Milia Around Eyes
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Sat Oct 29, 2011 11:08 pm

If there's anyone willing to help me through this step by step, it'd be a godsend for me. As a guy (not sure if you get many males around here), it's really about time I take care of my face. I did look through 3 older threads here about milia but it was bewildering to try to make sense of it.

I've had this milia stuff around my eyes for years now (I'm 20), and have very greasy skin. This is why I'm assuming it's milia and not something like cholesterol deposits. What's worse, I have genetic raccoon eyes so the little white spots are more visible than they'd normally be.

Those old threads are full of product recommendations but what I really need is some sort of list of what I'll need to treat the things. I've seen mentions of exfoliating, moisturizers, peels (?), oil cleansing methods, sunscreen... Are they all compatible and should I use all of them? What do they all do?

Sorry if it's a bother to deal with clueless folk, but any help is appreciated, if at the very least to get through the terminology.

free skin care · Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:05 am

Hi Marquitos:

I am clueless when it comes to products so hopefully someone will be able to recommend something useful. I just wanted to share that there are two ways to get rid of them: using a salicylic product so that it dissolves the thick skin of the cysts to release the contents; or piercing them with a sterilized needle to open them so as to release the contents. If I got them, I'd opt for the salicylic way because it just seems "safer" to me.

Here's a video from a guy who explains both methods: http://youtu.be/1yr1AHTtK7w

This doctor explains what they are and suggests going to a derm for the surgical extraction, which is what I'd feel comfortable with: http://youtu.be/PBiDUvja3PQ

If you are OK with going the surgical way yourself, then you have this derm's blessing (I would probably get that tool the first guy talked about coz it seems to help with releasing the contents after piercing): http://youtu.be/H_Q6BPxvY0o

free skin care · Sun Oct 30, 2011 10:53 am

My dermatologist told me to pick at them! She also said to use a needle. They are tricky because they roll around and escape the needle, so sometimes I just poke little holes around it which irritates is enough that it pops out if you keep irritating it over a few days. Dab it with alcohol.

free skin care · Sun Oct 30, 2011 4:22 pm

I have some milia around my eyes but they dont bother me too much - they're not too noticeable. For me I have found mixing a dot of Retin-A in with my eyecream and applying it to the milia very helpful - they have become far less conspicuous - I have only been doing this for about 2 months, so hopefully in a few months they will have vanished...

Mon Oct 31, 2011 10:17 pm

Thanks for the replies, now I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere.

Nonie, you're awesome. The videos were a great help. I feel the same, picking at them with needles seems wrong for some reason. I guess it's partly b/c it is your eye after all and being not too far off from my teens, fixing acne and such manually was always a no-no for me.

SoftSkin, I have the problem that when they get too tricky, I just stick the needle deeper and try to pull it out that way. Shouldn't trust myself really.

Glamcat, I'll keep the Retin-A in mind, although from what I know of it, i should probably try other products first.

Thanks.

free skin care · Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:45 pm

Maybe a more gentle retinol product would be a good start, like maybe Green Cream or something from Avene.

I was really apprehensive about using Retin-A near my eyes at first, but mixing a dot with some eyecream has thus far proven to be very effective Wink

the milia has reduced by about 50% in about a 2 month timeframe so I'm sure I should have it sorted in a couple of months. I may up the amount of Retin-A I'm using to push it along a bit faster...

free skin care · Tue Nov 01, 2011 5:52 am

Even if the rest of your skin is oily the eye area tends not to be, so it doesn't always respond well to harsh skincare. Few 'genetic' skin problems are entirely genetic, often there is a lifestyle component common to the entire family. I used to have milia and somewhat dark circles which disappeared of their own accord. Unfortunately I cannot share the secret to my success as I don't know exactly what it was!

The major changes have been simplifying my skincare routine, treating my congested 'combination' skin as the sensitive type it really is. Simply cutting out sulphate surfactants significantly reduced oiliness, for example. IMO low dose Retin-A is no worse than manual exfoliation or using drying salicylic acid/ alcohol on the delicate eye area. If you would like to take this route you might consider a moisturiser containing urea or lactic acid, both of which are naturally found in the skin and hydrate whilst they gently exfoliate. This would be compatible with the Oil Cleansing Method.

I also cleaned up my lifestyle especially diet - loads of fruit and veg, oily fish, little sugar/ white carbs/ alcohol/ caffeine and so on. Long chain omega-3 from fish body oils can be highly effective on keratosis pilaris, so perhaps it might on milia given they have some similarities? O-3s could also improve cholesterol deposits and skin health in general.

HTH. Smile

Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:54 pm

Thanks Glamcat, 50% in 2 months is more than I could hope for. Gotta look fresher than the competition. Cool

Retin-A is prescription only though so for my purposes I'll take your fist advice and start with a milder product.

Firefox, you're too kind. I plan on changing my diet somewhat also, and stepping up the exercise. I'll look for a good moisturizer, but do you reckon one with sunscreen would be good or should I avoid those? Thanks a lot, congrats on losing the eye circles!

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