My problem started about a year ago, I noticed bugs trying to get into my eyes at night, at first I thought it was fleas because my daughter and son in law we're staying with me and had a small house dog, but she carried him to a vet and he had no fleas. I went to my dr and he looked me over and said I did not have any bugs, but my problem just keep getting worse my daughter suggested that I my have lice I went to the store and bought all kinds of head lice products wich did not help so I went back to my doctor and I ask him to prescribe me lice products I got lindane shampoo with refills my problem got worse in all I have been to my dr,the VA urgent. Care and emergency room for a total of 15 times everyone says I don't have bugs but I still can't sleep a night because the bugs are so active at night. I went to 4 eye doctors and one of them told me I might have Demodex Bervis or Demodex folicicourm
How to get rid of dust mites in eyes that have become a whole body infestation?
Question posted by Bugeye on 3 April 2014
Last updated on 3 February 2019 by cantrellteresa00
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Answers
When does the mites go away
Its not dust mites, they are too tiny for any one to see or feel. Demodex mites live in many peoples eyelashes without ever being noticed, but some times there are so many you have symptoms. Here is what I found about the treatment.
he treatment regimen is divided into in-office care and at-home care.
The latest popular treatment regimen includes the use of 50% tea tree oil with Macadamia nut oil, applied with cotton tip applicators, after one drop of tetracaine.[8, 9, 10, 5] Aggressively debride the lashes and the lash roots first with scrubs. Try to get the oil into the lash roots and along the lashes to kill any eggs. Treat the eyebrows as well. Three applications, 10 minutes apart, per visit are recommended; treatment is completed with compounded 20% tea tree ointment. Repeat for 3 visits, each one week apart.
Gao et al[11] reported in 2012 that there is a strong correlation between symptomatic resolution and reduction of Demodex counts by daily massage with 5% tea tree oil ointment.[5]
Home regimen includes the following:
Use tea tree shampoo on hair and eye lashes every day.
Use tea tree soap or face wash every day.
Apply 5% tea tree oil cream/ointment daily to cover the skin around the lids to prevent mating and reinfestation from the skin around the eye.[12]
Buy new makeup and discard old makeup; do not use makeup for 1 week.
Clean sheets and buy new pillows.
Check spouse; if both have this problem, both need to be treated.
Check pets.
For the first few weeks, use the ointment at night after tea tree shampoo scrubs. If inflammation is present, combination steroid-antibiotic ointments may be applied for one week. This is then replaced with a pure antibiotic ointment or with compounded 10% tea tree ointment.
In the office, D folliculorum can be lured to the follicle surface with the use of volatile fluids, such as ether (not allowed in the United States), brushed vigorously across the external lid margin, following 0.5% proparacaine instillation. Five minutes later, a solution of 70% alcohol is applied in a similar manner. This regimen is reported to successfully reduce both the symptoms and the observed number of mites by the end of 3 weekly visits. Ether and alcohol should be used with caution, and corneal contact should be prevented.
A combination of this in-office treatment with a home regimen is suggested. The home regimen includes scrubbing the eyelids twice daily with baby shampoo diluted with water to yield a 50% dilution and applying an antibiotic ointment at night until resolution of symptoms.
Various treatments have been used to control Demodex mites. Most treatments involve spreading an ointment at the base of the eyelashes at night to trap mites as they emerge from their burrow and/or move from one follicle to another.
Mercury oxide 1% ointment is frequently used.
Pilocarpine gel reduced the number of mites and alleviated the symptom of itching in 11 patients in a nursing home. Celerio et al hypothesized that pilocarpine was directly toxic to the mites because its muscarinic action impedes respiration and motility.[13]
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