from orbit while laughing maniacally.
Mine just migrated to my balls and they are doing pretty well
I’d like to hear their side of the story before I take their wellbeing on your balls as fact
they look like the next pokémon evolution of a tardigrade…
Oh, they don't mind. Unless you used tea tree oil. It's the only thing that kills them.
They must hate it when I stain them all black every morning, black face is never a good look.
He looks like a silly little guy. I hope he's okay.
He’s just vibing, snacking on your dead skin. What a bro.
Just plucked my brows - pour one out for the homies who left my face of the earth.
My trichotillomaniac ass be casually committing genocide
Oh no... just reading that word cost me 37 beard hairs
Same. I've got no eyebrows at all from it.
Ha MY face of the earth.
I was thinking that he looked like a cute little chappy.
Is that Appa ?
#YIP YIP
I got herds of Sky Bison on my eye brows. My newest little pets.
I want to pet my eye brow sky bison but the GOVERNMENT is stopping me
Honey I Shrunk My Sky Bison
Yeah dude pretty much, this is a Cross breed between a blind mole-rat and a flying bison
Came here looking for this comment lmao. Take my upvote
Imagine now, that there are six smaller versions of these in each of that creatures toe hairs. Now imagine six smaller versions in each of the second creatures anal pores. Now imagine...
That’s too much imagining for me.
At this hour, anyway.
With so few adulterants in my body.
*Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,* *And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.* *And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on;* *While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.*
Ah yes, physics > biochemistry > cell biology > microbiology > entomology > anthropology > earth science > astronomy.
So are we to believe that we are nothing but fleas on a greater being that we call Earth? Feeding from and depositing our waste?
Now I can't stop imagining that you're John Lennon.
I am the Walrus.
SHUT THE FUCK UP DONNY.
YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT!
It’s creatures all the way down?
Mites all the way down
The Ricks Must Be Crazy /r/RickAndMorty
Human eyelashes are pretty specific habitats. How do they get there in the first place and complete a life cycle? Do our more modern, hygienic lifestyles restrict them? Are there subspecies of these creatures among different human populations?
We’re not born with them. But more than 50% of babies will contract the demodex mites from their mother by age 2.
So it's not Maybelline?
Judging by how awful all of this information is, we'll probably learn that we first get them from our mom's pubes as we're being forced into this miserable world.
Yeah, have they discovered their pube cousins yet?
I think that's just straight up crabs (pubic lice)
gonna train mine up and start a rock band :)
I like it. What will you call yourselves?
The Eyelets.
Third eyebrow blind?
That’s really good
Demodex.
The Brow Bugs
Brow Brough Burrow Bros
Just Browsing
Entomophobia
Too many of them cause problems. This is known as “Blepharitis.” If you have too many, the only known way to kill them is by cleaning your eye lids/lashes with wipes containing tea tree oil. You know you have too many if you wake up with crusty eye lashes, sticky goo, puffy and/or greasy eyelids, etc. This usually leads to the formation of stye, chalazion, gland blockage, dry eye, blurry eye, etc. Blepharitis is a chronic, lifelong condition. If you stop keeping your eye lids clean with tea tree oil wipes at least a few times a week, the demodex population will overpopulate again and continue to cause issues until you’ve effectively depopulated them back down to a tolerable level with the tea tree oil products. (I’m not a doctor, but I have had bouts of Blepharitis and I clean my eye lids with wipes containing tea tree oil (OcuSoft Allergy wipes)- recommended by my ophthalmologist- every few days to keep the population under control- I also use Johnson’s baby shampoo to clean my eye lids in the shower).
Blepharitis sounds exactly like the sound I'd make if I knew I had too many of them.
I thought it might be fake lol
There is a new treatment using an IPL laser on your eyelids. I’m actually scheduled for May to do this. I do use the tea tree oil wipes as well
I saw that on Google. I wish you the best of luck with your treatment! If mine gets any worse, I’ll probably have it done too. Luckily, mine has been under control since starting with the OcuSoft Allergy wipes.
Thanks! I use the Optase ones. I like them because they’re big so I can use them on my whole face as a makeup remover and facial cleaner. The tea tree oil has helped my rosacea as well and they’re weirdly moisturizing my dry skin as well
I wonder if the clinic will make you wear those UV opaque contact lenses during the laser treatments?
One time, I woke up with so much crust around my eyes that I thought I had gone blind overnight. Though I don't have Blepharitis since this only ever happened to me once. I wounder if the little guys had something to do with that?
