While some studies have found loose connections between Demodex and diseases like rosacea, the evidence hasn't shown a strong link. "And what's really dramatic about it is that they're often fine the day before, and then they develop it overnight."įor the vast majority of people, though, face mites are nothing to worry about. "Patients almost universally describe this explosive development of like pustules like whiteheads on their face. The condition is relatively rare and is often connected to a decline in the immune system, such as receiving immunosuppressive drugs after transplant surgery, chemotherapy or immunodeficiency diseases such as AIDS.ĭemodicosis can also be triggered by local suppression of the immune system, like using itch-relieving hydrocortisone cream on the face. If you scrape those pores, you can see it frothing with little Demodex face mites." And if you look really closely, you can see coming out of every pore. "There is a very particular look to people suffering from demodicosis. Shinkai occasionally treats patients who have an overload of face mites, which results in a condition called demodicosis. But for a majority of people, they're harmless. Since face mites live inside your pores, you can't wash them off. The shaft of each one of those tiny hairs grows out of its own follicle.įace mites - Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis - spend their days facedown inside your hair follicles, nestled up against the hair shaft, where you can't see them. Our skin is mostly covered by a thin layer of peach-fuzz called vellus hair, with a few notable exceptions such as the palms of our hands and feet. "But people are often curious - even in their revulsion."īut how could these creatures live on so many people and still go unnoticed? "No one is thrilled at the initial notion that they have arachnids on their face," Trautwein says. And she's found DNA evidence of face mites on every single one of them. Trautwein has tested more than 2,000 people, including tourists from all around the world that make their way to the California Academy of Sciences. ![]() Once the samples have been collected, she takes them to the lab to look at the genetics. "We use a little spoon and scrape it across the kind of greasier parts of someone's face, which isn't as bad as it sounds," Trautwein says. But before she could tell that story, she needed to find the mites.
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