Many people – even those who had great skin as teenagers – end up with small white bumps, known as milia, commonly on their cheeks. Milia are small, white cysts on your skin. Filled with keratin, these cysts occur when old, dead skin is trapped under the surface. They don’t look unsightly or as big as pimples, but they are there, and you may affect your confidence.
Have you ever seen a baby with small bumps on his or her cheeks? That’s milia. But it also occurs in adults. Milia are typically hard, white bumps of up to 2 millimeters in size. Common on the cheeks, and around the nose and eyes, as well as on other areas of the body.
There’s no real reason why milia appear, but you can keep them away using proper skin care and regular peels. Sometimes, milia disappear after a few weeks, however, it usually requires professional intervention.
In adults and teenagers, milia are normally associated with skin damage, including blistering, burns, sun damage and steroid creams.
There are different types of milia, and most often, they cause no pain or discomfort. However, it can become red and irritated.
If you try to squeeze milia, you may break the capillaries in your skin. The only effective milia removal method is to lance the top of the skin, and squeeze it out. However, human fingers are too big to be effective at it while protecting your skin at the same time.
Special Aesthetic Tools Used for Milia Removal
At Bradford Skin Clinic and Med Spa, we use specialized aesthetic tools to lance the milia and remove the hard bump without causing long-term scarring. These are some of the methods that can be employed:
Laser Ablation – Using a small, focused laser to destroy the cyst.
Diathermy – A treatment involves using heat to eliminate the cysts.
Destruction Curettage – A surgical scraping procedure and cauterization that destroys cysts.
Cryotherapy – Freezing is the most frequent method for destroying milia.
Retinoids -Topical retinoid cream can help clear up the milia, depending on where it is on your skin.
Peels – Dermabrasion or chemical peels can help for persistent milia.
In many cases, milia are small and not particularly noticeable, so many clients often usually leave it alone. However, it is a good idea to speak to a therapist if you’d like to get rid of it. Speak to Bradford Skin Clinic & Med Spa today about how we can help you.
