Acne.org Products
I was intrigued by the theory that demodex mites are the root cause or nearly the root cause of acne. A group of Chinese scietists believe that's the case, and they have a bunch of studies showing that treating demodex mites actually cleans up acne in 90-95% of the cases or something like that. I thought it was pretty much a scam, but then I heard people were getting some good results. So I decided to give it a try.
I went to demodexsolutions.com and purchased 4 months of the zhongzhou and xin fumanling creams. Actually, Walter, the owner of the site, *gave* me a month's supply for free before I purchased anything. He was trying to get people to try it. But he said I probably wouldn't see good results until after my third month on the treatment. I just wanted to see if the creams would make my face turn red or something before I spent any money on it. And the prices are pretty high, so I appreciated the fact that Walter gave me a month for free to try without having to buy anything up front. He's in Hong Kong, by the way, and postage alone to the U.S. probably costs him a good hunk of change. That said he's willing to put his money where his mouth is.
Anyway, so I did the zhongzhou cream at night before bed and the xin fumanling cream in the day. I always washed my face before applying any of them. And I stopped using all other products at that time.
After my 4th day or so, I noticed my face beginning to break out quite a bit. Walter told me this would happen, and it's a sign that the creams are working. According to him, what's happening is that the demodex mites are being killed off, and their dead bodies are clogging up and infecting the pores. The acne bacteria builds up in this environment too, since the body needs to produce more sebum and oils to get rid of the dead demodex mites.
Anyway, after my first week on the program, I noticed my face was beginning to get irritated. I have naturally sensitive skin, and it was a little harsh. It wasn't as bad as using benzoyl peroxide on my face constantly, but it was somewhat irritating. My face did start peeling and turning pinkish. My neck itched a little, and I sometimes developed a rash on my neck during my first two months on the program.
After my first few weeks, I determined I was able to tolerate it, even though it was irritating to my skin. So I ordered 4 months of product. And so in total, I was on the program for 5 months. Actually, in 2 days from now, it will be exactly 5 months.
After my 2nd month, I noticed a good reduction in the amount of acne I had, but there was still a lot of activity. It was almost the same amount of acne that I have if I wasn't using any products whatsoever. So it was comparable to my "baseline". I still felt like the product was irritating my face, too.
After my 3rd month, I noticed another reduction in the amount of acne I had, but there was still some activity. I would say at that point, it was better than my "baseline" (without any products). Also, the facial irritation was starting to reduce.
And I saw continuous reduction in my acne for the following two months after that. Now I'm at the end of my 5th month. My face has virtually no pimple activity. It has nearly ceased having any pimples. It's just about 100% clear. This is even better than the results I got from using Carley's anti-acne scrub, which was the only other product aside from accutane which has made a significant improvement in my condition. By the way, my baseline condition without any products was moderate, adult acne (non-cystic thanks to accutane 5 years ago).
Hmmmm. There might be something to this demodex mite theory after all. I think I'll order some more of the product and continue on a maintenance program. At first I was thinking it was no better than Carley's, and since Carley's is a lot cheaper, I was thinking I'd just use it from now on, but the demodex products seem to be better, more complete, almost like a cure. I just wish it didn't cost so much. But I suppose the maintenance program won't cost as much.
I'm still critical of the demodex mites theory. I don't know if it's really the cause. But heck, that's more of a question for scientists to deal with. As far as I'm concerned, the demodex products work well. I wish I knew about this stuff before I had accutane.
I recommend this to everyone. But remember you may have to be on it for 6 months or so before getting completely clear. If you're lucky, it will only take 2-3 months. For me it took 5 months.
Oh, one other thing. I had to buy more pillow cases, one for each day. And then I just rotated them and washed them all once a week with bleach. I did the same thing with my bath towels and anything else I came into contact with on a daily basis. This is to prevent re-infection of demodex mites. So plan on doing more laundry. Still, I think I could've done more in that category. Like I didn't change my bed sheets everyday. Oh, and if you have a girlfriend/boyfriend, you could get reinfected from contact with her/him, so I've been told. Wasn't a problem for me, since I don't have a girlfriend.
By the way, demodexsolutions.com has a message board you can post questions to. I can answer some of them, but Walter's the guy you want to ask there. I've posted on there using the name "Steve".
Steve
Hi,
To answer your questions...
I'm 31 years old. I had acne since age 13 or 14. It got worse as time went on. Around age 27 I had accutane for it after repeated failures of systemic and topical antibiotics and anti-acne creams. I've been actively trying to get rid of it since age 15 or 16. I went to several different dermatologists in the past. I've done just about every type of fad remedy out there. You name it, I tried it, more or less.
Prejudiced mites... No idea, dude. By the way, demodex mites are much smaller than lice. You can't see them with the naked eye. They're small enough to live in your skin's pores and lay eggs. They're a completely different bug altogether.