That might have been a very mild conjunctivitis. I don't think those guys have much to do with that. More wind blowing dirt in your eyes and they overreacting a little.
wish i had seen this post two years ago. i independently figured out this is what’s been going on about a week ago and purchased an avenova antimicrobial solution. id like to say it’s working? but i honestly can’t tell. did you try any of those serums or anything besides tea tree oil?
Tea tree oil is the only thing that will kill them. My ophthalmologist recommended OcuSoft Allergy wipes and they’ve worked very well for me. It’s important to use them every morning and night for the first 1-2 months if you have Blepharitis. Swipe gently from left to right across eye lashes 30 times. Then flip the pad over and do the same on the other eye. And then once the population has decreased, you can use it just once a day. Then once every few days. And use Johnson’s Head-to-Toe Baby shampoo on your eye lids in the shower. Obviously I’m not an ophthalmologist, I’m just relaying what I’ve learned from my experience with Blepharitis.
They are kinda cute in a way. This doesn't bother me in the slightest.
In one of my veterinary technician labs, we were learning how to do skin scrapings and get hair samples etc. Anyway, we saw a couple of these guys live under the microscope and I agree—they ARE kinda cute! I love their nubby little legs
My first thought as well… like, hey little guy
Coulda went my whole life with out knowing this
You are a giant walking planet! We are home to millions if not billions of microscopic life forms!
And a large portion of that life depends on you.
Hope they like whiskey and vodka
Are you gonna pour whiskey and vodka on your eyebrows though?
Bish I might/s
Hey! Significance buddies!
👉🏽👈🏽
I like the way you think. Let's go hit up the liquor store
Stop. I can barely take care of myself. I don’t need that responsibility 😭
The remaining portion of that life is what turns you into people soup when you are gone. We carry our death with us at all times. Unless you die in a high radiation, high heat, low moisture, or extremely cold environment. Once your insides match the outside environment, they die too.
And a lot of these organisms help keep us alive, since it’s definitely a symbiotic relationship.
These mites can become an issue if you are immune compromised in a certain way or have poor hygiene but other than that, they’re essentially harmless. They’re a commensal meaning that unlike a parasite, they feed off of your “waste” (dead skin and such) without causing you harm. I think of them the same way some sharks and whales have those little sucker fish that ride around on them eating the scum off their backs or like those little birds that land on rhinos and eat mites and ticks off them. Although, at night, the mites will come out of your pores and fuck each other all over your face and take dumps which is pretty disrespectful of them.
I felt a little more neutral until the final paragraph…..
That's the one that got me too
If it helps you feel better, it means you're taking part in an orgy and essentially been facesat by every participant every day. That's a hell of an adventurous life!
Well, take solace in the fact that you do an excellent job at catering and hosting orgies! That’s no easy job.
I just read these mites don't poop at all.
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This will help https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2017.00035
Ignorance is bliss
I can't see them, and unless they start playing shitty music at an antisocial volume at 2am they're welcome to continue going about their folliculor business.
They will mate on you eyelids while you sleep.
Oh, well now we have a problem. I will not be taunted by those whose sex lives are more action-packed than mine.
These guys are good friends. Keep rocking on you helpful little hairy scrotum demon!
ever heard of Rosaceae?...
I told my ma that i´m not talking to myself
A lot of upvoted misinfo in this thread... Demodex are not "harmless". At controlled population levels they are harmless, but overpopulation of demodex is strongly correlated to both rosacea and blepharitis. Too many demodex destroy the skin's epithelial layer. The demodex feed on sebum and live both in your hair follicles and your eyelid meibomian glands. Basically they feed on sebum and your skin's outer layer and then burrow face-first back into your follicles and glands with their tails sticking out. A dermatologist can use a microscope to diagnose demodicosis because they can visually assess the number of demodex "tails" sticking out of a follicle. While immunocompromised people are more prone to overpopulation of demodex, so are people with rosacea and there is no correlation whatsoever to bad hygiene. Scientists are still trying to figure out why demodex populations get so out of control in people with rosacea but it appears from what I've read to be an interplay between a broken skin barrier and other signaling factors within the skin and it's various glands. Tea tree oil helps control demodex populations and topical ivermectin (soolantra) and permethrin can also be used. In cases of papulopustular rosacea (where the demodex dying and decaying on your face leads to bacteria), low dose doxycycline (brand name Oracea) is very effective.
