Effective Demodex Treatment in Orange County, CA

Demodex Treatment

Why Treat Demodex?

Demodex in small numbers don’t necessarily need to be treated, but when they are present in large numbers (an overpopulation or an infestation) they can cause significant, irreparable damage to your eyelashes, eyelids, and the glands in your eyelids known as Meibomian glands.

This is why diagnosing and properly treating this condition early on is so important.

In addition, demodex can cause or exacerbate conditions such as dry eye, styes, chalazia, blepharitis, meibomian gland dysfunction, ocular rosacea, and rosacea involving your face.

Treating Demodex

There are two in office treatments that Dr. Austin can perform to facilitate the eradication of your mites:

1. A ZEST™ treatment is a comfortable in-office procedure performed by Dr. Austin using an ophthalmologist developed okra based eyelid cleanser to deep clean and exfoliate your eyelids and eyelashes. This procedure thoroughly removes the debris and other remnants of your Demodex mites, while clearing the biofilm* from your eyelids. The procedure lasts about 6 -8 minutes, is comfortable and effective.

Demodex

Demodex, prior to treatment

Demodex

After an in-office deep cleaning

2. Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatment has been shown to kill the mites on the eyelids margin.

In addition to the in office treatments above, all patients are given the following instructions for continued at home treatment:

Wash all sheets, pillow cases, and towels in hot water and dry with the “high” dryer setting.
Discard all pillows.
Discard all old makeup and refrain from wearing makeup until the mites are eradicated.
If you sleep with a partner, he or she must be evaluated for Demodex.
Purchase and use tea tree soap for your face, and tea tree shampoo for your hair.
Purchase wipes (towelettes) and foam containing Tea Tree oil and cleanse your eyelids twice each day using them.
- Cliradex Demodex Cleansers (4% terpinen-4-ol, an isolated component of tea tree oil): https://cliradex.com/

*A biofilm is a slimy, sticky film of bacteria that coats the surface of the eyelids. A biofilm is composed of a well-hydrated matrix of bacteria and their glycocalyx, a sugary coating that allows cells to adhere to and communicate with each other. The eyelid margin—with its moisture, nutrients and warmth—is the perfect environment to cultivate a thriving bacterial biofilm.

Xdemvy

3. Xdemvy

Demodex blepharitis—also known as DB—is an eyelid disease caused by an infestation of Demodex mites, a common mite found on humans.

It’s estimated that nearly 25 million eye care patients in the US are affected by
Symptoms of DB can easily be overlooked by patients due to symptom similarities with other eye diseases.
Common signs and symptoms of DB can include eyelid redness, crusties (collarettes), irritation, misdirected eyelashes, and inflammation.
Collarettes around the base of the eyelashes signal a DB condition.
When left untreated, DB can leave you more prone to other eye-related diseases.

XDEMVY Kills the Mites That Cause Demodex Blepharitis (DB)—With Twice-Daily Drops in Just Six Weeks