Fleshy Plugs Under Skin In Pores on Face

[M7166]

there is a spot on my nose that i've rubbed raw washing, trying to get these "things" out of my pores.  these are not whiteheads, nor blackheads.  these are clusters of white or fleshy hard and sticky plugs-- not filled with anything, but they stick straight out from the pores. They are not bumps.  If I rub the area w/ a towel they do not rub off at all.  I tried to remove one with tweezers, and it was very tacky (as in sticky)  and clearly goes deep under the skin.  Part of it broke off but I could still see that the pore was plugged and a day or two later top of the plug was sticking out again. i can't find ANYTHING online that looks like it.  

[PlugPlague]

Spent 8am to 7pm researching today. Where did it get me? The same place I was at the start of my research, lost, with multiple “maybes”.

I do not think it’s melassezia, candida, keratin, morgellons, etc.

My problem presents itself as a deep pimple or cystic acne usually on the chin, occasionally on the nose. It’s painful, kind of throbbing, sometimes warm to touch. WETHER OR NOT I mess with it does not matter. At some point the top layer of skin will come off  and I’m left with an open sore and behold...white “plugs” underneath. This sore WILL NOT go away until the plugs are removed! The sore will leak a clear or yellowish liquid sometimes. It can leak for over 24hrs. Sometimes the sore will have a honeycomb scab look to it, but this “scab” comes off with the slightest touch or movement. Like all others, dermatologist did not helped, I was labeled a picker with adult acne. This issue didn’t start until mid 20’s. I have tried many of the things listed and it does not help or offers minor temporary relief.

Here are the medications I take, as well as my routinely used face products:
Spironolactone 150mg
Tretinoin (small dot 3x a week)
Clindamycin (small dot every morning)
Ketoconazole Shampoo (used as face wash a few times a week)
And now Clotrimazole (foot antifungal, as needed during flairs....this does give me an itchy redness little rash if used too much, I has pretty sensitive skin)

I also use ****** Hydrating Face Wash, and La Rouche Posay Mositurizer. I try not to use anything near the affected area when I have an open flare up of the plugs.

I'm curious if we can all find a common factor?
Why do we all have this issue?
When did it start for you?
Do you find stress affects it for better or worst?
I think figuring out any common factors could help.
Has anyone had a cyst removed or broken bone?

Here is a list of top “maybes” from reading:
Discoid Lupus
Basal cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
Actinic Keratosis

And lastly my entire “maybe” list:
Tinea barbae
Staph epi
Impetigo
Staph infection/folliculitis
MRSA
Demodex
Localized cutaneous leishmaniasis
Parasites
Merkel cell carcinoma
Ring worm
Myiasis
•autoimmune?
HPV skin infection

I am currently sitting with tape on my face. Some property in duct tape brings out warts and this won’t hurt to try.

The first bit of information I ever found can be found at this link as well as photos of my issue. (Page 6 username Shoober)

https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/370396-tiny-white-plugs/page/6/

[ZenJen68]

Look up polyomavirus

[PlugPlague]

Spent 8am to 7pm researching today. Where did it get me? The same place I was at the start of my research, lost, with multiple “maybes”.

I do not think it’s melassezia, candida, keratin, morgellons, etc.

My problem presents itself as a deep pimple or cystic acne usually on the chin, occasionally on the nose. It’s painful, kind of throbbing, sometimes warm to touch. WETHER OR NOT I mess with it does not matter. At some point the top layer of skin will come off  and I’m left with an open sore and behold...white “plugs” underneath. This sore WILL NOT go away until the plugs are removed! The sore will leak a clear or yellowish liquid sometimes. It can leak for over 24hrs. Sometimes the sore will have a honeycomb scab look to it, but this “scab” comes off with the slightest touch or movement. Like all others, dermatologist did not helped, I was labeled a picker with adult acne. This issue didn’t start until mid 20’s. I have tried many of the things listed and it does not help or offers minor temporary relief.

