| rev:text
| - Referred to another physician at this practice who was out of town, so I took the next available appointment with the next available physician, Dr. Christopher Snyder for an ongoing battle with microscopic Demodex mites (related to spiders and ticks!). My regular doctor is in another state, but I was on an extended stay in Charlotte, and had am especially severe outbreak of Demodex, and was seeking a solution!
This visit was a complete waste of time. Dr. Snyder didnt ask any questions, didn't absorb one word I volunteered, and refused to do a basic scraping (by itself not foolproof, but a logical commonly done step to see under a microscope what is going on, and I have had it done prior by my doc confirming what is a large population of mites that have cropped up leaving large number of scaring pustules on what was once near perfect facial skin), and was simply told by the Doctor to stop "picking at my skin".
Let me state (like thousands of others afflicted with this horrible malady have stated on help forums), that I don't "pick", and picking is not the issue - Demodex living mites on those with compromised immune systems (thyroid for me), can be a serious problem, growing to thousands, and clawing and chewing their way under the skin surface to their next sex partner and egg laying cycle!:/). They leave clear channels, quickly get to the "crusted" phase (looks horrible), and after two years of battling this, it has been a life changer for me.
Many like myself have found the few prescribed drugs ineffective as the mites have become resistant to those meds (well documented). Most doctors just have no clue what to do when the old tried "cures" inevitably fail.
During my brief "exam", Dr. Snyder went further away from proper procedure into inappropriate comments, by stating "you seemed obsessed with your skin, like a 12 year old girl."
This was jaw-dropping, and he lost all credibility with me (which was on thin ice up to that point anyway).
Again, anyone afflicted with this will tell you how obsessed one CAN be, but I have been resigned to "dealing" with it for the past 6 months, amd this was just insulting and rude.
I requested specific antibiotics to salvage ny investment in the visit, which he agreed to subscribe (read several anecdotal and med journal reports that one of the meds I requested might assist in healing skin damaged by the mites, but not curing it, and he seemed to at least like THAT idea), so I suppose that counts as a small "victory".
I will wait til I go back to my doc (and continue to search for one who has substantial success history in treating severe cases like mine).
I will also continue to do what 95% of people do who are afflicted with this, and self treat with available homeopathic and vet meds available (there are numerous help forums on what works (very short list), and what doesn't (long list).
Based on reading hundreds of articles and blog help forums, it is clear very few doctors have real world experience in treating this (beyond mild rosacea now commonly thought to be linked to the Demodex mite), but NIH came out in March 2016 with a detailed report recommending placing this malady on the top 50 list of most urgent serious maladies to watch, with an estimated 300 million afflicted worldwide (and with many reports of drug resistant strains). Basically, no new meds introduced in USA in past 25 years other than Soolantra (2014) which at 1% ivermectin, is too mild for a serious Demodex outbreak (and meant more for mild Rosacea maintenance). Australia has the most research on the subject but we are a few years away from pharmaceutical companies putting research into this (accord to NIH), so little hope for new drugs on near horizon.
Can't fault Dr Snyder on his "ignorance". Acne, skin cancer, and cosmetic related procedures drive Dermatology groups like PPSD.
But what IS unacceptable is: a) a complete refusal to take skin scraping sample, b) not one discovery question asked nor listening to anything the patient states, c) jumping to pre-determined diagnosis (without a) or b)), and the bizarre teen girl comment (im in my 50s, a male, very successful in business and often quoted by national media as a SME in my profession - I am not prone to being obsessive and certainly do not self inflict wounds on myself).
This is actually a common response by uninformed physicians, according to forum comments I have read. I just don't tolerate such quick assumptive diagnosis and careless comments (especially by a medical professional), and therefore giving what I see is an appropriate 1 star rating.
Any physician who chooses to do a little research on this malady, and treat those afflicted with some level of careful thought, will inevitably bring in a LOT of new patients.
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