Does demodex treatment need to be continuous?

[Nik89]

I was using ZZ cream for 6 weeks but had to take a 10 day break. I'm wondering how far I've set myself back. Would it be like starting from the beginning?

As a side note, I'm also wondering if ZZ cream has made anyone else's skin look ridiculously greasy (the cream is certainly drying in itself). It's as if no matter how hard I try a layer of the cream remains after I have washed it off in the morning. I may have fewer P&P's and less redness but my skin actually looks worse because of this.

[RedRecluse]

I was using ZZ cream for 6 weeks but had to take a 10 day break. I'm wondering how far I've set myself back. Would it be like starting from the beginning?

As a side note, I'm also wondering if ZZ cream has made anyone else's skin look ridiculously greasy (the cream is certainly drying in itself). It's as if no matter how hard I try a layer of the cream remains after I have washed it off in the morning. I may have fewer P&P's and less redness but my skin actually looks worse because of this.

The recommended first course of ZZ Cream is two months. Yes, ZZ Cream needs to be used continuously, as does Soolantra. However after you've cleared up, you can limit your use to once or twice a week. That's how it's been in my case.

Also, the more I've used it, the more I've diluted it with warm water. When I apply it now on the odd occasion, there is almost no white residue, and certainly none in the morning, due to the dilution.

Yes, the white residue was a problem for me in the first month. But after that, I barely get any of that white residue anymore, or any more of the dead skin.

I also found gently exfoliating the white residue away, with a microfibre cloth under warm water in the shower, helped tremendously.

I suggest you read my thread. I think it will be of great help to you as I had the same problems.

[Nik89]

Thanks for the microfibre cloth suggestion. It has made a huge difference! My skin has gone from a 3 to a 7.5 just by being able to wipe all the residue away this morning. ZZ cream really does now appear to be working as well as I hoped it would be. I just hope that I don't have a mass break out because using a cloth has caused me to do so in the past.

[rs272]

Great to hear ZZ is working for you. I'm hopefully beginning on it tomorrow!

What were your symptoms/rosacea like before you began? What's changed so far?

[Tom Busby]

I was curious about ZZ Cream, and went to https://www.demoderm.de/ because the Chinese website doesn't have any sort of INCI ingredient list.

This is a translation of the Demoderm website advice, from German to English, via Microsoft's translator, which is obviously imperfect, so look for the meaning instead of correct grammar:
"Daily application
In the morning and in the evening sparingly applied on the affected areas of skin. Clean your face or the places you want to cream with DemoDerm, previously with warm water or mild soap.
Still a moisturizer should be used after applying the cream to dry skin. The skin is dry, the moisturizer should be all the more rich. A daily multiple applying of the moisturizer may be required in the first few weeks.
For long-term success, the cream without interruption over several weeks (at least 8 to 12 weeks) should be applied even if the appearance of the skin improves soon.
The long-term application is crucial for a long-lasting success with. Cream please
daily 2 times
long enough
It is worth! You will be amazed."

Here's a translation of DemoDerm's ingredient list:
"Ingredients: Aqua, Stearyl alcohol, propylene glycol, glycerol, stearic acid, zinc oxide, sulfur, isopropyl myristate, petrolatum, glyceryl stearate, Dimethicone, menthol, Sorbitan stearate, polysorbates 80, wheat germ oil, Azone, salicylic acid, sodium lauryl sulfate, Methylisothiazolinone.
Active ingredients: zinc and sulphur
DemoDerm is produced in China and tested in Germany. The cream contains no additives such as antibiotics or hormones."

Accordingly, the added moisturizer (as suggested by Denoderm) would be something light, like CeraVe PM, because Z Cream is based on petrolatum, and there's no need for adding more occlusives. Redrecluse's suggestion to add water will lessen the occlusive effect, and is consistent with the website's advice to apply to wet skin. A microfiber cloth will help too.

The problem with an occlusive is that it washes off very poorly. I suggest avoiding splashing/washing in the sink, and suggest rinsing in the shower, because the force and quantity of water from a shower greatly assists in washing the skin.

[Nik89]

Great to hear ZZ is working for you. I'm hopefully beginning on it tomorrow!

What were your symptoms/rosacea like before you began? What's changed so far?

I did reply to you a couple of weeks ago but my post never showed up. I included a link to a timeline (one that I've seen posted here before) that needed to be approved. Perhaps mods are non-existent on here.

I said that I had subtype 2 rosacea and seb derm. So permanent redness, P+P's, flaky and oily sky. My ears were also oily and flaky. I also have a demodex problem on my body.

I've worked out that it's been 69 days since I first started ZZ cream. This includes the 10 day break, which I don't think set me back by much at all. The website says "The time from copulating until a new generation hatches is between 15 to 20 days", so perhaps that is why. My skin got worse once I started applying ZZ cream after the break, but now it looks as good as it has since before I first had skin problems as a teenager.

I currently have no P+P's, redness has reduced by 85%, the whites of my eyes actually look white, there is no flakiness. All that remains are red marks that should fade in time. I think in another 4-6 weeks my skin will have improved by 95% in total.

My upper body is proving harder to treat. I've been applying a solution of hydrogen peroxide, borax and water twice a day for the same duration. There's definitely been improvement, but it's not as comparable to my face.

[RedRecluse]

I did reply to you a couple of weeks ago but my post never showed up. I included a link to a timeline (one that I've seen posted here before) that needed to be approved. Perhaps mods are non-existent on here.

I said that I had subtype 2 rosacea and seb derm. So permanent redness, P+P's, flaky and oily sky. My ears were also oily and flaky. I also have a demodex problem on my body.