Here are the medications I take, as well as my routinely used face products:
Spironolactone 150mg
Tretinoin (small dot 3x a week)
Clindamycin (small dot every morning)
Ketoconazole Shampoo (used as face wash a few times a week)
And now Clotrimazole (foot antifungal, as needed during flairs....this does give me an itchy redness little rash if used too much, I has pretty sensitive skin)

I also use ****** Hydrating Face Wash, and La Rouche Posay Mositurizer. I try not to use anything near the affected area when I have an open flare up of the plugs.

I'm curious if we can all find a common factor?
Why do we all have this issue?
When did it start for you?
Do you find stress affects it for better or worst?
I think figuring out any common factors could help.
Has anyone had a cyst removed or broken bone?

Here is a list of top “maybes” from reading:
Discoid Lupus
Basal cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
Actinic Keratosis

And lastly my entire “maybe” list:
Tinea barbae
Staph epi
Impetigo
Staph infection/folliculitis
MRSA
Demodex
Localized cutaneous leishmaniasis
Parasites
Merkel cell carcinoma
Ring worm
Myiasis
•autoimmune?
HPV skin infection

I am currently sitting with tape on my face. Some property in duct tape brings out warts and this won’t hurt to try.

The first bit of information I ever found can be found at this link as well as photos of my issue. (Page 6 username Shoober)

https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/370396-tiny-white-plugs/page/6/

[PlugPlague]

Spent 8am to 7pm researching today. Where did it get me? The same place I was at the start of my research, lost, with multiple “maybes”.

I do not think it’s melassezia, candida, keratin, morgellons, etc.

My problem presents itself as a deep pimple or cystic acne usually on the chin, occasionally on the nose. It’s painful, kind of throbbing, sometimes warm to touch. WETHER OR NOT I mess with it does not matter. At some point the top layer of skin will come off  and I’m left with an open sore and behold...white “plugs” underneath. This sore WILL NOT go away until the plugs are removed! The sore will leak a clear or yellowish liquid sometimes. It can leak for over 24hrs. Sometimes the sore will have a honeycomb scab look to it, but this “scab” comes off with the slightest touch or movement. Like all others, dermatologist did not helped, I was labeled a picker with adult acne. This issue didn’t start until mid 20’s. I have tried many of the things listed and it does not help or offers minor temporary relief.

Here are the medications I take, as well as my routinely used face products:
Spironolactone 150mg
Tretinoin (small dot 3x a week)
Clindamycin (small dot every morning)
Ketoconazole Shampoo (used as face wash a few times a week)
And now Clotrimazole (foot antifungal, as needed during flairs....this does give me an itchy redness little rash if used too much, I has pretty sensitive skin)

I also use ****** Hydrating Face Wash, and La Rouche Posay Mositurizer. I try not to use anything near the affected area when I have an open flare up of the plugs.

I'm curious if we can all find a common factor?
Why do we all have this issue?
When did it start for you?
Do you find stress affects it for better or worst?
I think figuring out any common factors could help.
Has anyone had a cyst removed or broken bone?

Here is a list of top “maybes” from reading:
Discoid Lupus
Basal cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
Actinic Keratosis

And lastly my entire “maybe” list:
Tinea barbae
Staph epi
Impetigo
Staph infection/folliculitis
MRSA
Demodex
Localized cutaneous leishmaniasis
Parasites
Merkel cell carcinoma
Ring worm
Myiasis
•autoimmune?
HPV skin infection

I am currently sitting with tape on my face. Some property in duct tape brings out warts and this won’t hurt to try.

The first bit of information I ever found can be found at this link as well as photos of my issue. (Page 6 username Shoober)

https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/370396-tiny-white-plugs/page/6/

[Hbanana22]

I started having this  same problem in my early twenties (I’m now 35) and through the process of elimination I discovered that these breakouts are triggered when I have dairy products with the exception of butter (because it is a fat). I believe that it is the proteins in the dairy causing the problem. I recently took an exlax stimulant to treat a stomach issue but did not realize that it had whey protein in it. I was soo angry. Going on 5 weeks and the last plug is out (I believe). Hope this helps someone.