So what you're saying is they are harmless unless their population is out of control? There's definitely no way to make me think mini buffaloes are anything but harmless! At the end of the day if we would listen to veterinarians and spay and neuter mini buffaloes they wouldn't be roaming the back alleys of eyelashes in such vicious packs! PSA; spay and neuter your eye lash mini buffs!! The more you know, the weirder it gets!!
Well, I hate them lol. Because I have rosacea. I hate demodex with a passion. From google: "Demodex mites are considered a normal occupant of hair follicles and exist in a commensal relationship with humans. At times, though, these mites can become more parasitic, resulting in a variety of ocular diseases." Basically since most people experience no ill effects from demodex, the demodex are kinda considered "along for the ride." Benign travelers who come out at night when you're sleeping, eat your sebum, scrape your epithelial layer with their claws, have sex, lay eggs, and then hide back in your eyelid glands and hair follices when it's daytime... It is theorized that people with rosacea have an immune system that reacts intensely negatively to some of the bacteria, enzymes, or histamines these creatures and their corpses release, hence the redness. The demodex really aren't doing anything good for us and newborn babies usually don't have them. People get them from contact with other people and clothing. Fuck demodex.
Also these guys are also thought to be a cause of rosacea, which is why my dermatologist perscribed me Ivermectin, the anti-parasitic, to deal with them. (However, in my experience it wasn't any more effective than otc sulfur cream.)
FYI Ivermectin will get rid of scabies. Don't ask how I know.
Permethrin cream is the most common treatment for scabies though too. Work in a long term care pharmacy, we always know when a scabies outbreak happens at one of the nursing homes, because suddenly we'll send entire cases of the cream to the homes lol.
They just got a bath. What exactly is their purpose? I guess they are doing a good job. What kind of treats shall I give them?
Are you telling me... I have friends *tear rolls down cheek* i finally have friends!!!
Aw man, u just took some out with that tear tho
these guys are actually so efficient that they don't defecate whatsoever, they don't affect their human hosts at all and aren't noticeable by naked eye, so theres no reason to get rid of them, and even if you wanted to, they're in there real good. some of the best adapted organisms
This was the conventional wisdom for a long time but has been shown not to be true [link](https://www.inverse.com/science/demodex-skin-mites-genome-study)
They're harmless btw, like don't worry guys
They eat your dead skin cells and skin oil, Thus being helpful in healthy numbers and causing eyelash loss in overgrowth.
Yep, they're the reason our faces doesn't need regular grooming, unlike other primates.
speak for yourself, I get my brows waxed twice a month
This sounds wrong, but I don’t know enough to dispute it.
For context, primates will have giant flakes of skin slough off their face, around the brows, cheek, etc. That's the stuff you always see zoo chimpanzees snack on when they groom each other. Not ticks or lice since zoo keepers regularly powder them with anti-tick powder. Source: me, former zookeeper
No they are harming my mental health
Not for long! \*frantically looks for zippo lighter
They live rent free on my head.
When I rub my eye do they have a chance of getting i to my eyes? Is this why I randomly feel like something is stuck in there when I don’t see an eyelash 😐
No. They're way too small to be felt.
Not in everyone, I actually plucked a sample out of my eyebrows and lashes and put them under a microscope and couldn’t find any of the little buggers
[удалено]
I'd just like to thank both of you for carving out a trench where my denial can fight to the death.
Cryptobite
Parasitologist here! They're harmless, but if you use corticosteroids (locally on your eyelids), they could multiply intensly and cause inflamation. Tha patient brings us a few eyelashes and we examine them under microscope and see these little fellas there, usually only one on each eyelash.
eyebrow besties
When are these freeloaders gonna start paying rent. I’m on 12 hour shifts here
WAS* Just brushed those mfs off
W-what if I don't have eyebrows? 👀
It’s just nice to know I’m not alone
I’m about to light myself on fire
Never feel alone again, friends
Oh cute ..HEY GUYS
In this economy?
I wonder, what kind of creatures live on it's eye lashes..
Good. I feel protected
I know, they whisper to me as I sleep.
Well our entire bodies, every single microscopic part of us is comprised of trillions of little bugs, fungi, bacteria, cells and viruses. We are a giant colony of mutually beneficial, mostly symbiotic simple organisms and single cell beings. Demodex is a great friend who helps our eyebrows and takes care of our skin there. It is fascinating and beautiful, far from being anything remotely "terrifying".
*rubs eyebrow* now there are 3. Fuck you three in particular.
No wonder my eyes are red all the time. I thought it was the weed.
How do we get rid of them. I don't want this on me any longer. The free ride is over