You Might Be Surprised By What You Find Living In Your Pores

No, not just bacteria! Rather, we are all host to very many tiny arachnids:

Many little friends

In 1841, German anatomist Jacob Henle found worm-like creatures in earwax under a microscope, later identified as arachnids—mites, which we have now called Demodex.

You may be wondering: how can worm-like creatures be arachnids? And, have you ever seen a scorpion curl up? It’s like that.

In any case, two species, Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis, live in human pores. Nearly everyone carries at least some hundreds, often thousands. In terms of life cycle, mites reach adulthood in about a week, then live for another week, and spend their time in pores or moving slowly across the face at night. A single pore can house a little community of about 14 mites.

Why “at night”? It’s because the mites respond to melatonin at dusk, becoming active at night to mate and lay eggs, as they lack UV protection, so that’s when it’s safer for them to do so.

• The good news is they’re generally harmless and are present in both healthy and inflamed skin. Problems only tend to arise when the immune system over- or under-reacts to them.
• The sad news is that mites have low genetic diversity due to limited breeding opportunities, which means they may face extinction soon.

So, let’s appreciate them while they’re here. And know that as you’re reading these words, you’re not alone—albeit your many little arachnid friends are probably mostly sleeping right now.

To learn more, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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Take care!