There are many skin issues ladies have that can leave them looking around for solutions to improve their personal appearance. Whether it makes you self-conscious or lack confidence, causes discomfort or that simply tackling them will make you feel better about yourself, you will be in good company if you set out to act.
Sometimes these can be major things like bad acne, rosacea, or vitiligo, which can be seen a long way off. But sometimes there are smaller details that still cause some consternation.
Milia comes into the second category. If your skin seems to have a lot of small white pimples but these are not red or likely to pop and ooze pus if squeezed, they are likely to be milia.
These may superficially look like whiteheads and, as such, be something that detracts from your appearance and might be seen as unattractive. They are, however, definitely not a form of acne. Sometimes known as milk cysts, they are cysts caused by trapped and hardened keratin, the material your hair and nails are made of.
Causes of milia vary. They can be primary milia, which form on their own, or secondary, arising after an injury such as a burn.
The first kind is most common and can often be seen in babies, although there are some conditions, like milia en plaque and multiple eruptive milia, that cause larger and more frequent milia. The latter condition causes inflamed milia, which is otherwise very rare.
In time, milia can go away on its own and this is usually the case for newborn babies. But you might have to wait for months before this happens. The alternative is to get specialist milia removal treatment that can get rid of them sooner.
There are several options available. A dermatologist can remove them manually (you shouldn’t try to do this yourself lest it cause damage or infections). Chemical peels can also help, while cryotherapy can freeze them off in the same way skin tags and warts can be removed.
Laser ablation can be a particularly popular and effective way of getting rid of them. These burn away the outer layers of the skin that host the hardened material that makes up the milia. This means you can remove the keratine easily because it has no host layer of skin left to hold it in place. It also makes it harder to reform.
Having laser treatment is not always a one-stop shop affair. Sometimes you need multiple appointments. But the good news is that after a few trips, you should find the ‘milk cyst’ is well and truly gone.
Milia may not be the most unsightly of features, nor one that is usually infected or swollen. But if you care deeply about your facial appearance, don’t want to pile on the makeup to hide them and are keen to find a solution that works, you may find having them fully removed is the best way to go.
By making your milia run a mile this spring, you can step into summer with a whole new level of confidence about your facial appearance.