[sugrbaybee]

havent had one of these in a few years then BAM this week I get what feels like a cystic acne pimple on my nose. Its red sore to the touch. I leave it a lone for a few days trying to dry it out with benzoyl peroxide it looks like its coming to a head (i see white) I squeeze it and white puss comes out but it still feels sore so I know there is still something there. The next day I squeeze again more puss comes out. it feels like its done but the next morning I wake up its sore again and then I see the white plug. All around the plug the top layer of skin is peeled off and the skin seems to close over it if I leave it alone. I squeezed it once more not hard but enough the plug started to peak out of my skin. I could have pulled it out but I have enough deep pitted scars on my nose so i decided to leave it alone. Im ging to leave it alone and keep it dry. Continuing my routine of  benzoyl peroxide and retin a and adding  alittle tea tree oil to the plug. Ive had a couple in the past I left a lone and they went away I just had to keep them dry its tempting to pick them though because they heal much faster when the plug is removed. I'll update make an update soon.

Also i found this forum where people have been describing the same issue
https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/370396-tiny-white-plugs/

[slickclick]

Steps to Remove Hard Callus w/ Fleshy Plugs under in Pores:
1. Soak the area in warm water; usually a nice long hot bath does well...
2. Tear off and remove the Callus surface to expose the deeper flesh area which often times the plug head can be seen...
3. Soak area in Hydrogen-peroxide this will cause the effected Callus area to turn to a soft dead skin white color and easier to remove from the body...
4. Apply Crushed Aspirin to the open wound & cover w/ Band-Aid...

Please note that I also used 2% Mupirocin Ointment for some time with slight results for my long term lesion; results really took place after the application of Aspirin to the open wound...

I repeated this Twice a day for about 3 weeks until all the Hard Callus area was gone and the wound felt and appears to be healing like a normal wound on my body does...

[teafan]

I too have suffered with the fleshy white plugs for decades and my complexion looks like the surface of the moon. :-( Then I saw a video linking this type of acne with a malfunctioning liver or kidney. I have since started drinking fresh celery juice first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and my face cleared right up! Type in "acne" and "liver" into a youtube search and go from there. The cause is happening on the inside of your body.

[BarbMcD]

Quite a complicated process I wish you all much success with the remedies you are trying.
I was wondering, while unusual for a woman, would carefully shaving your skin where these plus are help remove them?

[Ked1324]

Mine is Morgellons due to chronic Lyme disease. Morgellons is very real, despite the awful stigma. I’m typically a total skeptic and was in denial for a long time. Dapsone topical works very well. Oral dapsone works even better but good luck trying to get it. The goal with morgellons is to get treatment, not to convince a doctor that you have it. Yes, you must lie.

[GISGRL]

I also have Morgellons disease. I go to a LLMD. I am getting better slowly. I will ask him about dapsone. I haven't used it yet. I have been using tinactin 1/2 powder, 1/2 cream mixed on my sores to dry them up, and it has been working so far.

[Imnotcrazyeither]

I have followed this topic for a few years and have been through much the same as everyone else with the white stretchy plugs, many doctors and three different dermatologists and go nowhere.  I finally figured it out.  The spots came when I started taking pain medication.  I never put the two together (for 10 years), but once I got off my pain meds, the spots went away and never came back.  I had an allergic reaction.  Not one medical professional even mentioned that as a cause.  It may not be pain meds for you, but look at what you are taking and see if it fits the pattern/timeframe of the horrible sores.  This is the first time in 10 years I have been sore free and it is going on 6 months without a single sore.

[Imnotcrazyeither]

And I should add that I tried most of the treatments mentioned in this thread...treated for demodex, prescription acne products, antibiotics, collidial silver, athletes foot cream, you name it, I tried it.  It may not even be the main ingredient in what you are taking, it could just be a non active ingredient, but definitely an allergy.  Good luck to everyone!

[GISGRL]

Did your pain medicine have steroids in it?

[Imnotcrazyeither]

No steroids.

[Sumtinwitty]

Malassezia.  After 22 years of trying every cream and ointment under the sun, getting away from soap was the key.  The oil left behind was feeding the Malassezia. No food, no Malassezia, no sores. Baking soda is my soap alternate. It works great on body and laundry. Figuring out my allergy helped with the last stubborn spots. It can be fixed!

