MITES - some info

[The Snark]

@HooahArmy You're up here. Genius please.
Why can mites be a permanent problem?

I've got a mite infestation around my eyes. Demodex. They live in hair follicles. They can be easily killed in humans, with only minor torment. Tea Tree Oil, the pure variety, rubbed vigorously into the skin kills them in minutes.
The problem is, when I feel the itch again, in two to three weeks, the itch is from mature mites that have already bred and laid eggs. So wash, rinse repeat ad infinitum.
And a little extra problem, Tea Tree Oil vapors are highly irritating to the eyes. And VERY irritating if the stuff actually comes in contact with the eyeball.

I mention this because Demodex is a classic mite. It doesn't do any serious harm, but usually causes intense itching or in invertebrates, various discomforts. Many basically harmless mites follow the exact same life cycle.

Okay @HooahArmy A nice friendly preferably non toxic chemical with a rock bottom floor of hell specific gravity that interrupts the mite life cycle. Maybe something like Equitrol that we feed horses that sterilizes flies when they feed on the horse poop.

 

[sparticus]

Can you get ahold of fluralaner (isoxazoline family)? Probably not safe for spiders. Great for mammalian usage. Problematically spiders and mites are real close relatives, so safe for spiders but bad for mites is hard to come by.

 

[The Snark]

so safe for spiders but bad for mites is hard to come by.

That's the problem. Mites are often much hardier than spiders, and far more prolific.

@HooahArmy It seems fluralaner needs to be injested. Got any data on it?

 

[HooahArmy]

Howdy there! I needed to ask a few critter-savvy friends before I could answer this one and received information from an actual doctor who understands mites. Thank you, Dr. Srinivasaraghavan! (Yes, I can pronounce his name correctly)
Demodex mite infestations are easy to treat through a number of ways; it is just a less common problem. There are special eye-friendly formulations of anti-mite medications that can be acquired from the right doctors. These include metronidazole, ivermectin, or permethrin and work to kill mites and their eggs. Anything over-the-counter for bodily use or for pets is not recommended, especially around the sensitive eye area. Tea tree oil can damage the eyes as an oil and an irritant.
Treating an eye-area mite infection will usually need a triple-whammy of medications. The metronidazole, ivermectin, or permethrin kills; an oral and/or eye antibiotic will help soothe any infections caused by itching or mite damage; and an additional set of eye drops may be prescribed to help with eye irritation. A demodex mite battle is serious business, especially around the eye area, so this is best left for the pros. Let me know what you hear from some docs. They may run some tests to confirm it's mites or possibly mites and something else.

Fluralaner is for fuzzy pets and has not been licensed or tested for human use, so it is not recommended, especially for human-clinging mites.

 

[The Snark]

@HooahArmy Thanks. Already been the Ivermectin and permethrin route. No dice. Itch returns in about a week. According to the docs, Ivermectin is out as hair follicles don't have enough profusion. Why you can pull your hair out and not bleed. And that's why I mentioned the specific gravity. I've almost rubbed my face raw with permehtrin. By itself some itches go completely unaffacted.
2 months IV flagyl and augmentin for systemic infection left me hyper allergic to both. Trust me, you don't want a classic penicillin allergy. Made my poison oak 2 week brush clearing romp feel like a very minor skin irritation.

 

[sparticus]

That sounds awful. Some people have had luck with just petroleum jelly or petrolium based topical ophthalmic ointment and oxygen depriving them. I also found an FDA approved opthalmic drop in the same family as fluralaner that might be worth investigating. https://www.aao.org/education/editors-choice/lotilaner-drops-show-clinical-significance-treatin

 

[HooahArmy]

@HooahArmy Thanks. Already been the Ivermectin and permethrin route. No dice. Itch returns in about a week. According to the docs, Ivermectin is out as hair follicles don't have enough profusion. Why you can pull your hair out and not bleed. And that's why I mentioned the specific gravity. I've almost rubbed my face raw with permehtrin. By itself some itches go completely unaffacted.
2 months IV flagyl and augmentin for systemic infection left me hyper allergic to both. Trust me, you don't want a classic penicillin allergy. Made my poison oak 2 week brush clearing romp feel like a very minor skin irritation.

