Milia (tiny white bumps on the face). What are they and why do we get them? (and HOW to get rid of them!)
Milium (or ‘Milia’ if you have a group of them) are small white / yellowish bumps on the skin. They often resemble a white head, only when you try to squeeze out the contents, you can’t- it’s like a hard, pebble like bump that is actually much deeper than surface level.
What are they?
They are actually keratin (the substance that makes our nails hard and our hair strong, also present in skin) trapped beneath the skin’s surface.
How do they happen?
They most commonly develop around areas that have thinner skin (particularly the eye area and surrounding skin), whereby a tiny cyst of keratin (skin cells) folds back on itself in the lining of the hair follicle, because the follicle has been blocked and the skin cells have nowhere to go but back on themselves.
What is the cause?
In adults they can be caused by the use of steroid creams on the skin (eg: eczema sufferers), but they are also common when occlusive skin care products are used - for example thick eye creams, or too many products layered up on the skin, blocking the hair follicle in thin skinned areas.
How do you get rid of them?
You can either use a very gentle exfoliant to help slowly bring them them to the surface where they’ll eventually expel themselves (this can take up to two years!). Or you can go to a dermatologist / or qualified beauty therapist experienced in the treatment of this condition, who will use a subcutaneous needle (very fine needle) to lance the skin and gently push the milia out.
The lesson here is go easy with your skin care products. At the moment there is a big trend to completely load (in my opinion often overloading) the skin with products - occluding the pores and hair follicles, leading to milia and often irritation. Then when you add a full coverage of makeup over the top, your skin is at high risk of developing this condition.
Also be weary of who you let lance these, the area is often more fragile where milia appear and can easily scar if you’re in inexperienced hands!