[Sumtinwitty]

Oh.  And zinc oxide helps the sores heal faster.

[Ked1324]

Yep. This is my current affliction also. No need for me to describe it because if you have it you’re already very aware of the horrendous symptoms. I’ve used Retinol with success. I believe it could potentially be eruptive vellus hair cysts or some form of trichomycosis (which would be fungal related. I mentioned the vellus hair thing because I have literally found dark hairs embedded in these lesions...on rare occasion even close to the surface of my skin like right under the outermost layer, as I could see them and upon trying to pluck it realized it was UNDER the skin and not sticking out of the skin like a normal hair. I’ve spent so much money and so much time researching this, meanwhile my poor face looks destroyed. I have a dermatology appointment tomorrow, which I’m dreading, because I know they are going to say it’s acne and tell me to stop picking and prescribe yet another antibiotic that won’t work. But as I said in the beginning, I used a Retinol serum for the first time last night and I could not believe the improvement in the lesions. And the parts of my face that are not affected by this crap looked glowing. So I’m gonna continue to use it and hope for the best. Maybe I’ll order some silver stuff too, since people seem to have had success with that.

[Rachy721]

I have this exactly and the best remedy by far is Prosacea and Nystatin. Don't take any more antibiotics. It's definitely fungal.

[GISGRL]

Look up Morgellons disease. Research shows a link to Lyme disease. You might also look into Fry labratorys Funnelformis mosseae testing

[SA7119]

I used tea tree oil a couple of weeks ago
and had a horrible reaction!
Last night I read a post on another board from someone that has Demodex and was alarmed
both my husband and I put Listerine in our hair hoping to make sure these
things were gone and sure enough they aren’t! I am going to keep at it but I was up much of the night itching! When Demodex move around ( on your face for example) you can feel them. - like a faint rustling of the tiny hair ( I’m guess it’s hair follicles) on your face.

[SA7119]

I should have said with regard to the post I read last night , “ a person I think has Demodex.”

[Itchysrus]

I thought i had demodex infestation.. its actually pinworms or threadworms.. and had all these symptoms... and they get into ur hair :( become tinus cappitis or something... worth a look?

[SA7119]

Just wanted to say, today was the first day ( and last night ) I used a creme on my face ( and not Ascend ( kills Demodex) ). And, sure enough the biofilm is slightly trying to return. So back to Ascend. But , I haven’t stopped and won’t stop going to the infrared sauna for quite awhile.

[SA7119]

Take whatever approach works for you. I utilized the methods I posted and mine is gone within 2 months.

[LittleRainstorms]

Also, I think that some of us complicate our initial presentation because we over treat, excoriate, mess with our skin. So it makes it hard for a dermatologist to diagnose the underlying inflammatory process that we begin with.Yes these plugs form in inflamed lesions. But you have to get an accurate diagnosis of the inflammatory process you have to begin with, and you won't get one if you present to the Derm with a bunch of excoriated lesions and a bag full of "specimens".  I know it's hard, but I seriously recommend booking a Derm appointment like 1-2 months out and committing to going hands off with your skin for the time you're waiting to be seen. Use next to nothing for that time period and don't screw with breakouts you do get. This will at least allow a dermatologist to assess the presentation and treat you correctly. If you're throwing a million things like tea tree oil and oil of whatever and all kinds of acids at your skin and tweezing out all your lesions, you're creating secondary clinical signs that will obscure a correct diagnosis. I know this is easier said than done, but I am dealing with horrendous scarring caused by over treating my skin, extracting and excoriating and I wish I had just taken a big deep breathe and left it to professionals. And quit looking in the magnified mirror, its literally just going to drive you insane and you end up micro injuring your skin and introducing more potential for infection.