Oh my, that's rough! Has a doctor been able to confirm that it absolutely is the mites? You might need to see a specialist dermatologist at this point! Goodness gracious!
The doc I know, Dr. Srinivasaraghavan, is only a clinical military doctor and does not have the deeper knowedge to offer more advice. He messaged me back today with a suggestion of augmentin, yet I saw in your post that the stuff is not an option for you. I hope you have an appointment planned soon or can plan one as soon as you can. I can't imagine what a dreadful time you are going through! Keep the board posted!

 

[The Snark]

Dr. Srinivasaraghavan

That name tells an eloquent story of the persons heritage. I don't speak enough Hindi to fathom it.

Demodex was suspect until a surgeon weighed in with suggestions of certain surgical tapes. The dermatologist being a rote only in it for the money uninspired sort. A certain tape applied to suspect areas for a week snared a couple of the buggers a microscope confirmed. In part it's my fault as I'm a compulsive dog cuddler and just about every dog in this country has mange.

But the major piss off. Our attic eaves had a lot of leaks and got birds nests. The local squirrels also had a nest there. So from the rats around here to the squirrels, into the attic to infest the bird nests then eventually the bird nests abandoned for the year and the mites went swarming. One nest in the eaves a foot from my window which I sit next to.
You should have no problem identifying the species. Ivermectin for two months and I don't know how many bottles of permethrin. It took me a month of sleuthing to figure out the vector route and we had the workmen in and completely refurbished roof and eaves.
After I finally won Tea Tree Oil was brought to my attention.
Got somebody who you really want to do dirt? Give them a cute and cuddly puppy with scabies.

 

[HooahArmy]

Got somebody who you really want to do dirt? Give them a cute and cuddly puppy with scabies.

My estranged brother once had scabies. All I did was point and laugh.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

My estranged brother once had scabies. All I did was point and laugh.

It’s not funny! I had scabies once as a teenager and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I still remember the intense combination of burning, itching, and stinging all over my body from those little buggers dying in my skin as the permethrin infused topical ointment took effect.

 

[HooahArmy]

It’s not funny! I had scabies once as a teenager and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I still remember the intense combination of burning, itching, and stinging all over my body from those little buggers dying in my skin as the permethrin infused topical ointment took effect.

It is funny when this is a person who beat up my mother.

 

[sparticus]

Good news, they're moving toward human approval for the other isoxazoline's, but it's not the cash cow that US pet preventative care is to drug companies, so I'm assuming it gets lower priority. And it was already a long, slow process to begin with. https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/aac.02334-17

 

[The Snark]

I still remember the intense combination of burning, itching, and stinging all over my body from those little buggers dying in my skin as the permethrin infused topical ointment took effect.

Clove oil helps there. Topical anesthetic and kills staph. Just put up with going around smelling like an exotic confection.

 

[The Snark]

My enclosure/containment/spiders have mites!

Let's just clarify something. A correction. Your mites have spiders. On the arachnid scale, the mite orders are much MUCH older than any spider present today. Mites are far hardier. Mites tolerate a far greater range of environments. And they are a magnitude more prolific.
So your mites are logically the dominant species in your terrarium. Your spiders are recently introduced interlopers.

 

[TheraMygale]

I don’t think i understand now.

do your eyes have mites, or your tarantulas.

do you have tarantulas at the moment?

 

[The Snark]

do you have tarantulas at the moment?

They all seem to have moved out since my fanatical draconian monster partner took over the landscaping and turned it into the semblance of a garden. There are a couple of active holes but I suspect they are just the patrol zones of an O. Hannah. Which she got pissed off about and had me shoo it into the river a couple of weeks ago.
I'm not complaining. The garden is thriving and lovely while under my care it was more along the lines of an abandoned demilitarized zone. I'm the son of a gardener and th powers of the universe have dictated gardeners sons can barely get moid to grow on shower curtains. Forget flower beds and papaya trees