These Face Mites Really Grow on You | Deep Look

Yep, you probably have Demodex mites living on your face. These tiny arachnids feast on sebum, the greasy oil in your pores. But should you be worried about your eight-legged guests?

DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

Pretty much every adult human alive has a population of these mites living on them.

Also called eyelash mites, they’re too small to see with the naked eye. They’re mostly transparent, and at about .3 millimeters long, it would take about five face adult mites laid end to end to stretch across the head of a pin.

Face mites spend their days face-down inside your hair follicles nestled up against the hair shaft.
They eat sebum, that greasy oil your skin makes to protect itself and keep it from drying out. That’s why the greasiest parts of your body — like around the eyes, nose and mouth — likely harbor a higher concentration of mites than other areas.

They live about two weeks. They spend most of their time tucked inside our pores. But while we’re sleeping, they crawl out onto the surface of our skin to mate before crawling back into our pores to lay their eggs. Fun!

--- How common are face mites?
Pretty much everyone has some face mites on them. Babies are born without them but quickly receive them from their parents through direct contact. The amount of mites may increase during puberty when the skin starts to produce more oil.

--- How do you get rid of face mites?
There’s usually no need to try to rid yourself of face mites as they typically don’t cause any symptoms and are nearly impossible to fully eradicate. Since female face mites can also reproduce asexually, it only takes one mite to repopulate your skin. Some people experience an overpopulation of face mites resulting in an inflammatory disease called demodicosis which is easy to recognize sue to the many small evenly-sized pimples that appear quickly. Consult a dermatologist if you think you may have symptoms.

--- What do face mites eat?

Face mites consume the greasy oil that you skin produces to protect itself.

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#facemites #demodex #deeplook

[ehrinehrin]

*THERES SOMETHING F****NG ON MY FACE RIGHT NOW!?!?!?!*

[VioletteRose]

So when I kiss someone on the cheek, I'm also kissing their face arachnids?

Wow

[jirase]

I miss 5 minutes ago when I didn’t know about this.

[tameronica]

"They eat and eat and never poop."

Let's keep it that way

[inkpistachio]

"think about them as a healthy part of your skin ecosystem"


*I DONT WANT A SKIN ECOSYSTEM*

[eghil]

they mate on your face? while you're sleeping? IN YOUR FACE?

[pay]

Barely 10 seconds in and already filled with regrets

[signupisannoying]

Who knows that our most loyal friends are right in front of our faces all these times, sticking with us through thick and thin.

[mirais]

Nope! There shall be no mating on my face! Disrespectful

[Butterflywarrior]

I could have lived my whole life in peace without knowing this

[-AT-WALKER]

Older brother to younger siblings:

"have you seen this video about what lives in your skin because mum kissed you when you were a baby?"

[reinerbraun]

It's amazing how tiny they are. I never knew that there were animals that small. Our bodies are basically planets for them.

[MontuckyGirl]

Parent: I passed my face mites to you, don’t say I never gave you anything.

[midnightatam]

I was just going to sleep, now that I know that my FACE MITES ARE GONNA COME OUT AND MATE??? NAH MAN SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK

[Zsarmedina]

“They eat your sebum”

All I gotta say is my face mites better pick up the slack and start feasting. #oilyskinAF

[thehybros]

Mites on my face while I’m watching this: hey we’re on tv!

[Cardinalbins]

Always remember, if your alone in your new apartment, feeling lonely.

TALK TO YOUR FACEMITES!

[notyourboynelly]

I can feel all the face mites moving on me now

[alexwhitton]

"They eat your oil" sounds like America

[Snoogen]

It's so interesting how the concept of an "organism" such as a human, isn't so much a single entity, but literally billions of smaller entities that work together for the collective good.