'Eye Mites' Not Allergies May Be To Blame For Inflamed, Irritated Eye Lids

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- If your eyes often itch in the morning, or if you wake up with inflamed eye lids, you could be suffering from eye mites.

"The cat sleeps on my chest, the cat sleeps on the pillow next to me, and now the cat does not do that anymore," Ted Scouten said.

As CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez explained, a few months ago the eye doctor discovered demodex mites, also known as eye mites, along the base and lib of Scouten's eyelashes.

Scouten is a reporter for CBS2's sister TV station in Miami.

"I had never heard of eye mites, so when he said eye mites it was just really gross," Scouten said.

Eye mites are tiny bugs that are spread by pets and people. They spend most of their time buried in our hair follicles because they feed on skin cells and oils.

"They try to avoid light, so what ends up happening as awkward as this sounds. When we go to bed at night they come out and they mate, and they will actually reproduce," Dr. Norman Herskovich explained.

Scouten's treatment was wiping his eyelids twice a day for two months with tea tree oil to kill the mites and their eggs.

"We'll be performing a procedure that will exfoliate all dead cells, all the dead critters from your eyelashes," Dr. Herskovich said. "We are exfoliating the bio-film, debris from biological matter from bacteria and just from literally years worth of buildup that actually resides on the lid margins."

Back at home, Ted is more careful with his pets.

"It's not a matter of getting rid of your pets. It's just a matter of being more aware I think of washing your hands and knowing that things can be in your hands," he said.

The mites are everywhere and they love pet fur. That's why you have to be very careful about touching your eyes after petting cats or dogs, or even shaking hands with people.

After successful treatment patients often say their eyesight got better.