When your eyes are itchy, do you think that just rubbing them or putting in a few drops of eye drops will help?
But have you ever thought that the real cause of itchy eyes is that there is a kind of insect invisible to the naked eye that quietly crawls into your eyes, gathers around the roots of your eyelashes, and "gnaws" your eyelashes?
Xiao Zhang (pseudonym), who is in his early 20s, keeps a pet cat to keep him company. As a "cat slave", he "sucks the cat" every day and even eats and sleeps with the cat. After a period of time, Xiao Zhang found that his eyes were red, swollen, itchy and other symptoms, but he did not pay attention to it, thinking it was conjunctivitis, so he bought eye drops to instill.
Xiao Zhang’s eye redness, swelling and itching were relieved after instilling eye drops, but the symptoms recurred within a few days after stopping the medication. After dragging on intermittently for half a year, Xiao Zhang found that the symptoms of his eyes were not relieved, and he could even see things blurred. This frightened Xiao Zhang and he rushed to the hospital to seek treatment.
Dr. Bai Ying, deputy director of the Ophthalmology Department of Chengdu Sixth People's Hospital, received Xiao Zhang. Dr. Bai found that Xiao Zhang's eyelid margins were red, and even the whites of his eyes were abnormally red. Not only that, the cornea of Xiao Zhang is also different from that of normal people. The cornea of normal people is transparent, but the cornea of Xiao Zhang is like ground glass and looks like it is coated with a grayish-white substance.
In view of Xiao Zhang's various conditions, Dr. Bai carefully asked about Xiao Zhang's daily habits. When he learned that Xiao Zhang had a cat and had frequent close contact with cats, Dr. Bai asked Xiao Zhang to have a re-examination. After the examination, he discovered that Xiao Zhang's eyelashes were covered with mites.
According to Dr. Bai’s recollection, in most cases, a single eyelash was covered with 5 to 6 mites on Xiao Zhang’s eyelashes. It is estimated that Xiao Zhang's eyes were crawling with nearly a hundred mites.
In view of Xiao Zhang’s situation, Dr. Bai immediately applied medication to his eyes, and also used special equipment to clean out all the dirt, secretions, and mite excrement from the roots of his eyelashes and hair follicles.
This treatment seems simple, but it takes a long time. It requires standardized eyelid cleaning 1 to 2 times a week, and eye mite removal treatment that lasts for about 3 months. After treatment, Xiao Zhang's eyes have recovered after 3 months, he can see things clearly, and his visual acuity has returned from 4.1 to 5.0.
For our human eyes, eyelash mites are more likely to be infected. According to Dr. Bai's recollection, about one-tenth of the 100 patients she treated were infected with eyelash mites and subsequently required treatment.
It is understood that the mites that attack eyelashes are mainly Demodex, including Demodex folliculorum parasitizing the eyelash follicles and Demodex sebaceum parasitizing the sebaceous glands and meibomian glands. These mites can cause blepharitis, eye itching, dry eyes, foreign body sensation in the eyes, eyelid congestion, scales, trichiasis, and repeated loss of eyelashes. In severe cases, blurred vision, decreased vision, and even corneal ulcers and perforations can occur.
According to Dr. Bai, when the body "incurs" mites, it may be due to the following 6 major factors. Among these six factors, most Sichuan people account for at least two of them.
1. Spicy and greasy diet
When the diet is too greasy, and you like to eat spicy food, smoke and drink, it will cause excessive secretion of skin oil and provide rich food for mites, making it easier for them to survive and reproduce.
2. Cold and humid weather
Winter in Sichuan is relatively cold and humid. At this time, the temperature drops and the body's sebum secretion decreases, making the skin prone to dryness, roughness, scaling and even chapped skin.
Skin is the first barrier of the human body, just like a city wall, protecting our body from various physical and chemical stimuli as well as microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
When the barrier function of the skin's "city wall" is damaged, mites will more easily enter our bodies and stimulate our skin to produce allergic reactions.
3. Keep pets such as cats and dogs at home
For people who keep pets such as cats and dogs, cats and dogs themselves have more hair, which is conducive to the residence of mites. When people and cats and dogs come into close contact and do not pay attention to cleaning and disinfection, pets serve as parasitic hosts for mites and their owners can easily become infected with mites.
4. Makeup is not completely removed
It is worth mentioning that for people who often wear makeup, if eyeliner, mascara, etc. are used more frequently and the makeup is not removed cleanly enough, it is easy to clog hair follicles and attract mites.
5. Excessive secretion of skin oil
For people with oily skin, their hair follicles secrete more oil than people with dry or neutral skin, and they are more attracted to mites.
6. Plush toys are not clean
For people who like to play with plush toys, especially children, they must clean their plush toys regularly. If plush toys are not cleaned for a long time, mites can easily colonize them. When the human body comes into contact with a stuffed toy covered with mites for a long time, it is likely to become infected.