Demodectic: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment

Demodecosis is a skin disease caused by a microscopic tick Demodex folliculorum.This tick refers to conditionally pathogenic organisms, that is, it also normally occurs in a healthy person.Its size is up to 0.5 mm, and it lives in the ducts of the sebaceous glands of smooth skin and in the channels of the meibomian glands located at the edge of the century.Often, the acne vulgaris, or subcutaneous tick, also called the causative agent of demodicosis, is found in the mouths of the hair follicles.

Table of contents: Why does demodicosis occur? How does demodicosis manifest

Why does demodicosis occur

? Demodex mite is found in 90% of people, most of them do not show up, while some people can not be cured of demodectic infection for a long time.

The cause of demodicosis is the rapid expansion of the pathogen, as a result of which the patient experiences a number of unpleasant sensations.Normally, there are 1-3 mites in one hair follicle, and in demodectic cases, their number may exceed 10 individuals.The exact reason why the mite begins to multiply actively, causing a pathological process, is not established.Only the risk factors in which demodecosis occurs with a high frequency are determined.

Such factors include:

• emotional stress;
• nerve strain;
• improper diet with a predominance of fatty and spicy food in the diet;
• tan;
• "abuse" of bath procedures;
• use of oily creams and ointments.

All of the above stimulates increased production of sebum, thereby creating favorable conditions for the reproduction of the tick.Immunodeficiency of any origin( an elementary cold!) Can also lead to illness.In women, the provoking factor is sometimes the use of hormonal drugs that cause a metabolic disorder in the skin.

This is interesting! Daily use of creams to care for the skin of eyelids and faces from the same container causes demodicosis on the face, as there is a repeated infection with mites that have got into the container with cream.

Demodecosis of the skin itself is not a very serious disease.Its danger lies in the attachment of a bacterial infection that causes even more inflammation.

People with loose and sensitive skin, prone to reddening, are more prone to demodicosis.In men, this disease develops much less often, as they rarely use cosmetics and shave their face.In the process of shaving, the particles of the keratinized skin with the mites located in them are removed, speaking scientifically, the insemination of the skin by the pathogen decreases.

Very rarely, demodicosis occurs in people who do not belong to any risk group and do not have any predisposition to it.

As demodicosis manifests

Symptoms of demodectic infection largely depend on the number of breeding mites, skin type, general condition of the patient.The leading symptom is a rash on the skin of the face and eyelids, the rash often has an inflammatory character.There are several forms of demodecosis, the classification is based on the predominant type of rash.In fact, these forms are also stages of the disease.

For all stages and forms of demodicosis, itching is characteristic of the lesion, intensifying in the evening and night, when the period of maximum activity of the ticks comes, and they come to the surface of the skin.

Symptoms of the erythematous form

It is manifested by hyperemia( erythema) of certain areas of the face.Rashes are localized on the nose and cheeks, have well-defined borders and raised edges.This form is quite similar to the rosacea and requires differential diagnosis.

Papulist-pustular demodecosis

Against the background of hyperemia, papules and pustules are formed, their appearance is caused by overfilling of hair follicles with fat, as glandular streams are blocked by clusters of ticks.Pustules can reach 2 mm in size and have a different color - from pink to purple-red.

Hypertrophic stage

Develops with active current demodicosis and in the absence of treatment.It manifests a pronounced hypertrophy of individual skin areas, more often on the nose, chin and cheeks.

Symptoms of eyelid demodectic and demodectic eyes

The disease can be combined with a lesion of smooth facial skin, and can proceed in isolation.Reproduction of subcutaneous mites in the meibomian glands( located at the base of the eyelashes) leads to their inflammation, which is accompanied by blepharitis and itching.A typical sign of demodectic eyelids - the appearance at the base of the eyelash whitish border, as well as inflammation of the edge of the eyelids.

Absence of treatment leads to hair loss, hypertrophy of the edge of the eyelids, which is accompanied by difficulty in their closure.

Demodicosis of the head

Demodex mites also live on the scalp, where demodicosis is provoked with the same success in the presence of provoking factors.The peculiarity of this form is the fact that it is rarely detected because of the inconspicuousness of papules and pustules under the hair.The main symptoms are itching in the evening and minor seals on the skin, palpable in the head.

