Ailment: Mites (demodex mites)
Remedy: Alcohol
Comment posted by Brighter Days Ahead of Huntsville , Alabama , YSA on 28 December 2022 at 10:47 5410
NO
Hello Everyone. My symptoms started at the beginning of August 2022 with what appeared to be a rash under both breasts and some scalp sores. The first doctor said it was scabies and prescribed Permethrin. I still had issues. Then, the second doctor prescribed a steroid cream. I still had issues. Then, I went to a walk in clinic and obtained another tube of Permethrin. I still had issues. I went back to the second doctor who referred me to a dermatologist, who said I have nerve issues. I was prescribed a steroid cream, an antibiotic cream, and a pain med for the nerve pain . I’m still having issues. So, I shaved my hair to 1/8 inch all over so I could get a good look. I have sores all over my scalp accompanied by swelling and a 1 inch diameter red round circle at nape neck area of my scalp. My other symptoms include black scalp hairs twice the diameter of my normal hairs that appear to have little black balls at the hair tips. I don t have naturally black hair. There are transparent oddly shaped entities with a tail. Both the black and the clear entities turn bright red after feeding on my blood. I have personally watched them change color. Tiny sand like granules come off my scalp. I recently observed a granule attached to a clear entity. If I disturb my hair and scalp while not wearing a shirt, I get bites and sores that look like a rash on my breasts, abdominal area, and back. My scalp burns and is painful. They say you cannot feel mites crawling and biting but I occasionally feel movement and biting on my scalp. I’m autistic with a very heightened sense of touch. Another symptom is what feels like tiny particles falling from my scalp hair into my eye lashes and eyes, which get irritated and turn red. Also apparent after shaving my hair to 1/8 inch are small round bald spots all over my scalp. I have tried all kinds of things to kill them including super head lice treatments, nit combs which work great for getting some out, lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus essential oils, Neosporin 91 rubbing alcohol which strangely makes the scalp burning sensation temporarily subside, and epsom salt with lavender oil bath soaks. I have found nothing prescribed or at home remedies that will kill them. I don’t think that they are simply various varieties of demodex mites because they are present in both black and clear white both of which turn bright red after feeding on blood. I did however read on a forum that people have been contacting the CDC for assistance, which they apparently have not provided, because doctors and pest control can’t get rid of them. They are said to be two new species of mites. My entire life is being consumed with showering bathing, cleaning, laundry, and insomnia. Has anyone found anything that completely kills them? If not, we need to all be diligently searching for something that will eradicate them and pass on the treatment information.
Comment posted by Di of Athens, Ontario, Canada on 5 August 2022 at 17:57 5376
I too suffer from intense itching, crawling and sores. I have tried sulfur soap, Permethrin cream. For instant relief, I used rubbing alcohol all over my body after a shower. I have used a heat rub cream the kind for sore muscles. I rub it in and I get all kinds of debris coming from my skin. It is not a cure but seems to remove them. I have taken oral Canesten for yeast infection which I wondered if I too had a yeast overgrowth, seeing as I had infection on my feet. I tried to treat it from the inside instead of outside. This slowed things for a while but my foot fungus is back. I have had this over three years, wondered if it happened after getting a flu shot or a cat bite. We also got chickens so I wondered if its chicken mites? Been to my family doctor a few times, no answer and am on a wait list with dermatologist. Praying for all of us. I too, am at my wits end.
Comment posted by David Niven Miller of Perth, WA, Australia on 3 June 2020 at 15:8 5231
Hi Roberta,
The exact formula that each of these proprietary sprays uses is the reason they can charge a lot for them. In your previous comment I added a list of the ingredients used in your spray, which as you said has not cured you 100%. However, from the hundreds of comments on the Demodex mite pages at this Grow Youthful forum, visitors have shared which ingredients they have found to be effective. You will have to experiment yourself with your own combinations. I wish you well, and many visitors here will be interested to hear of your results. David
Question posted by Roberta of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on 3 June 2020 at 8:45 5230
Hi David and thank you....is there a summary on which of these ingredients are required to kill mites so that we can re-create it ourselves? It's been extremely expensive but I have had a severe infestation which was allowed to grow from 2012-2019 when I finally stopped the prescribed opioid from my prior PCP and Lyme doctor.
Comment posted by Roberta of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on 2 June 2020 at 12:24 5229
YES
Just sharing my Demodex experience. In 2012 they appeared at the same time as Lyme and co-infections and my doctor prescribed an opioid instead of trying to figure the crawling sensation. In 2019 I found this page and read everyone's story and treatment. You all gave me hope. I started using Ungex spray in November 2019. It is very expensive but it works somewhat. I am not 100% nor do I expect to be given my immune issues, so I'll be on a maintenance protocol forever as I'm now 75. But I came back to this page to not only share how the spray has worked for me but to share another way to treat these mites. Buy a high frequency hand-held machine. I bought one for $18 from Wish. It clears hair follicles and pores of bacteria and it can make the spray, or any skin treatment go deeper into the skin. Demodex brevis lives very deep in the pore, so topical treatments may not reach them. But the machine will. I want to thank you all again as your comments really helped me.