[jamhead]

have u ever had one of those plugs turn into a crystal or glassy looking plug that was very sharp until it came out of the skin and within a minute it turns soft?  also when I have a white plug that gets stuck like its wrapped in ingrown hair or what not I tend to bleed a lot n the blood is very think like grape jelly with some debris in it and a lot colder than fresh blood? the reason I ask is I have cirrhosis of liver n my blood is starting to get ****** and im bout to go from stage 2 to stage 3 cirrhosis

[Itchysrus]

Threadworms?

[LittleRainstorms]

I have dealt with the sores complicated by these little annoying white plugs for a while. My theory is this. And no, you nut cases playing on fear and toting anti parasitic drugs and snake oil- this isn't some sort of parasite or microscopic worm or rare bacterial disease. These claims are honestly outrageous. Listen up.

This is an issue of keratinization gone awry due to inflammation.

The initial skin lesion can be triggered by anything, in my case it's just usually a deep pimple or superficial injury or irritation to the skin. If you're a picker, which i admittedly am, we sometimes cause extra inflammation by manipulating our pores, and in some cases increasing the bacterial burden our inflammatory response then has to grapple with. The area becomes very inflamed, and the processes normally called on in response to wounding are unable to work effectively, causing the follicles which are normally moving and depositing keratin and sebum through the layers of skin to become ruptured, constricted or otherwise messed up.

If you have a tendency toward keratosis pilaris, you might have a genetic tendency for an extra wonky keratin production and clearance pattern at work in your body- further complicating matters. If you have a hyperactive inflammatory response, someone who's prone to over the top immune responses- histamine and mast cell hyper activity, you have a double whammy.  This is why drugs for rosacea and some anti biotics and even antifungals can be helpful, they reduce flora and organisms that are revving up your inflammatory response. Most of the time you don't actually have a full blown bacterial/fungal/demodex problem-youre just colonized like everyone else but have an immune system that finds it extra freaky!

These white plugs are almost assuredly keratin/immature villus hairs/perforated follicles/trapped cells . Think of them as a sort of ingrown hair of sorts, but on a much much smaller scale.

So this keratin is backed up, maybe altered due to gene expressions being screwed up by inflammation. The result is a foreign body inflammatory reaction to the excess of altered keratin being trapped inside the inflamed dermal site. Keratin, a substance normally used to provide strength and waterproofing to the skin, ends up inciting a foreign body auto immune response, and our bodies suck at healing when inflammation and cellular organization are coalescing in a screwed up way.

The extraction of these white plugs definitely gives some amount of relief because i suspect they are in a sense deterring the healing process by hanging out trapped like a splinter, but the process of extracting something so tiny inevitably leads to more local inflammation, thus the domino effect of more plugs, more inflammation, slow healing etc.

My approach is moving away from mechanical extraction via tweezers-you end up with so much scarring doing this. Focus on preventing inflamed sores  to begin. Whatever is causing this starts with a simple skin lesion, could be acne, impetigo, contact dermatitis, rosacea. Figure that out first and then commit to no messing with any sores you do get. Minimizing inflammation is crucial and you have to avoid injury to the skin that inevitably happens with picking, squeezing, tweezing. Keratin production gets ramped up and faulty when the body experiences chronic or overwhelming inflammation-conditions like psoriasis, eczema, discoid lupus, cutaneous lupus, lichen planus all show keratinization problems. This is because inflammation leads to a keratin process gone awry.

This kind of sucks in a sense, because you can't de-keratinize your entire system, you need keratin to build connective tissues and other important structures. Avoiding biotin is helpful in terms of preventing over production, so if you're taking a hair skin and nail vitamin i suggest avoiding that. Vitamin A, Zinc and Vit C will help overall with boosting healthy cellular clearance/regeneration. Antioxidant amino acids can also help. Anecdotally, sweating seems to help clear our dead cells and keratin, so exercise and get sweaty if you're able, it will also increase blood flow and help lymph drainage.

This also seems to disproportionately effect parts of the skin with a lot of hair and oil follicles, so if you have the means, maybe laser hair removal might help. But the bottom line is, these plugs are made by our own bodies and they're malfunctioning and interfering with healing because of inflammation. Hope this helps, sorry theres no magic "take this bizarre veterinary medicine and see instant results!" pill for this. But i think it helps to understand whats happening, so you can rationally work on it

[razzina]

Wow ! this was by far the best logical explanation of what’s happening in the skin that I read anywhere so far, and it makes so much sense. You can find a lot of dumb speculation on the internet, but this is straight up like from a dermatology book. Thanks!

