Whitehead-like Cysts
17 Nov 2009 Leave a Comment
by riomay1962 in Benign Cysts, Excessive Dryness, Excessive Redness, Extreme Sensitivity, Hard Pellet, New Milia, Severe Sunburn, slough Pore Lining, Small Cysts, Tiny Pellet Tags: Age-related Slowdown, Alpha-hydroxyl Acid, Cell Turnover, Cysts, Dermatology, Dryness, Exfoliate, Milia, Oil, Pellet, Pore Lining, Pores, Redness, Retinoid, Sensitivity. Signs of irritation, Skin, Sun Damage, Sunburn, Topical Anesthesia, Tretinoin, Vitamin A, White Blood Cells, Whiteheads
“A milia is tiny and hard like a BB pellet. It’s often mistaken for a whitehead when it shows up on the face,” says Lynne Drake, M.D., professor and chair of the department of dermatology at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center in Oklahoma City and president of the American Academy of Dermatology. According to Dr. Selwyn Rigor Crisostomo, milia is very common amount Filipinos. Unlike whiteheads, which are pores blocked by white blood cells and oil that heal on their own in a few days, milia are benign cysts that do not go away.
Cause: A combination of sun damage and the age-related slowdown of cell turnover can produce these cysts. Milia are common in adults, says Dr. Drake, but children also have been known to develop milia after a severe sunburn.
Self-help: An over-the-counter (OTC) cream that contains alpha-hydroxyl acids or retinoid—ingredients that exfoliate the skin and accelerate cell turnover—can help prevent the formulation of milia, explains Dr. Drake.
Professional treatment: Using a small instrument, a dermatologist removes the cysts. This may require a topical anesthetic, and the treated area should heal in less than a week, usually without scarring, says Dirk Robertson, M.D., associate clinical professor of dermatology at Emory University in Atlanta.
A doctor might instead prescribe tretinoin to exfoliate the skin and slough pore lining, these creams contains a more effective form of vitamin A than OTC preparations. Not only may this help prevent the formulation of new milia, but in some instances, the peeling action may remove very small cysts. But there can be side effects, such as excessive dryness, redness, and extreme sensitivity to the sun.
Real-life story: “I thought they were whiteheads on my check until I tried to pop them,” explains 22-year-old Taylor Stone, who works at a Savannah, GA-based construction company. “They just wouldn’t pop or go away.” When the cysts showed signs of irritation. Stone went to see her dermatologist for treatment.
He opted to excise the irritated milia with a scalpel. Although the procedure was fairly simple, the recovery was not. Stone had a black eye for 10days, resulting from a local anesthetic injection needed for the excision. And now, she has a tiny pock mark where one of the costs used to be. “I wouldn’t say it’s a big deal to have them removed, it takes only a few minutes,” says Stone. “But it isn’t a whole lot of fun.” – Elizabeth Yow