Note from David Niven Miller website owner: if you search for 'ungex ingredients' you will get a pdf list from their website which they are required by law to provide in Australia. The main active ingredients have previously been discussed on this forum. They are sold as a convenient and expensive combination spray with additional preservatives, solvents and moisturisers: Water, Polysorbate 20, glycerin, geraniol (from rose, palmarosa or citronella oil), phenoxyethanol, propylene glycol, benzyl alcohol, melaleuca alternifolia leaf oil (tea tree oil), diazolidinyl urea, citric acid, cocos nucifera (coconut oil) with some of these ingredients acting as preservatives, solvents and moisturisers.
Comment posted by PoppiLee of Va Beach, VA, USA on 12 January 2020 at 9:53 5194
I am hypothyroid with a history of demodex for at least 5 years. There has to be a connection between my thyroid and these critters. I have had three doctors agree with this diagnosis yet they can do very little to help me. Most all of my help is me reading constantly online to educate myself. I have used ivermectin cream, permethrin and metronidzole gels. These always seem to help at first and then within a month stop. Thanks goodness for this web site as its help is invaluable. I have learned so much and hope I can share some of my insight and pay it forward. Rubbing alcohol ruined my hair and did very little to kill the critters. Powdered mustard works better than anything but I do have to mix it with generic face washes and water. I use this every day before my shower and follow it with shampooing with lice-killing shampoo. I also use selenium shampoo on alternate days. I follow this daily with grain alcohol in a spritz bottle anywhere and everywhere I itch or have bumps. At night I seal up my bumps, sorta of suffocating them, with SA skin-clearing make up. This keeps them quiet at night and in the morning I am covered with their debris. I have a spot on my tongue that is probably them also and use hydrogen peroxide several times per day and brush it well with fluoride free toothpaste, as I have learned fluoride depresses the thyroid and probably got me into this mess by overusing fluoride all my life since I have soft teeth. My teeth have responded well and my dentist is super proud of my oral health except for the one spot he can’t explain. He uses his cancer light twice a year to make sure it is NOT cancer. Thank goodness we have this place and the internet to help us with this disease. I hope to one day be free and clear but as we age we do get more so I will have to make peace and accept we may always have a few of these critters and try not to sweat it. GOOD LUCK TO ALL! Lee
Comment posted by May Belle of West Hartford, CT, USA on 13 November 2019 at 10:58 5187
YES
I am 62 and suffered from what I am now pretty sure is demodex mites for a year and half. I stayed a few days at a place where the cleanliness of bedding was sketchy, and also got too much sun at the same time. I got a bit of redness on one cheek and my nose had little red bumps. I have used rubbing alcohol on my face to bring the mites to surface and then put tea tree oil on to kill them. I realized my hot water in the house I was renting was not set high enough. It was 120 and it should be over 130 I believe from what I have read. Before the Landlord adjusted it I used eucalyptus in my laundry for sheets and towels as that kills dust mites and maybe all mites. I used a few drops of eucalptus mixed in water and added to wash. I also used 1 cup or so of white vinegar in rinse cycles. This killed germs and freshened things and softened the sheets and towels. I used niacinamide on my skin and my skin seems really much better in just a few weeks. I have been using a silk pillowcase for a few months too and that was helping some. Mites don t like silk. So hot water and eucalyptus are my recommendations. I do mop the house with vinegar, and vacuum our rugs and use borax on them.
Comment posted by Hope99 of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA on 15 March 2018 at 5:28 4959
YES
I remove head lice for a living, and I know that high heat, dry air, alcohol (I use ethanol not isopropyl alcohol which is poisonous) and Listerine kill lice, so I figured I'd give them a try when I had scabies. The itching was relentless, so as soon as I was diagnosed, I went home and poured two big containers of amber Listerine in the bath tub. Listerine has a high alcohol content and contains essential oils that numb the itching, it's basically an antiseptic. I climbed in and used a cup and washcloth to pour it over the itchy areas and really rub it in. After that, I filled the tub up with more water and just soaked in it for as long as possible. After I used the blow dryer on highest setting to dry off. The previous commenters aren't kidding when they say it feels orgasmic. I can't even explain it. It feels like you are itching the rash deep into your skin without even touching your skin. It feels soooo good. Then I'd blow dry my skin again before bed. I also would pour pure ethanol alcohol on a washcloth and rub the itchy parts and let air dry. I did the baths every other day for a week. I really believe that's what killed the mites so quickly. During one bath I also used table salt with the ethanol alcohol to make a slurry to really rub into the itchy rashes where the mites were. It exfoliates the skin layers so the alcohol can get deep into your skin to kill the burrowed females. Bottom line, blow dryer and Listerine and generic pure grain alcohol will kill these little suckers and give instant itch relief.