I've worked out that it's been 69 days since I first started ZZ cream. This includes the 10 day break, which I don't think set me back by much at all. The website says "The time from copulating until a new generation hatches is between 15 to 20 days", so perhaps that is why. My skin got worse once I started applying ZZ cream after the break, but now it looks as good as it has since before I first had skin problems as a teenager.

I currently have no P+P's, redness has reduced by 85%, the whites of my eyes actually look white, there is no flakiness. All that remains are red marks that should fade in time. I think in another 4-6 weeks my skin will have improved by 95% in total.

My upper body is proving harder to treat. I've been applying a solution of hydrogen peroxide, borax and water twice a day for the same duration. There's definitely been improvement, but it's not as comparable to my face.

Yes, mods are nonexistent here and useless - pity.

Great to hear about your story, sounds like what I had except thankfully I never had a problem on my body. I also had eczema behind my ears which ZZ Cream cleared up in almost no time at all.

Seeing as the active ingredients in ZZ Cream are Zinc Oxide and Sublimed Sulphur, perhaps try getting some and make your own concoction?

https://www.amazon.com/Sulfur-Powder-Sublimed-Oz-Pack/dp/B0013ND5AK

http://www.skincaretalk.com/showthread.php/31684-Where-can-I-buy-ZInc-Oxide-powder

[RedRecluse]

I've gone 7 days now without ZZ Cream. Skin still looks great. Might see how long I can go.

[Nik89]

Thanks for the advice RedRecluse. I tried to reply to you twice earlier but my messages need to be approved, even without having submitted a link. I simply mentioned the name of a very popular and large online marketplace beginning with "e". I'm therefore done with this forum. If anyone reading this thinks they have a demodex issue, don't hesitate to use ZZ cream.

[RedRecluse]

Thanks for the advice RedRecluse. I tried to reply to you twice earlier but my messages need to be approved, even without having submitted a link. I simply mentioned the name of a very popular and large online marketplace beginning with "e". I'm therefore done with this forum. If anyone reading this thinks they have a demodex issue, don't hesitate to use ZZ cream.

All the best. Will be here if you decide to come back. Also check out the RRDI Forum which can be found by Googling.

[raindrizzle]

Is the Chinese website, i.e. dermodex solutions, the best place to buy this? Or are there other options? Googling did not help.

Thanks in advance!

[Nik89]

I buy mine from an online marketplace because I don't want to wait for shipping and know when I can expect it. It works out more expensive but not a great deal so.

I thought I would update this.

It's now been about 90 days.

- P & P's are few and far between.
- On the rare occasion I do get one it tends to be small. I can imagine that they will no longer be a problem now
- I still have some redness
- No scaliness whatsoever, but that actually went away soon after having started treatment

From everything I've read about demodex brevis I believe that I have it. It seems to be common with those who have body demodex issues, which I have. Folliculorum typically causes scaliness. I think they also cause those nasty under the skin bumps due to living deeper in the glands, which was common for me. Since a few years ago I used to get those large under skin bumps under my eye area/on the upper cheeks. I was always confused by this because they would keep on reappearing. Now that ZZ cream has dealt with them I'm struggling to figure out whether I have scarring there or just PIE. I really hope it's the latter.

I've been using a much cheaper demodex solution for my body. It only costs $10 a bottle and contains sulphur, zinc oxide and resorcinol. I bought 3 bottles. This stuff has a horrible pink colour to it, smells pretty bad, and not very pleasant runny texture. But it seems to get the job done. I had to wait for it to ship from Thailand, so I was using a sulphur and zinc oxide powder while I waited a couple of weeks for it to arrive. The powder was designed for animals, but all the ingredients seemed safe enough.

I'll update again after 120 days. Keep in mind that I've had skin problems for 14 years. In many ways I'm thankful that demodex is my issue - at least there's more or less a cure for it.

I believe I will see nothing but progress for both my body and face from now on.

[RedRecluse]

I buy mine from an online marketplace because I don't want to wait for shipping and know when I can expect it. It works out more expensive but not a great deal so.

I thought I would update this.

It's now been about 90 days.

- P & P's are few and far between.
- On the rare occasion I do get one it tends to be small. I can imagine that they will no longer be a problem now
- I still have some redness
- No scaliness whatsoever, but that actually went away soon after having started treatment

From everything I've read about demodex brevis I believe that I have it. It seems to be common with those who have body demodex issues, which I have. Folliculorum typically causes scaliness. I think they also cause those nasty under the skin bumps due to living deeper in the glands, which was common for me. Since a few years ago I used to get those large under skin bumps under my eye area/on the upper cheeks. I was always confused by this because they would keep on reappearing. Now that ZZ cream has dealt with them I'm struggling to figure out whether I have scarring there or just PIE. I really hope it's the latter.

I've been using a much cheaper demodex solution for my body. It only costs $10 a bottle and contains sulphur, zinc oxide and resorcinol. I bought 3 bottles. This stuff has a horrible pink colour to it, smells pretty bad, and not very pleasant runny texture. But it seems to get the job done. I had to wait for it to ship from Thailand, so I was using a sulphur and zinc oxide powder while I waited a couple of weeks for it to arrive. The powder was designed for animals, but all the ingredients seemed safe enough.

I'll update again after 120 days. Keep in mind that I've had skin problems for 14 years. In many ways I'm thankful that demodex is my issue - at least there's more or less a cure for it.

I believe I will see nothing but progress for both my body and face from now on.

Bravo!