There Mite be Something on Your Face

Demodex folliculorum
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Life within the Body

The human body is filled with organisms. You’re host to millions of microorganisms of all different shapes and sizes, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. However, some of these organisms aren’t as well known.

Scientists have found that nearly all humans have mites living on their faces.

What are mites?

Mites are small creatures that are closely related to spiders and ticks. According to the University of Florida’s Entomology site, ticks and mites fall in the Arachnida class and Acarina order. A common mite that many of us are familiar with is the chigger. Mites live in a vast number of ecosystems and can be found living on nearly all mammal species.

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Your pores and hair follicles are home to some of these mites. Yes, there are tiny spider like things living in your skin. They have their own little ecosystem right on your face. Living, eating, sleeping, producing waste when they die, laying eggs, and reproducing.

Human Skin Mites

Scientists have found two types of mites living on human faces, specifically in the pores. Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis. The mites are microscopic and are usually located head down in the pore.

Demodex brevis
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Demodex folliculorum lives in pores near the surface of the skin. It has a “bigger, round-body” compared to D. brevis and has eight legs located on one end of its body. These mites are easily transferred between different people and have been found to be almost genetically identical in people from all over the world. They often come out of the pore and crawl around on your face at night.

Demodex brevis is a “smaller, short-bottomed” mite. These mites live in deeper pores and rarely leave their homes. They have evolved differently with different groups of people. D. brevis from someone in China can be distinguished from someone from the United States because of the genetic difference.

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These mites aren’t found all over the face. They are often found in patches around the face, such as in the eyelids, cheeks, nose, chin, and forehead. Little colonies of happy mites living peacefully in your skin.

Scientist believe the mites eat oils secreted from your pores. However, they could just as well be eating your cells. They’re just kind of chillin’ on your face. These creatures don’t like light so they become more active at night. Although this might be kind of freaky D. folliculorum and D. brevis don’t cause harm to most people.

Depiction of skin affected by Rosacea
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Can I get rid of them..?

It is thought that the presence of these mites might be the cause of Rosacea and Blepharitis. Rosacea is a “common skin disease characterized by red blotches on one’s face,” according to National Geographic. Blepharitis is inflammation of the eyelid according to Brian Chou, OD from Allaboutvision.com.

To get rid of these organisms at home Medscape.com suggests using products that contain tea tree oil, such as shampoo, face soap, and ointment. The site also recommends buying new makeup and changing sheets and getting new pillows.

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However, these mites are present in nearly all people. Scientists do not know a lot about these organisms but they believe they may be able to track human migration and divergence based on the genetic differences between mites found on different people.

Both D. folliculorum and D. brevis are found on most people. They are found in nearly all adults, in around 70% of teens, and are much less common in young children. Scientists believe we pick up these organisms from our surroundings and from other people. As we get older the more common they are. The mites are detected by isolating their DNA from oil and skin from the face.

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They aren’t hurting much. And everyone else has them so they must be cool. Love your mites. They’ve been with you forever <3

The human body is host to all sorts of organisms so you really shouldn’t be concerned with these little guys. If it makes you feel any better each mite only lives about two weeks but it does lay eggs…

I welcome my little face buddies openly. I’m totally not going to go scrub my face now…

Thanks for reading. Special thanks to all the people who keep coming back for more <3

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