Spiders cavort on your face every night!

(Credit: Power and Syred/SPL)

I’m a huge arachnophobe—to the point where I’ll stay awake all night throwing things at the wall in order to eradicate a spider from the greatest distance possible! So imagine my horror when I learned about the Demodex—a diminutive relative of the spider that lives and breeds on the human face! And not just any human face—but ALL human faces (yes, that means you!)

So this is a health story…kind of. It’s also the beginning of a multi-part expose’ on my frequent ponderings about parasites, in general. The subject of “parasites” came up last week during a conversation about taxes—actually, I said I felt like I was being sucked dry by a giant parasite (a common feeling, no doubt).

Apparently, I’m not the only one who sees the microcosm in the macrocosm, and vice versa, when it comes to parasites. For instance, Catherine Austin Fitts, a popular financial analyst, often refers to our global economic system as a giant tapeworm that feeds on people. I tend to agree with Fitts, but being an associative thinker I also notice parasitic similarities in other aspects of daily life, such as healthcare, banking, big business--and even intimate relationships.

While pondering parasites and parasitic behavior, I performed a few Google searches in order to gain a better understanding about what exactly a parasite is, according to the most popular definition. Apparently, there are three types of parasites: the ones that harm us, the ones that help us, and the ones that just hang out (but don’t usually do any harm).

Now, back to the Demodex (face mite):

(Credit: Eye of Science/SPL)

This creepy little critter lives its entire life feeding off glandular oil and skin cells on the human face. It actually lives inside our cavernous facial pores and hair follicles, sucking and scavenging for about 14 days, until it finally dies of gluttony.

However, before it meets its engorged death, the Demodex pleasures itself nightly by engaging in wild sex orgies…on your face! Yep, that’s right—while you sleep, as soon as the lights go out, the Demodex male climbs out of its hidey-hole (your facial pore) and spends the entire night cavorting with other female aspects of its ugliness.

Does your face feel a little grungy in the morning? Well, I guess that explains it!

As disgusting as this sounds, the Demodex doesn’t seem to do any harm under normal circumstances. There may be abnormally high infestations during human adolescence, when hormones produce an overabundance of facial oil (leading to nonstop Demodex feasting, and a subsequent population explosion), or during instances of immune system irregularity—but for the most part, the Demodex is in the parasite category of “the ones that just hang out (but don’t usually do any harm)”.

Although the Demodex may be opportunistic at times, its not harmful by nature—and therefore, in the strict sense of the word, its not truly a “parasite”—because by definition, a parasite is really only an entity that occupies or feeds off its host, always resulting in harm.

Can you get rid of Demodex mites? Nope, not for long anyway. You can scrub your face with abrasive cleansers, pay for expensive chemical peels, or even take prescribed medications to eradicate them—but they’ll be back! They lurk in every human face that you might kiss or get close to, and in any little bit of pillow, furnishing, or clothing that’s come in contact with humans. And apparently they’re quick to hop from one host to the next—especially if the new host is genetically similar to the old host.

If we could figure out a way to eradicate the Demodex completely, could humans live without them? Nobody’s sure. Demodex really don't seem to benefit us in any way—but they also don’t seem to harm us, as long as their population maintains a healthy balance.