Important reason hundreds of tiny parasites crawl all over your face while you sleep
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
For many, going to bed is the best time of the day, as you rest your eyes for an important day ahead.
And while many sleep experts talk about having that perfect environment for a good nights kip, you can take comfort in the fact that you're never truly alone when you're asleep.
Basically, dozens of eight-legged mites crawl on your face every single night, making for some unwanted visitors.
But thankfully, you cannot see or even feel these crawlers known as demodex mites, but rest assured they are everywhere on your body.
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The minuscule parasites live around the outer parts of hair follicles and find their oily contents extremely tasty.
Alejandra Perotti, a professor of invertebrate biology at the University of Reading in the UK, said: "While we are sleeping, they come out and are very happy, mating, visiting relatives, walking on our faces. The moment we wake up, they go back inside the pore."
While some of you may find that a little creepy, the expert went on to say there's not really anything to worry about, as per CNN.
Demodex mites clean out the gunk from your pores, and they can continue to do so because they have evolved to resist ultraviolet rays from the sun, which could damage their DNA.
In exchange for these mites emptying out gunk, the human body offers our melatonin, a hormone produced in the skin that helps us to sleep, but vitally, provides energy for the mites to thrive.
Sometimes these tiny parasites can cause issues, but there are actions you can take to avoid this.
US physician Dr Dan Friederich, who specialises in sharing tips on how to look after your eyes as well as other medical advice tips, provided the information in a viral video.
Dr Friederich revealed that he can often tell if a person allows their pet to sleep in the same bed as them due to the appearance of parasites in their eyelashes.
"There is a common mite called Demodex that we see in the eyelashes that is a parasite. And the minute I see it in someone's eyes, the first question I ask is, 'do you sleep with your dog at night?'," he explained.
There's a really common cause of parasites appearing in your eyelashes, as the health expert added: "Don't sleep with your animals if you can help it."