Jaya’s Tip of the Day: Treating milia, an annoying cyst like bump on the skin caused by clogged oil glands. A blog on dealing with an quickly appearing aesthetic issue.
Sometimes it is embarrassing when my clients are talking to me and they have a blemish or acne spot on their face. I will hear them say “It just appeared over night!” I can understand because sometimes people need to look their best for a special event and it can be frustrating when you have a blemish pop up over night and not sure what to do about it.
There are many different types of acne blemishes and ways to treat them but one that has been coming up lately is milia. Milia are small hard white or yellowish bumps that appear under the skin usually around the eye area, forehead or cheeks. These clusters of tiny cysts form when dead skin cells become trapped in the skin’s pores. They are not raised like whiteheads, but appear on the surface of the skin as tiny “pin pricks” and cannot be squeezed out with your fingers. Milia can also occur after you get sunburned or use heavy creams on your face.
So what can you do about it? Milia disappear naturally as
Today’s Tip of the Day is brought to you by Dr. Jaya Aysola. What are milia? Milia are cyst like bumps that appear on the skin due to clogged oil glands. They are most commonly found in babies and children, but can also appear in adults. Milia can be white or yellowish in color and generally appear on the face, nose, and cheeks. However, they can also appear on other parts of the body such as hands and arms.
While milia generally go away without treatment within a few weeks or months, if you want to quickly get rid of them there are a few things you can do at home:
1) Apply warm compresses to the area where the milia are located for about 10-15 minutes, 2-3 times a day for 3 days. This will open the clogged pores allowing for an easier extraction.
2) After applying warm compresses, gently use a comedone extractor (a small metal loop) to remove the milia from their sacs. The comedone extractor should be sterilized with alcohol prior to extracting milia because this process involves breaking the skin barrier.
3) If you don’t have access to a comedone extract
Milia are tiny white bumps that appear most often around the eyes and cheeks. These annoying bumps are very common, but treatable. Milia occurs when skin cells become trapped rather than exfoliate naturally.
Milia can be caused by a variety of factors including skin that is not exfoliated regularly, exposure to the sun, and medications that dry the skin. If you have milia, you may be using products that are too heavy for your skin or using products that are not compatible with your skin type.
Milia is treated by first softening the hardened sebum (oil) in the follicle. Then it is removed by a gentle process called lancing or extraction.
To prevent milia from forming, do not use heavy creams in the eye area and use an SPF 15 sunscreen year-round.
I’ve been getting a lot of milia lately, which are tiny little white bumps that form when dead skin cells become trapped in a small pocket on the surface of the skin. They’re not harmful but they can be annoying.
Milia are very common in newborn babies but they can also bother adults. I’ve been told that mine are probably caused by excessive dryness or as a result of dead skin cells not shedding properly. Whatever the reason, I have had to make a few changes in my skincare routine to eliminate them.
Here’s what I do:
* First, I exfoliate 2-3 times a week with either Dr Brandt Microdermabrasion or Kate Somerville ExfoliKate. That has helped tremendously with my cell turnover and keeps my pores clear and clean.
* Second, I use Kate Somerville EradiKate Spot Treatment in conjunction with Dr Brandt Blemishes No More to keep any new bumps from forming. These two products contain sulfur, which is great at drying out pimples and white heads.
* Third, I stopped using my Dermalogica Active Moist moisturizer because it was too rich for the weather here in LA and possibly clogging my pores (I don’t know
As a makeup artist, I get lots of questions about skin. A question I often get is about these little white bumps that appear on the face – especially around the eyes and cheeks. These white bumps are called milia, and they form when skin cells become trapped as a cyst under the surface of the skin. Milia most often appear on people over the age of 50, but they can occur at any age.
Milia can be very annoying because they are difficult to cover with makeup and hard to get rid of. If you have milia, there are some ways you can treat them yourself, but if you don’t see results quickly, you should consult your dermatologist for other options.
Removing Milia From Your Skin
There are several over-the-counter creams that can help to remove milia from your skin. You can buy these creams at a drug store or order them online. These creams contain lactic acid and glycolic acid which helps to break down the outer layer of skin so that it can exfoliate off in time. You will need to apply this type of cream two times per day for several weeks before you see results.
Another option is to use retinol night cream two times per day
My first encounter with milia was in the early ’90s, when I was a sales rep for La Prairie. A client came in and we were discussing her skin care routine and I asked her about the little white bumps on her face. She had no idea what they were and I explained that most likely she was using an oil-based moisturizer and it was pooling in the pores of her skin, thus causing the small cysts to form.
I told her to stop using whatever product she was using and come back in a week or two. She did, and sure enough, those milia spots were gone. In fact, they had never been fully formed so they didn’t cause any scarring or discoloration (thank goodness).
My own first encounter with milia was when I started my esthetician career in 1993. A client came in for her monthly facial and as I took a look at her skin I noticed these little bumps on her forehead that looked like tiny whiteheads, but didn’t actually come to a head.
I asked the guest if she used any products that contained mineral oil or castor oil (yes, even natural products can clog pores) and she admitted to using one that contained castor oil.
I
I was on a flight to China when I felt a bump on my cheek. As soon as I landed, I went straight to my dermatologist for a check up. They removed it and it never came back.
The next time I found one, it was on my eyelid and I removed it myself with a needle, because at the time I had no access to a dermatologist. The skin around the eye is very thin and you can easily cause damage if you aren’t careful!
Recently, I got one on the side of my face, so this time I decided to get professional help. My makeup artist, Ashley Rebecca recommended that we try micro needling to remove it. She said sometimes they don’t go away easily and after several attempts of trying to extract them with a tool, she’s had luck with micro needling.
Micro Needling:
After researching online and watching videos on YouTube of people doing this themselves (which you shouldn’t do), I was terrified! But Ashley made me feel comfortable by explaining each step as she did it.
What You’ll Need:
Derma Roller (this is the one we used)
Alcohol swabs or Isopropyl Alcohol 70% Solution (to cleanse your skin before rolling)