Question posted by Hope of Stockholm, Sverige, Sweden on 19 January 2018 at 6:34 4905
Hi, thank you all for this fantastic group, this is totally new for me. Mites exploded in my life after a long super-stressful period when everything that could go wrong really did. After 6-7 weeks of renovating the 30 flats I live in they put plastic all around, then changed our windows without installing ventilation for fresh air. They totally closed off all air by putting tape over all windows probably because of painting and other work. One week after that I woke up one morning with itching rashes under my breasts. I have never had anything like that, no eczema or something so it was really a bit worrying. Then because of where they were located and my age, 57 I went to the doc to check if it was herpes zoster, we call it beltrose in Swedish . Doc said no, it looks more as if something has bitten you! One week after that, and after seeing another doc, I had a typical rosacea mark on my left cheek, acne on the other and all over my chest and back, itching, crawling. I thought I’d caught scabies, but two doctors said no. No one even had a microscope and one told me to get that ghost out of my brain and get some psychiatry.
Question: Can it be that when we got no fresh air, and there was air coming IN where dirty old air is supposed to get OUT that I have caught this from one of my neighbours? I am newly divorced, my youngest son 20 years old lived with me at this time and his eyes became red and he started complaining of itching skin at the same time. This was November and two weeks later I told him to move to his dad since I was afraid he would also get this thing from hell. He is now fine, but I have had a living hell.
I am depressed, have had to clean EVERYTHING all the time because of a black yucky powder with black spots that lays everywhere in this flat if I’m not fast enough to wipe it off. All my carpets and stuff I don't need is in my store now. I don’t vacuum clean, instead I use superhot water 90C morning and evening to clean everything, bedclothes etc.
I have heard from other neighbours that they got red eyes, runny nose and they all complain over the poor ventilation but I don’t dare to ask them about this. Waited since November to have someone from the company that owns the building to come and inspect. They finally made contact with the environment department and others so things are probably going to speed up now, but I just need to know how I could get this shit without hugging anyone else than my dog. Very short fur Amstaff Rottweiler who has nothing in his fur and no itching. My grownup kids are all well. Can this spread from ventilation between apartments? I have gone from having a big family, dog, girlfriends, sons living with me a lot to now being totally on my own in this apartment since first week of December. I have not worked a lot because of this exhausting regimen to keep everything clean. I can do work from home, but need to see customers in the health food business and I panic when thinking that this will continue.
I want to share one trick before I stop. If you want to clean up your pores follicles put pure aloe vera jelly all over your face or a spot you want to treat. Let it stay for 2-3 minutes, then rub on AlkoGel (alcohol, aloe vera). We can buy it cheaply in the grocery store here in Stockholm. You will soon see white, greasy things popping up. Continue to rub and pick the white stuff away. I use wet paper towels. Rinse with clean water and spray colloidal silver. I also use one glass of water mixed with 2 table spoons with MSM (Methy-Sulfonyl-Methane). This will freshen up all the affected area and has been the best of all products I have tried. But after reading all these comments I will for sure try the hydrogen peroxide. SOOOO GRATEFUL for this group! The aloe, AlkoGel, colloidal silver and MSM has made my life better and my skin much more beautiful again, but still I have the itching and biting on my feet and legs. I don’t go barefoot in here any longer! Big hug to all of you suffering from this devastating creep.
Comment posted by Anna of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia on 29 August 2017 at 7:37 4726
YES
I am 71 years old, and my problems started when we lived in a house with a neighbour’s chicken yard three metres from our living room.
I have had the crawling and biting symptoms of others on this forum for about seven years, and although washing daily with borax and adding tea tree oil to body wash and shampoo has helped a lot, I have recently found something that is cheap and easy to apply and has made a dramatic difference.
I have read other letters and adopted some of their ideas such as applying mineral oil to my face and then tto and wiping off with paper towel twice a day, and also realising that something on our skin is causing the problem such as yeast or fungus. I know that alcohol can kill fungus so I purchased a large container of hand sanitation 70% alcohol from Cheap as Chips. When showering first apply this liberally over my entire body, leave for a few minutes and then wash off with my normal TTO body wash.
Incidentally I am gluten intolerant and have compromised immune system t which makes it more difficult for my body to detox. I hope this remedy will help someone else, and I think it is less damaging than permethrin and steroids. In fact, I haven’t noticed any downside to it at all. I do not know the precise affliction that I have but it has been a very difficult time for me as my husband has not had any problem at all.
