so do you have demodex mites on your eyelashes? demodex mites are a common
cause of red and irritated eyelids and in this video I'm gonna go over exactly
what these nasty critters are and how to get rid of them. so let's take a look
this video is brought to you by occu soft the number one doctor recommended
brand of island cleansers hey everybody this is dr. Joe Allen here from doctor eye health
the channel helps you with the eyes, vision and finding the best vision
product so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any of my future videos. also
at any point throughout the video feel free to check out the show notes and
links below for further information about everything that we go over so do
you like spiders ticks or bugs? Ugh. they're gross right well today we're
talking about demodex and if you've never heard of demodex before it's
actually a whole family of parasitic mites that live in your eyelash follicle
and sebaceous oil lands they actually live and feed off of your skin oils and
the cells that make up your hair follicle and if you're thinking there's
no way that your eyelashes could be infested well guess again it has been
reported that if you're over the age of 45 you have a 75% chance of testing
positive for demodex and that chance only goes higher as we get older so yeah
they're actually pretty common and this is significant because the presence of
demodex is strongly correlated with both eyelid irritation and eyelid
inflammation known as blepharitis but what's great is that eye doctors can
diagnose demodex fairly easily in the clinic by using what's called the slit
lamp that's that high-powered microscope that we use to assess the eyes
demodex causes cotton ization and buildup of what is called cylindrical
dandruff which is basically this large amount of oil that sheaths around that
the eyelashes themselves and this is actually what we see in the clinic but
the buildup of this oil actually houses many different bacteria viruses and
other fungi all of which can cause possible infection but most commonly we
see demodex causing a mattering of the eyelids which causes them to be red and
irritated but demodex can also be a cause for styes, chalazion and ultimately
they can destabilize the your film which in turn causes chronic
dry eye disease and dry eyes a whole other topic that I'm very passionate
about so if you'd like to check out other cool videos about that I'll hook
you up with a playlist here in the YouTube card above as well as in the
description below and now for some good news and that's that demodex is
treatable and it's fairly easy to get rid of them in fact whenever have a
patient in the clinic who has signs of demodex mites in their lashes I always
discuss using some type of product such as the occu soft house demodex cleanser
and yes occu soft is sponsoring this video but I'm happy to work with them
because it's actually a product that I do use and recommend these two products
have tea tree oil in them tea tree oil is the secret ingredient i scrubs with
tea tree oil have been shown to be clinically effective at removing demodex
infestations and aki soft has these two products both the foaming eyelid
cleanser and the individually wrapped pre-moistened pads I find that both
products work effectively for my patients and I personally like that it's
very gentle on my skin and doesn't cause much of a burning sensation that you get
with some of the other products on the market now to use the scrubs just pump
the desired amount of pre lathered foam onto your fingertips close your eyes and
gently cleanse your lashes lids brow and face make sure to really get at the
lashes then rinse thoroughly you can also just do the same with the
pre-moistened pads if you find them more convenient now I've seen the best
results when people are using the eyelid cleanser at least twice a day for at
least two weeks however some people do need to use it more often and some
people may have to actually return to using it after things have been cleared
because if you don't have a healthy eyelid regimen then demodex can return
but of course if you're having problems be sure to talk with your local eye care
professional and see what they can help you with
so a health question of the day before this video did you know what demodex
were and have you tried any occu soft products go ahead and comment in the
section below let us know how you're doing alright everyone thanks so much
for watching you'd like to get other cool videos from dr. eye health go ahead
and click or tap the screen up over here to decide or go ahead and click or tap
the screen down over here again this is doctor Joe Allen hear from dr. eye
health this channel helps with the eyes vision and finding the best vision
products keep an eye on it we'll talk to you soon Zelda wants to test her vision
soundly can you read the bottom line do you have a demodex mites Zelda?