I am cold-posting! I haven't seen much what is on this site regarding demodex or skin mites... but I encourage others to look it up. I have had acne for 20 years and my skin is actually clearing and regaining that lusterous glow I always wanted, clean pours too!

My type started in my teens. It worsened and spread to my back, sometimes my chest. My skin became flakey, dry, oily, scaley... blackheads, white heads, cysts.... you name it. My acne was moderate to severe and every couple of months might clear up. Various products... try this, eat that, same old story with no lasting results.

The key to discovering the particular problem to the acne I have was that my pours were enlargened, the top layer of my skin was thick and the more I considered that I had a "Mange" issue, the more it made sense. Since I work with horses and have seen the form of mange they can get, so I know how extremely difficult it is to get rid of.

Mange is caused by ity bity- can only see them under a microscope- SKIN MITES- called DEMODEX. Luckily I have access to a microscope and found that I did indeed have this little critter infesting my skin. Guess what?? I never realized it before, but yes, my skin itched. I've been used to it for so long.. the dryness, oilyness, soreness never really though about the itchyness. And especially when it starts to get dark- is when the skin mites start to crawl.

So I picked up some baby lotion to experiment.... and rubbed it on my face. YUCK! the last thing we want on our face is oil- and to rub it in.... yucky. BUT something weird happend and my skin started flaking off immediately. White flakes that wasn't dead skin nescessarily. I don't know what it was... but the result after 10 minutes was really clean skin.

This was only Phase ONE. Mites are tough. Oils can suffocate mites... so I started the baby oil as part of my treatment- especially when I get itchy.

WARNING- Mites die inside the skin, causing the abcess that is a pimple... filled with bacteria. Then, more mites hatch in the bacteria from the eggs layed previously. It is an aweful cycle.

Knowing mange and horses, I thought "if Mange is the problem then I MUST be RUTHLESS to get rid of these." The mites can die in the skin, but then leave eggs behind... then you got to get the newly hatched ones before they mate again. It is a cycle that is taking place all the time and so every couple of hours I do things to disrupt the cycle.

1. Baby oil- suffocates.. the mites like oxygen. Give them oxygen and they will LIVE for a while, and not die for a while, so the skin SEEMS to be clear for a little while. But then later they do die and pimples form (So much for oxy pads)

2. Tea tree oil- kills them off... but not all of them so I alternate treatments. The Tea Tree Oil does not kill the eggs and is more likely to get to the mites on the surface... especially when they mate. These mites actually CRAWL out of the skin to mate with each other on the surface... then crawl back in and lay eggs.

2. Lavendar oil- harsh on skin applying it strait but REALLY harsh on mites... when your ready to BLAST them it will cause a breakout. I DRINK WATER to flush my skin because is possible to have pimples ( or abcesses) not come to a head if they are deep enough and the lymph system is flushing them out.

4. Lemon- fresh cut wedge swiped on the skin. This WILL cause a breakout-- on the surface especially and really recommend not dealing with the public when using this... BUT it does do the trick. I would apply every couple of days because it is so harsh. It caused about 20 tiney pimples around my mouth when I did it (tiney but irritating enough) and then afterward super clean clear pours on the rest of my face. Remember pimples are DEAD mites... proof they are dead and the treatment is working.

5. Removing blackheads.... GROSS... but listen... Mites have teath, crawl into the pour, bite down and hang onto the skin... oil forms around it... p. Acnes bacteria and all sorts of dead skin cells and dirt are attracted. Baby Oil loosens the blackheads after a while. Steam your face and remove them regularly! Get a facial... steam your face or get a mirror that magnifies and get those blackheads removed. Every time a black head is removed so is a mite... and these Demodex mites can lay 20 eggs at once. NOT ALL Blackheads come out easily so use good judgment with how hard you are willing to press.

6. Immune System. I have been keeping my immune system strong during this process... eating well... lots of vitamen C. The person who is never affected by demodex has an antigen produced by the immune system. De-stress, take care of your bodies ability to regenerate. My immune system has been compromised through out my life through periods of severe stress... PTSD and Anorexia (lots of years ago). It is very possible this Mite found me and when to town making mite colonies on my skin because I had low immunity for a good period of my life. Mites are somewhat normal but the compromised immune system allows them to over breed. Once they over breed its only knowledge and hard work that gets them gone.

7. Shampooing and soaping - they can be in the scalp too so now my hair is washed everyday with either tea tree oil shampoo or Johnson and Johnson baby wash. The baby wash is also for the rest of my body... shaving ext.. Also these mites love the eyebrows and ears so I treat the eyebrows with baby oil and swipe my ears with the other treatments as well.

8. Bedding, clothing. Everything I have not replaced has been washed with 10 drops of tea tree oil. I considered everything infested.

Just a little more....

Every few hours I am considering that more mites hatched on my skin and may Breed! If I itch I pay attention... run to the bathroom and treat my skin. My favorite when I am itchy or dry is the Baby Oil with a few drops of Lavendar oil in it. It stops the itch immediatey for a few hours.

Then I alternate.... Tea tree oil next because I haven't used it that day. A couple hours later baby oil again... washed with baby wash first...Strait Lavendar at night perhaps.. Lemon when I am prepared to deal with potential break out (ie. dying of a colony of mites).

It has been three weeks with 4 to 6 treatments a day and since I just came across the Lemon treatment a couple days ago I have a break out a the corners of my mouth... It makes sense since I didn't want to swipe the oils around my mouth!

Never has my skin been so clean. Before I would squeeze around my nose and lots of gunk and blackheads would pop out... and then again from the same pours two days later there would be gunk again.... but since staying on top of the my skin and dealing with Mites as the root of the problem there is nothing at all coming out of my pours and it is so much cleaner visibily.

An entire layer of skin seems to be gone... revealing a healtheir layer below. THIS is what Mange is. It desroys the skin to keep itself alive and layers of dead skin cells and oils provide the perfect home. Staying on top of it though really is important. There are still a few areas of my skin where I can see clogged pours and it is just all about waiting the Mites out. 27 Days is a life cycle and they are tough to kill... but it's possible! Looking forward to following up in a couple of weeks.