[LittleRainstorms]

I'm glad and truly hope it helps others dealing with this. After years of agony and confusion about this, losing an entire summer having reconstructive surgery to close a gaping wound I created trying to tweeze "mystery plugs" out of a sore on my forehead, being scared half to death reading all the pseudoscience/hysterical theories from people who do not actually understand science going on about parasites and biofilms- all before finally realizing my Nurse Practitioner sister had left her immunology, derm and genetics books from her grad school days at our families house.  Cracking a couple books made it a lot less mysterious! Science rules :-) <33

[raeganlady]

Thank you for posting this information!!

[Julljul]

I am tottaly agree with all this info. I suggest to use antigungal treatments- because then you have wounds and years of antibacterial treatment you should have for 100%  fungal infection too and some sulfur and zink treatment too- it will make production of sebum less so any infection will have less ,, food,,. But - in Russia ( i am from russia) in discussions on this problem we just started to think that skin immunity ( and immune system in general) can be affected by intestinal parasites- (most likely ascaris lumbricoides) so I highly suggest to make Igg ascaris test ( or at least to start from general IgE and eosinophils- normally they are high then you have parasite infection). And I repeat- that what we have in skin- it is not any skin parasites- it is some wrong ( allergic) reaction probably on intestinal parasites and for sure on pickings! Skin is trying to close pores, blood vessels from infection , but people are  ruining this. More you pickle- more you have these white things!

[ReelLife]

Wow thankyou so much I’ve been to2 hospitals and 3  dermatologists nothing seems to be working and these wounds I keep “tweezing” obviously won’t heal. But I can’t figire out what these hard black head looking things are in all of my open (wounds) they are hard and almost always have a lump under them in the skin. Btw this is all over my neck, face, and shoulders. Now 3 months later I’ve forced myself to stop picking its starting to heal but even with the scab just about gone I have hard lumps under my skin around my lips and if I push on it the skin crunches and rips away from the area revealing a nasty hole under my skin any ideas ?

[GISGRL]

Look up Morgellons disease, which research is showing is connected to Lyme disease.

[Noelle82]

Parasites are in fact very common! Where do you think inflammation comes from in the first place? Bacteria, fungus, parasites and virus.!

Demodex mites are very common. Almost all adults have them, and often the cause of rosacea and adult acne.

They can be seen under a microscope and comes up from the follicles during the night and have sex on your face !

And yes you CAN get them from your dog, and/or your boyfriend/girlfriend, towlesl, etc
Same goes for mange scabies and Cheyletiella.
Also lice and various strongyles can affect human skin/hair.
Many different microscopic critters crawling on you all right now!

When the immune system goes out of balance they reproduce faster and create trouble.

Treatment: ivermectin, fenbendazole , tea tree oil, borax, hydrogen peroxide and enzyme peels/ solutions amongs many.
Diet change is always key

These are Facts

Good luck

[LittleRainstorms]

@ Noelle: I never said parasites don't exist, but the parasites and inflammatory rashes you mentioned, like scabies and lice have very specific and recognizable clinical presentations, as does rosacea, none of which present the chronic/slow healing wounds people are describing.

for those of us living in first world countries and not suffering from significant immu suppression(IE HIV, neutropenia from chemo therapy) and lucky to live in adequate sanitary conditions, toting fear about parasites crawling around on people is irresponsible and borders on absurd, as is recommending people treat themselves with drugs like ivermectin unless diagnosed by a dermatologist with the need to do so. i am not denying that our skin is colonized with a variety of different things, but most of the organisms on our bodies are entirely harmless, youre playing on peoples fear and misunderstanding

If you re read my posts, I mentioned initial inflammatory spots can be caused by a variety of things: staph, cystic acne, rosacea etc and avoiding further manipulation of these lesions allows a dermatologist to assess and treat accordingly.

