The body of a healthy person is involved with microscopic life both inside and outside. The ease of research has promoted the benefits derived from our courage, genitals and microbiomes that exist elsewhere. The same invisible communities live on our skin and even on our faces, including small arachnids of the genus Demodex, such as de follicles and de sebaceous, which live in the hair follicles and sebaceous glands, respectively.
The thought of having relatives of embossed microscopic spiders on your skin may seem a bit scary to arachnophobe but their presence is rarely a problem. A 2014 study published by Plaza 1 found that 100% of the adults tested in their study had DNA markings of a Demodex species. Demodex mites are microscopic about 0.3-0.4 millimeters (0.012-0.016 inches) in length.
Their small size allows them easily pack into your pores, with one DD follicular per follicle and a few D-braves per sebaceous gland. These mites are innocent for the most part. Suppressed immune systems can lead to an overpopulation of mites, which can cause some inflammation and itching. There is a correlation between blepharitis (chronic swollen eyelids), rosacea and certain types of acne – but a large number of people never even notice their mites, enough to keep regular good hygiene.
“They tell the story of your own lineage and more ancient human history and immigration stories,” said Michelle Trautwein, an entrepreneur at the California Academy of Sciences in Demodex, in an interview with NPR. Collecting face mites for research is not a tedious process; you just have to get up close and personal with the persuasion of another person’s skin. Researchers can use a tape adhesive or glue against a person’s skin to pull it out, as well as cut the hair with a tweezers or rub the skin and collect it for testing. In the PLOS 1 study, researchers held the participants’ noses to expel some sebum from their pores, which was then broken down.
“I actually put glue on a glass microscope slide and put it on a person’s forehead,” Trautwein explained. Then I gently peel it I peel the skin.” “It can be quite addictive and exciting. It’s a meditative process to search through these miniatures of follicles and hair and to find the exact possibility of movement or size.”
