People often complain about hard and small white bumps on face; many think that these are whiteheads but are actually not. Milia is the medical term for these tiny bumps. Most of the time, you see them around the eyes, especially the lower eyelids, and the reason is that this is one of the areas we don’t often exfoliate, so the cells get trapped in the pore, and the cysts are formed.
Besides lack of exfoliation, Milia can also be caused by using the wrong product, sun damage, corticosteroid creams, and keeping your makeup for too long on your face; never forget to remove your makeup before sleeping. Milia in newborns almost always resolve on their own without treatment. In adults this is much less often the case, and they’re commonly extracted or otherwise removed.
How can you prevent those small white bumps?
- Add Alpha-Hydroxy-Acids (AHAs) to your daily routine to prevent dead cell accumulation
- Choose the products based on your skin type, avoid heavy moisturizers or eye creams
How can I remove them?
First of all, do not attempt to remove them by yourself at home; go to a professional for help; squeezing them is not enough; you will just cause a bruise instead and damage all the skin around the lesion. Scraping the skin can also introduce germs to the area which eventually leads to infection.
- Use retinoids or get a professional peeling that will remove the superficial layer of the skin and will help milia disappear eventually. Facial peels that contain exfoliating ingredients may help, but use with caution. Using a facial peel that’s too strong for your skin can cause more milia to appear.
- You don’t have to remove it necessarily; sometimes they go away by themselves
- If Milia is located on your eyelid or close to the eye, look for professional help, the skin surrounding the eye is fragile, and you can end up hurting yourself instead.
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