The subject line says it all — help! How on earth do I treat it there? Do I put the ivermectin cream in my hair?
Background info: I’m about 3 weeks into treatment with ivermectin cream (you guys call it soolantra). I just went through another wave off die-off and my face is looking terrible again (after significant improvement the past couple weeks). However, with this outbreak, the lesions are showing up in spots that weren’t affected before — like my head! What the heck is happening?
Ok, here’s my guess — does it sound right? When I started the cream, some of the demodex didn’t die, it moved outside of the area I was treating (i.e. from my face to my scalp) and continued to live there? Now, 3 weeks later, they’re dying their normal lifecycle death and causing lesions? Cause if that’s the case, they’ve already laid eggs there and there will be ANOTHER die off in that area and I’m still SO far from being rid of this
So. With what I’ve been going through with all of this I believe I have demodex mites because I was diagnosed with bluferitis (eyes) by an eye dr. And I believe I have fungal acne also. I found a website and found out that mustard seed powder kills demodex and their eggs in 50 seconds. I’ll attach the link. So when I noticed my scalp was itching I followed Toni’s tips and added my mustard mix to conditioner and put a plastic bag and hair towel and left it for a couple hours. It helps tremendously!!! You must follow her directions because mustard seed powder will BURN your skin if not done correctly.
Personally, when you just started with Soolantra (Rosiver), I would try to avoid anything that is aggressive to the skin, which includes things like salicylic acid, tea tree oil, face scrubs, alcohols etc. I think aggressive things can make the skin prone, which may increase the severity of breakouts. (Note that there isn’t much proof on this forum to support this idea.) Maybe also try to avoid using Sudocrem at this stage, it may block the effectiveness of Soolantra, and Sudocrem may also irritate the skin (even though it helped some people, including me).
I would stick to Soolantra and a moisturizer, and use a mild shampoo for the scalp. I would also try to avoid scratching it.
I did apply Soolantra on my scalp, but I cannot recall that others did it on this forum. But the effect of Soolantra is larger than only the area of application. So maybe the scalp problem will disappear when you only apply it to the face. If you want to apply it to the scalp, try it on a dampened scalp, so that it’s easier to spread. Another option would be to use a liquid version of ivermectine for animals, so that it’s easier to spread on the scalp. But I don’t know if this is safe to use for a long period, the skin may absorb ivermectin.
Thank you, Tso! I am using cerave SA cleanser at night — it has salicylic, but also ceramides in it. It doesn’t irritate my skin at all. I’ve also started retin-a again, since I read that it can help with demodex? I’m only using it every other night, and a very small amount, so I don’t have any irritation from that either. But other than those — yeah, just ivermectin cream and moisturizer. I gave up acids and all the other stuff I used to use when I started the ivermectin cream.
I ran out of my metronidazole-elidel cream about a week ago. Not using it correlated with my skin getting bad again, but I thought it was just a coincidence (especially bc I was at the 3 week mark). But now I’m starting to suspect it might be a factor, so I just called and asked for a refill. We’ll see!
In good news, my scalp doesn’t feel as sore today. It might have been a hair product I just started
Oh! I forgot to mention — I’m not using sudocream as of tonight. I didn’t realize it could interfere with ivermectin cream! I was smearing it all over my chin! Sigh! Thanks for the tip!
Tso and Misfit are experts in this so will give excellent advice but i know from my experience that the soolantra took a good 7-8 weeks to really get on top of things. When i used tea tree in conjunction it seemed to slow progress. I haven’t had an oozer in years but remember getting some on my scalp. I only ever put soolantra on my face.
This was the best advice — thank you! After I read this, I changed my routine and started using ONLY ivermectin cream at night (I stopped using all the other serums and moisturizers I was trying to use in addition to the ivermectin). AND I started using the proper dose of it! I read the insert and you’re supposed to use 5 pea sized blobs on your face (forehead, nose, chin, and each cheek). That was WAY more than I was using! So, I started doing that too.
It helped! The main part of my face that was really bad (lower left side) has started to clear! Sadly, it’s not completely clear — I still have ups and downs, but it’s better than it was. Also, I’ve started getting spots in other places. Like, further up on my cheeks. Sigh. I guess it takes a while to fully go away? I’m about 7/8 weeks in to treatment with ivermectin cream now.
Give it time. Honestly, my face was puffy and on fire for two weeks before I got better. Now, all I do is put a tiny dab on my finger and smear between my eyebrows and down the side of my nose. Each tube lasts 2 years. I have zero outbreaks
