Did test with microscope...no demodex. Missing anything?

[galley]

I bought a basic microscope that was USB capable, but did not find the quality to be good enough. I then bought a higher end microscope and tested out the slides. I could see everything great a 40X, 100X, and 400X. So far so good.

So I "scraped" some sebum (which I have plenty of after a few hours) and put it directly onto the slide. I could see some very tiny flakes, especially at 100X, but nothing that even closely resembled demodex at both 40X and 100X. I repeated this, taking sebum from different areas of the face. Nothing. I then sandwiched the sebum between two glass plates and could even see it flowing very slowly, with the tiny flakes...but no demodex.

I then added some vegetable oil to the samples, and that only appeared to dilute things, but certainly no sebum.

Sooo...is that it, I just don't have any demodex? I guess that would not be such a bad thing.

[bayarea]

Hey,
Did you do the test before or after you started the treatment with demodex solutions' products?
I had the same experience like yours. I bought a microscope at ToysRus, scraped some sebum and saw nothing....did it twice and nothing. Yet I knew I had demodex becuase about 3 years ago I was tested in a lab and was found positive for demodex follicularum. That's how I heard about demodex for the first time.
I can't believe that somehow they leftmy skin in those 3 years becuase all my symptoms stayed and even got worse.
So the only explanation I told myself was that the test I did was either not good in itself, or that the microscope I bought wasn't compatible to the magnification needed, or that because my test was done already after a few days treatment with demodex solutions then maybe the demodex on my skin were dead already and therefore didn't show on the test.
In any case, I continued treating and I see improvement. I'm now 2.5 months into treatment. It's better but still far from cure, and I just have now 2 huge breakouts on my neck... I will keep on treating because these are the first products that actually show improvement, and maybe in the future it will come close to cure.
I hope this helps.

[galley]

Well, I tried several more times...and this time I found about 3 mites. They were pretty clear in the microscope and had 8 legs. Part of my problem was I had a lot dead skin that was coming off, making it very difficult to identify the mites. After I got some sample that were mostly sebum, it was easier to identify.

But after about 8 or so scrapes, I found only 3 mites. This seems like a pretty small concentration compared to other reports. What do you guys think?

[galley]

OK, so my new hobby is searching for demodex. It did two more samples after washing my face this time. I firmly squeezed the skin for several seconds to try to extract sebum. Some areas seem to have almost no sebum, while others have ample amounts. Bet after exfoliating a little, I got much cleaner samples.

On the first site, nothing...not a single mite. However, on the second....it was loaded with very active mites. It was really cool to see. It grosses some people out, but I think its really neat. I counted about 7-8 from one site. A couple of them were "dancing" with eachother. Maybe trying to mate?

Anyway...so neat stuff. Is there a way to permanently make a slide now? Since they are in the oil, I am not sure how to make a permanent slide of this.

[Walter]

Hello Galey

You remind me on my first searches for demodex mites on my own skin,
it also took a while before I found them and it was trilling seeing the first one,
once I knew, it was much more easy and I was looking for them every evening.
It is not always how many mites one has which is the problem, but how one reacts on them.
Somebody can have mites without any sign for a long time and suddenly get
a problem with them, just like with allergies.
What do you mean permanent slide?
I have no idea, for sure not in oil, after a day or so they disappear,
probably died and dissolved in the oil.

Walter

[changeswillcome]

OK, so my new hobby is searching for demodex. It did two more samples after washing my face this time. I firmly squeezed the skin for several seconds to try to extract sebum. Some areas seem to have almost no sebum, while others have ample amounts. Bet after exfoliating a little, I got much cleaner samples.

On the first site, nothing...not a single mite. However, on the second....it was loaded with very active mites. It was really cool to see. It grosses some people out, but I think its really neat. I counted about 7-8 from one site. A couple of them were "dancing" with eachother. Maybe trying to mate?

Anyway...so neat stuff. Is there a way to permanently make a slide now? Since they are in the oil, I am not sure how to make a permanent slide of this.

Ok, I am off to buy a microscope! Toys R Us? My son's has a terrible rash on his whole body AGAIN, and my daughter has on the backs of her legs. Doctor today said eczema and fungus. Im not buying that. I wasn't there at doctors office: their dad was, and forgot to ask for the skin test!

[BoneFish]

...so neat stuff. Is there a way to permanently make a slide now? Since they are in the oil, I am not sure how to make a permanent slide of this.

Im not sure what you mean because I got poor English, but could you just try to put camera in microscope lince and take a picture... ? Atleast it works in a bincoulars and camera..