I don't even know if it is a mite problem. I like the theory, but I've not seen the science behind it. So theoretically, why would mites cause problems for some people but not for others? I don't know. It could be an allergic reaction to their dead bodies or their waste product. It could also be a problem with the immune system not dealing with them effectively. And that can vary from person to person. It's a good theory if there's good science behind it. At this point, it seems the studies are all in Chinese medical journals, and I can't read Chinese. Russian medicine seems to have accepted the link between demodex mites and acne as well. Whether anyone has proven a *causal* link is unknown to me.
Anyway, I would say give the products a try if you're not getting satisfactory results with everything else you've tried. The demodex products are expensive. A 4 month supply costed me over $300 (US). That's about $80/month. They seem to work better than any other product I've tried, though, except maybe accutane. Trouble is, accutane isn't good for you in the long term (or even short term). And it's not for people who just have moderate, non-cystic acne like me.
Steve
Have I been cured? No. I don't think that's possible. Even though the demodex site hints that you can theoretically remove all the mites and never have a problem again, I don't think that's realistic. Demodex mites are everywhere. You can remove them from your face temporarily, but in all likelihood they will return. So you need to go on a maintenance program.
I still have one pimple on my face, by the way. It's very small. You'd have to get up real close to see it. Two weeks ago, I had a few more noticeable pimples. But I expect that if I continue to use the creams, I'll get to the point where I have no more pimples ever. That's the trend anyway.
Also, right now I suspect the mites are causing the itch in my scalp. I've been using Selsun Blue dandruf shampoo for that, and it is helping somewhat, but I think it's not a good solution. Walter says that the makers of the fumanling anti-demodex mite product are making a new shampoo that targets demodex mites. Anyway, so I expect that the demodex mites are gone from my face, but they live on in my scalp and other parts of my body and will return to my face in time without the maintenance program. In fact, I think I'll go off the products to see how long it takes before acne returns. When I've gone off Carley's (liquid BP), the acne returned rapidly.
As for it not being called "acne" because demodex mites are the root cause, I don't buy that idea. Because acne bacteria are what thrive in the environment and cause the infections which result in pimples. Where demodex mites come into play is at the beginning of the infection. Theoretically, their big, dead bodies and waste products clog and irritate the pores, and then the acne bacteria multiply, and that's what causes the infection. So that's why it works to target the acne bacteria, but it's not a perfect solution. It might be better to target the demodex mites, in theory, because the mites may be what sets off the chain of events that leads to acne bacteria infections.
This theory at least matches my observation. My observation is that when I first used the demodex creams, within a few days afterwards, I had a huge break-out. That would be the expected outcome if the demodex mites were being killed. The large amount of dead demodex mites would just clog up the pores and cause sebum to increase and the acne bacteria to thrive. And that causes pimples. It looks like the observations are matching the theory.
Still, I'm a man of science, so I'd need someone to make a treatment that did nothing but kill demodex mites. Then I could say there's a causal link there and proof of theory. In other words, the demodex creams could be simply drying out the oil glands, or they could be killing acne bacteria also. So isolating the anti-demodex action is the key to proving it scientifically. And since I'm not a scientist in this field, I'm not the one to do it. So I anxiously await research results on the subject. I'd really like to see progress in our scientific knowledge of the causes of acne.
Steve
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Yes, I think most of the population does carry demodex mites on them. There are many more types of mites that are on humans as well. We're swimming in them. You just can't see them. Sleep well. Hehehe.
Walter of demodexsolutions.com says that everytime you feel an itch on your skin, it's probably a demodex mite crawling around in your pore. And it's a good theory, because after using the products for 5 months, I haven't noticed any itchiness like I used to have. I hardly ever touch my face now. That's also why I think my itchy scalp might be due to mites.
The antiobiotics only kill bacteria, not mites. There are some products which can kill the mites, but not very well, and may damage the skin as a side effect. I think pretty much all sulphur products do that. But the idea is to find the right ingredients that kill the mites and don't irritate the skin too much, because you have to use them for a long period of time. That's tricky. The demodex products do that.
I really wish there was a way to kill the mites in one step, one day. But it seems like they're tough to kill. There are two kinds of demodex mites, and one is smaller than the other and almost never comes out of the pore, so they're really tough to kill. They also lay eggs which are not affected by the demodex products at all, so you have to wait for them to hatch and then kill them. So that's why it takes so long to kill them all. Again, according to theory.
Steve
Well the idea is that the demodex mites do eventually come back, but it takes a while. So if you use a continuous maintenance program, it won't be a problem.
Also, they say demodex mites can only live about 24 hours outside of the human body. So theoretically you could just rotate between two pillow cases and not have to wash them every night. I didn't take that chance, though. So I had a set of 7 pillow cases and just washed each once a week. Same with my bath towels.
But yeah, if you have a girlfriend, then you could re-infect yourself through contact with her. Still, I wouldn't say you should stop that. I'm thinking it'd just take a little longer to clear up in that case. Ask Walter what he thinks.
Steve
All you need to get rid of this crap mite causing our acne struggle is a simple bar soap washing every morning and evening for a couple months. That's all.