[LittleRainstorms]

@reel life: glad the majority of spots have resolved :-) scar tissue under the skin feels hard/stiff while being less elastic and strong than regular unwounded scar free skin. my advice is stop pushing on the area and utilize gentle scar treatments. keep skin moisturized and avoid squeezing spots and reopening scar tissue which will only create more of the same.

[SA7119]

I have researched Demodex extensively and have learned from some very helpful information throughout the web on how I can kill this parasite that apparently slowly robs your skin and hair of its youth, BUT NO ONE, not a single physician, researcher, no patient mentioned how to rid oneself of the horrid biofilm except the user on this site Feenfeen. I do not join sites, discussions, blogs, but joined hoping to find Feenfeen. Everyone read his input, find an infrared sauna( get in DAILY), there are so many things I could say. Last night I was able to sleep through the night for the first time in awhile with the sulfur based creme ASCEND. I use a high end probiotic. Several things, but fight with all you can. These things are the kiss of death as far as I’m concerned!!!!
I got this parasite during a high stress time at work. I would also like to understand why people have such a hard time ridding their home of Demodex. These things are said to die within HOURS off their human host and eggs can’t readily be laid off host well enough live off host. So why can’t people rid their homes of them?? As well, I would like to learn more from Feenfeen as his/her research is very unique. A side note, there are so many sources that say everyone has Demodex, but I found one piece of literature written by a physician that clearly stated NO amount of Demodex is acceptable and to strive to eradicate all of them!
I do have one more question, lots of conflicting research on whether we can get Demodex from our dogs. Most say, no, but found a proven case from physicians with photos of canine type Demodex from a mange ridden dog. As well, we have begun spraying our dog daily with Listerine ( old Amber color ) and water half and half mixture. He doesn’t seem to mind it and he is scratching less as well.

[GISGRL]

It might be Morgellons. Have someone look at the area with a 60 x handheld microscope. They Are very cheap on Amazon ( $5.00). Have them look for filaments. They can be black, white, red, blue or other colors. You may want to. Heck other areas of your body also, since the filaments can occur in unbroken skin. The discovery of these filaments indicate an underlying borrelia burgdorferi infection which causes Lyme Disease. If you do find the filaments,  I would suggest getting tested for Lyme Disease, but with the knowledge that the testing is very unreliable, and should be diagnosed by Lyme litterate MD.  Here is a link to give you information from a reliable source on Morgellons Disease. There are is a lot of misinformation on the subject, as well as a lot of ignorant  people out there. I hope you do not have  Morgellons, but if you do, it can be treated, and it is not as bizarre as it seems. It is a part of Chronic Lyme Disease, and coinfections.

[Circuspunk]

It's called a milia or milium plural. Look it up.

[AnTMaNUK]

It's not milia, that's something different to what's going on here. These white rubbery masses are rooted and have a different consistency to milia.

[Feenfeen]

1. MICROSCOPE instead of spending money on doctors appointments save yourself the trouble and just buy a microscope. You can do a skin scraping and see for yourself if it’s dermodex, staph, fungus. Easy. I do it in my college bio classes all the time with a old compound microscope. (You can also use it to check if products are killing them)

2. BIOFILMS.
Tough microbes colonies have a protective coating. Dermotologist don’t even talk about this... though it’s basic microbiology (I hypothesize this is what these plugs are made of, whether your suffering from fungi or bacteria or dermodex)

So a product did not working for you like it did others?
-Did you remove the biofilm with another product first? Otherwise you aren’t
touching the bacteria or fungi you want to fight.

Did a product work a while and then seem to build resistance?
-It didn’t build resistance it just rebuilt its biofilm
remove it and the product should work again

Fighting skin conditions is a 2 INGREDIENT PROCESS. The recommendeds product I’ve been seeing on here are wasted unless you combine them. You need
Step 1) a biofilm remover
Step 2) a fungal or bacteria fighter.

It’s surprisingly not common knowledge that you
must remove the biofilm before you can fight stubborn skin (and stomach) conditions. Not much scientific research on this most info can be found on other skin forums/blogs.

