• NaevaTheRat [she/her]@vegantheoryclub.org
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    2 months ago

    Personally I find it pretty neat that as megafauna we are host to entire little ecosystems. It’s a calming thought to imagine yourself like some large tree, home to little families of various creatures, bacterial and fungal colonies growing on you. We are thoroughly integrated into the ecosystems in which we live.

    They’re not harmful, they’re just living their mitey little life.

    • Chadus_Maximus@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      I, personally, am wholly against most of my DNA existing solely it can replicate itself. So what if getting rid of it is more effort than keeping it? I want it gone from my body. Goddamn freeloaders…

  • perishthethought@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demodex

    My fave parts (edited for brevity):

    The adult mites are 0.3–0.4 mm (3⁄256–1⁄64 in) long. Each has a semitransparent, elongated body that consists of two fused parts. Eight short, segmented legs are attached to the first body segment. The body is covered with scales for anchoring itself in the hair follicle, and the mite has pin-like mouthparts for eating skin cells and oils that accumulate in the hair follicles.

    … and …

    The mites are transferred between hosts through contact with hair, eyebrows, and the sebaceous glands of the face.

    Ohhh good.

    • Maalus@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Wait, 0.3mm is huge, you should be able to see that. I don’t think this is right.

      • Krackalot@discuss.tchncs.de
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        2 months ago

        Agreed. 1/64th of an inch is .016". An average human hair is .003" in diameter, that would be as long as five hairs wide. You wouldn’t even need a magnifier to see the largest ones.

      • Robust Mirror@aussie.zone
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        2 months ago

        Combine the size with the fact that they are semi transparent and live in hair follicles and sebaceous glands, both of which are essentially under the skin, and that’s why you don’t generally see them.

    • Classy@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      3⁄256

      Please don’t let the Amish at my work know that such small increments of size exist. They’ll ask me to cut my trim to that level of tolerance

    • unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz
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      2 months ago

      This is why it’s okay to make out with randos at parties and such. You get mono for 6 months plus accretion of zillions of new friends.

  • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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    2 months ago

    Found out about these when I was a kid. I was thrilled. When I was very little, my mom owned a grooming shop, and I basically had 1 million pets. Then she closed down, and we just had our dog and a cat. Weird little 5 year old me loved the idea that I had thousands of little pets that’s slept on my face and came out to play while I slept

      • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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        2 months ago

        I will admit that since I’ve started wearing glasses, my eyes often burn really badly (I don’t know if they’re related or just weird timing), and I sometimes wonder if my little friends are pissed about the change and getting into my eyes. Lol

        • Juniper (she/her) 🫐@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 months ago

          You may be allergic to the metal (IIRC nickel) in normal metal glasses if that’s what you have. For people with that, which is common, titanium is the only metal kind that will work.

        • Kaity@leminal.space
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          2 months ago

          I figure you’d also have a rash if it was a sensitivity strong enough to make your eyes burn, but the only other things I could think of I feel you’d already have figured out… Not blinking enough cause no wind on your eyes to help trigger blinking, eyelashes getting in your eye, or eye fatigue from the correction and not taking breaks to look at something far away…

          • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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            2 months ago

            I wonder if the lenses are off gassing? They’re a type of plastic. But most likely I think I just have a face that the US would try to deliver democracy to if they found out about lmao

            • Kaity@leminal.space
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              2 months ago

              lmao that’s a funny way to put it. I honestly have no clue about outgassing, I’ve worn glasses my whole life and I don’t recall ever having issues. I also have no allergies or sensitivities whatsoever though. My partner is sure that it’s just eye strain or adjusting to the new “biome” of stale air you have for your eyes now, she just got a pair after needing them for years and she had a lot of trouble adjusting to them and still never wears them all the time.

              I never would have thought of burning as a way to describe it but I looked it up and apparently it is a fairly common concern if you never wore glasses and got a large prescription, the glasses focus the light in on your eyes and your eyes aren’t used to that. I actually do have trouble in daylight cause of my extreme prescription and never thought it could be possibly related to the glasses, I just thought it was that way due to my silver irides.

          • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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            2 months ago

            That’s interesting. I hadn’t really considered that. It really only happens towards the end of the day, I just assumed it was a buildup of oils/skin cells/daily detritus that isn’t getting either blown away by air, because the lenses are blocking it, or dried out for the same reason. They’re Zenni frames and lenses

            • Classy@sh.itjust.works
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              2 months ago

              Do you wear a belt? Do you develop a rash on your underbelly where it touches the buckle?

              Can you guess how I learned I was allergic to nickel?

              • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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                2 months ago

                Nope, no rashes that I’ve noticed. But I stopped wearing a belt last year. No good for my body shape. Lol. Swapped it for suspenders, so now I look like a simple country lawyer. Lmao

  • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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    2 months ago

    Little homies up in there cleaning things and living their best lives. I ain’t mad at that.

    Besides, all the yeast and bacteria maken good company for them, so it’s all good.

    • Cenotaph@mander.xyz
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      2 months ago

      Just make sure you wash your face still, otherwise they build up and cause problems