Facts About Skin Mites
Skin mites can be troublesome and possibly painful pests. These tiny arthropods, which are related to ticks and spiders, can directly attack humans or they can cause secondary itching or rashes. They can be especially dangerous to those people who suffer from allergies as they can trigger severe allergic reactions in some people. Skin mites can appear almost anywhere, even seemingly clean homes. Luckily they are rather easy to eradicate with miticides or simple cleaning.
There are several different types of mites that can directly or indirectly attack humans. Human Scabies are tiny parasites that directly attack humans. They can be spread through close contact and possibly from sleeping quarters, but are not transmitted through animals. Any place with close and crowded people can see scabies develop. Scabies are too small to be seen with the naked eye, and often evidence of their infestations does not become clearly visible for weeks. Females of the species burrow into human skin, often in soft places, and lay eggs in the skin. Their bites cause an s-shaped red bump and an itchy rash can develop, but only after about a month. This makes them hard to discover until they are fully infested. Scabies cannot live on human skin for more than 24 hours however, so once the life cycle is disrupted it is easy to rid yourself of them. More serious cases of Norwegian scabies can attack people with compromised or lowered immune systems and are extremely contagious.
A doctor can diagnose an infestation of human scabies through a skin scraping observed under a microscope. Treatment includes full body topical pesticides or Invermectin pills administered by a doctor. Topical pesticides should be applied before bedtime, making sure to get the ointment into all of the body’s folds and crevices. Clean under the fingernails to reduce itching. Bedding and clothing should be washed and items that cannot be cleaned should be quarantined for 72 hours. This allows enough time for the adults and juveniles to die.
Skin mites that originate from birds or rodents can often attack humans if their primary food source is removed. This is often seen after a mouse infestation is removed. These are tiny mites but they can be seen by the human eye. The best treatment is to remove the primary host for the mites, then clean the affected area with insecticides.
Human Democlex mites are found in the sebaceous glands and hair follicles of humans but may not produce any negative symptoms. They are found in the human eyebrows and eyelashes. If they cause irritation to the person it usually manifests itself as itchy eyes, vision problems, dryness of the eyes, red or scaly eyelids and loss of eyelashes. Democlex mites can be diagnosed by a doctor by observing dead mites on eyelashes or eyebrow hair under a microscope. Treatment for these mites includes a doctor’s visit for an ether, proparacaine and alcohol mixture cleanser to be applied over several days. A good home remedy is baby shampoo applied to the eyelids several times a day.
Chiggers are extremely small and hairy looking mites found outdoors in any place with tall or overgrown vegetation. The adults are non-parasitic and live in the soil. Once the eggs hatch and become parasitic larvae they attempt to climb onto humans walking through the brush. Larvae chiggers feed on human dissolved skin, but don’t necessarily burrow into human flesh. Their salivary fluid creates a raised, usually red area of skin around the parasite itself, providing a protective barrier. This creates itchy, red welts on the skin, but chiggers do not carry any diseases that may be harmful. Chigger larvae feed on human skin for about 4 days, and then leave their host to become adults. Treatment for chigger bites or larvae on the skin is a soapy bath and antiseptics to remove them. Prevention includes maintaining control over outdoor vegetation, wearing long clothing when outdoors and tick repellants.
Skin mites can affect just about anyone, but their attacks are rarely harmful or serious. Treatments are usually simple solutions and easy remedies. The key is to stay to on top of infections and to treat the infestations and anyone who may have come in contact with them until it is completely removed.