How to determine demodicosis

Diagnosis can be made based on typical patient complaints and the results of external examination.However, some diseases occur with similar symptoms, for example, rosacea.To distinguish one disease from another will help the analysis of demodicosis, which involves taking a scraping of the skin with subsequent examination under a microscope.When diagnosing demodicosis, ticks are found in a large amount of scrap material.

Scraping is usually done with a scalpel from the surface of the pathologically altered skin, it is possible to study the lashes and the material taken from the edges of the eyelids.To the result was more accurate, the patient follows 2 days before taking a scraping on demodicosis do not wash with soap and do not use cosmetics.

Complications

In most cases, demodicosis delivers severe discomfort to patients, but if untreated, it can lead to unpleasant complications.Itching and irritation force patients to comb the skin, which leads to injury and attachment of bacterial infection, so patients with demodicosis often have pustular rash.People with initial immunodeficiency can develop furuncles and subcutaneous abscesses.

Eye complications are often associated with eyelid complications:

• conjunctivitis,
• blepharitis,
• marginal keratitis,
• dry eye syndrome.

In the chronic form of the disease, there is an abnormal growth of the eyelashes.

Treatment of demodectic

Since the causative agent of this disease is found in 90% of healthy people, it will not be possible to completely get rid of it to any patient - sooner or later, the mites will again fall on the skin of a person.Therefore, the main goal of treatment is to achieve a long-term remission, when all external manifestations of the disease disappear.

The most effective antiparasitic drugs in the form of gels and ointments.Most of these agents as an active ingredient contain metronidazole, which kills ticks.

Important: based on alcohol for prolonged use cause dry skin, which provokes an increased synthesis of sebum.And this, as we know, is one of the reasons for demodicosis, so treatment should be strictly controlled by a doctor.

Demodicosis ointment should also have a moisturizing action to slow the reproduction of mites.It is best to treat demodicosis under the control of a dermatologist and a cosmetologist: the first will select the most effective etiologic treatment, and the second will help cope with the problem skin.

Treatment of demodicosis on the face continues until the skin itself begins to cope with the pathogen, sometimes this effect has to wait for several months.To support the skin will help electrophoresis with medicines.Under the influence of electric current, therapeutic agents penetrate into the depth of the skin, most effectively affecting the mites.

It is very difficult to treat demodectic eyelids due to the difficulty of applying ointments to the eyelids.In this case, it is recommended to use eye baths.

The answer to the question of how to treat demodicosis can only be given by a competent dermatologist, preferably at the same time, that he still has a specialization in cosmetology.

Prevention of demodectic

The following measures will prevent the occurrence of this unpleasant disease:

1. Medical and cosmetic measures.Microdermabrasion performed during a period of persistent remission in the absence of signs of inflammation, allows you to remove the surface layer of skin with clusters in it.A similar result can be achieved with the help of non-hardware cleansing of the face.Fruit peeling helps to fix the effect, when the effect of organic acids creates unfavorable conditions for the tick on the skin.
2. Laser therapy of a vascular network on the face will allow to normalize metabolic processes in the skin and reduce the risk of demodectic infection.This is due to the fact that a decrease in blood circulation in the laser treated or photocoagulated skin reduces the production of sebum.
3. Changing the power mode.The condition of the skin is largely determined by the composition of the food, so you should consult a dietician who will help you choose a diet to reduce the fat content of the skin.Milk and vegetable diet is recommended.
4. Before the beginning of demodectic treatment, cosmetic accessories should be abandoned: brushes for powder and shadows, lipstick.They are recommended to be disinfected, and best of all - replaced with new ones.Tools - scissors, tweezers, tweezers will have to be sterilized by boiling.

To reduce the likelihood of repeated seeding with mites, bed and underwear should be changed daily, followed by washing and ironing.Zheleznitsa acne is a very "gentle" creature and when it is exposed to heat, it quickly dies.Therefore ironed linen can be used quite calmly.

Important: , the treatment regimen is selected individually for each case, but with demodicosis, one should immediately tune into a long-term treatment.

To get more information about demodicosis( symptoms, causes of development, manifestations of the disease), see this video review.Popular questions are answered by a dermatologist:

Gudkov Roman, resuscitator, anesthesiologist