Many people (like myself) have seen great results with xylitol. (I use it as a scrub in the shower) Garlic, Manuka Honey, apple cider vinegar, and Aloe also help remove or prevent build up. Trial and error depending on what you are dealing with. I personally find dermarolling beforehand helps products penetrate this layer. (maybe you could use acupuncture needles on individual sores)

Good luck!

[Feenfeen]

Please ignore all the spelling errors. I’m having issues with the sites text box.

[Feenfeen]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.zmescience.com/science/what-are-biofilms/amp/?source=images

A link with some basic info about biofilms !

[SA7119]

Hello, I would like to ask some questions regarding your knowledge on Demodex mites. Is this possible? Thank you!

[Feenfeen]

Whatever the cause of this ....You’re products are useless and your skin appears to build resistance to them because they have a tough biofilm barrier. This stuff can even prevent diagnosis.  Got to remove the biofilm before you can fight the fungus or bacteria etc. idk why no one knows about this or researches it. BP not working,  well ya got to remove the biofilm or it isn’t touching the bacteria. Sulfur not working ? Remove the biofilm first... antifungal not working... remove the biofilm then apply it and just might. If you get confusing results from products this might be why. Xylitol seems to wor well for me. I just mix a little in some of my products. Garlic and aloe also do an alright job.

[provitom]

So FeenFeen, were you suggesting to put these on the lesions?

[Feenfeen]

Whatever you’ve already been using but make sure to you use a biofilm destroying product thours before. Like apply aloe all night and then in the morning shower and apply whatever product was supposed to help.

[Feenfeen]

Sorry I posted a second comment that makes more sense. I’m having major problems with the sites comment box!

[Feenfeen]

Some things could potentially irritate lesions. I’m talking of more of a preventative measure. But some users were saying garlic or honey helped and the reason for this is probably because they help penetrate these films. So using honey on your skin for a while then applying something like tea tree oil In theory should work better than using the products separately!

[dennide]

Sounds like mites.

[NK227]

I began supplementing with iodine after reading a book: Iodine : Why You Need It, Why You Cant Live Without It. And approximately after 3 months all sores healed, and new ones stopped occurring. I cant say for sure that iodine deficiency causes our problem, but after reading tons and tons of research articles on iodine, I think it is quite possible. It is the first time in 7 years my skin looks decent without any hardcore antibiotics, accutane, antifungals, or other poisons that we all put inside trying to fix this ****.

[Btaki]

I have suffered with hard cysts on my face, some on my back. They start out as smooth round bumps then turn into what many people here are describing. Over a year ago I remember I pulled a white long rubbery tube through a pore in my nose but never knew what it was.  Before my lesions appeared I had some minor stomach troubles that would come and go. Just recently I discovered I maybe I am infected with tapeworm from eating the eggs from either sashimi or under cooked beef or pork. I am waiting to get a colonoscopy and endoscopy.The tapeworm larvae can migrate to other parts of the body other wise known as cysticercosis. Also another possible culprit maybe filariasis  from flea or mosquito. Seems to me these parasitic worms are getting more common.  So to keep it short if you have some even minor digestive issues research tapeworm and hopefully it may help your condition.  Good Luck

[Trixny]

Are you taking it orally or topically?

[NK227]

Orally, 200 mcg of Iodomarine (potassium iodide) in the morning. Sometimes during first 3 months I tried to take Iodoral 6mg (half of a 12 mg tablet), but it gave me heart palpitations, so that i decided to stick with lower doses. Now however, after 6 months of 200 mcg/day Iodomarine supplementation, I can take Iodoral full dose 12 mg without side effects. I take Iodoral may be once a week, or once in two weeks. But read a book first, it's available for free somewhere on the internet.

[nw2this]

I put castor oil on my face, then I apply a steaming wash cloth 4 or 5 times wiping off the oil off on the last application. this coaxes them out but not all the way. Your pores feel much clearer, but looking closely at your skin in the mirror after doing this shows that every pore on your face even the small ones has something white poking out of it.    

do any of you also have toenail fungus? I'm wondering if the conditions are related.