Bird Mites
★★★★★
Here's a tip for my fellow mite suffers:
I've tried almost everything recommended on the "Mite Infestation Cures" thread but I recently found that CITRIC ACID on my skin is the best treatment for me so far for what is most likely bird mites ("invisible" skin mites - see below for a description): as efficient as vinegar and salt but without the bad smell and much, much cheaper.
BACKGROUND. I've noticed that citric acid is the key ingredient in various natural mite products, for example:
1. from http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1603/029.102.0422, where it says
"Both GC-Mite (cottonseed, clove, and garlic oil) and Bugzyme (citric acid) were most effective against the twospotted spider mite (≥90% mortality)."
and
2. An anti-mite product I bought for laundry treatment whose active Ingredients are simply Citric Acid 2.25%, Sodium Chloride (i.e. regular table salt) and 0.6%, Potassium Sorbate 0.06%. It also contains the inert (inactive) ingredients water, vinegar and salt. I tried this on my skin and it stopped the itching immediately (but temporarily - needs to be replied after a while). The product is called "Eradicator Laundry Treatment", but since I'm poor I had to resort to buying the ingredients separately (7 dollar's worth of Citric Acid makes more than 10 litres at 4% concentration).
I use a concentration of 3-4% citric acid in water, about 1% salt, and I also add a few drops of vinegar plus a few drops of a few essential oils. WARNING: Citric Acid is a skin irritant. I feel a burn from around 4% BUT my skin is not very sensitive (for example, I get no burns from mustard powder, which some people on this site had huge problems with). Yesterday, I used coconut oil instead of water (which is apparently one of the best oils for skin penetration), and found this to burn less. I will there for try higher concentrations too, and also try combining it with other oils, such as neem oil and tea tree oil.
To complete the list of what I've tried
- Almost every essential oil mentioned in the "Mite Infestation Cures" thread, including neem oil (limited success, but I will try higher concentrations)
- Kleen Green (almost zero impact on the itching)
- Mustard powder (some small success)
- MSM externally (reasonable success)
- diatomaceous earth externally (no success)
- MDM and diatomaceous earth internally (no improvement noticed after two weeks, but I think this may still be good long-term)
- vinegar and salt (as mentioned above): works as well as citric acid and salt, but impossible to use in public
NB: I measure success only in terms of immediate end to itching - I have no idea of impact on eggs.
Thanks everyone who has given mite advice earlier! Since different kind of mites may require different treatment, perhaps it would be helpful if all of you can explain your symptoms briefly. In my case, the mite symptoms are:
- they get into my ears and nose, are worst (most active) on eyebrows, eyelashes, lower legs and back.
- they are most active early morning and in the afternoon
- they become more active as soon as I lie still in the dark
- they sometimes bite but leave no marks
Finally, it's easy to lose all hope. But I get some comfort from the following thoughts:
Many posters seem to have found a solution. If this doesn't work for you, perhaps it's just a matter of trying for longer, and with higher concentrations. Also, this topic is still "new", with most posts just a few years old. As the problem becomes more known, more people will experiment with new solutions and eventually we'll hopefully hear about something revolutionary.
Jones
