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Ever wondered what those tiny white bumps on your skin are? Fed up with them not going anywhere however hard you try and squeeze them? Well, stop right there and ditch the squeezing, because these little white spots aren’t whiteheads, they’re milia spots and they’re a totally different skin concern to acne.
What Causes Milia?
If you’ve noticed a milia spot on your face, and you’re confused as to why it’s appeared, then here’s the lowdown. Milia causes lie mainly in the production of a protein that your body produces, called keratin. Keratin is found in -
- Skin tissue
- Hair
- Nails
It’s a strong protein and if it becomes trapped beneath the skin, then it can lead to milia. If you’ve ever seen a newborn baby close up, chances are you may have noticed small white bumps on their face – this is milia. However, in babies, milia usually goes away of its own accord within a few months.
Milia spots are not caused by debris in the pores, sebum build-up or pus. Milia is most commonly found on the face, particularly -
- Under the eyes
- On the forehead
- Around the nose
- Milia on eyelid
How to Get Rid of Milia
If the milia on your face is getting you down and you want to try milia removal, there are a few options available to you. If you haven’t tried to remove milia before and your concerns are only mild, you might like to opt for at-home treatments first.
Figuring out how to remove milia most effectively can take a little time, and may differ from person to person. Gentle exfoliation can help shift milia. Try a product such as La Roche Posay Ultra Fine Scrub. This product is kind to skin and offers gentle, non-irritating exfoliation. For something a little stronger, SkinCeuticals Glycolic Removal Cleanser Gel offers 8% glycolic acid to help exfoliate skin and boost skin cell turnover.
In-Salon Milia Treatment
If at-home milia removal yields no results, you might wish to look to a specialist salon treatment instead. If you have milia under eyes, or around your nose, and you find it hard to reach into certain areas, or you’re worried you’ll damage your skin, the salon approach is probably best.
At Este, we offer Lamprobe treatment for milia removal. As its name suggests, Lamprobe involves a probe being placed on the skin abnormality that you’d like to target. Radio and high frequency waves produce a current that is delivered to the abnormality via the probe. This then works to electro-dessicate and electro-coagulate the skin concern in question.
Lamprobe is effective on a range of skin issues, including -
- Milia
- Benign moles
- Keratoses
- Skin tags
- Cysts
- Clogged pores
- Age spots
Alternative salon methods of milia removal include treating them with a lance and specialist milia removal tool. This, as you will understand, shouldn’t be tried at home as this is the method that is likely to pose most risk to skin health.
What Not to Do
Anyone who’s ever had a spot will know just how hard it is to resist the lure of picking, squeezing, or scratching at a blemish. However, while squeezing a spot may prove fruitful, squeezing milia won’t. Milia are stubborn little spots that don’t take kindly to being picked at – and this could, in fact, make them worse. So, if you think you’re dealing with milia, make sure you don’t -
- Pick, squeeze, or poke
- Use skin products containing paraffin or petroleum
What if it’s not Milia?
If you’ve got white bumps on face but it’s not milia, then you could be dealing with comedomes – or clogged pores. These are caused due to a build-up of sebum and they’re super-common if you’ve got oily, blemish-prone skin. Products with either salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide are your best bet at tackling these annoying little flesh-coloured bumps.
The Last Word
Milia spots might be annoying to look at, but they pose zero health concerns and they aren’t a symptom of an underlying problem. If they are getting you down, try at-home products first (and give them a chance to work), and if you’re still not getting anywhere after a few months, then opt for an in-salon treatment such as Lamprobe or manual removal. Good luck!
Last Updated:
October 20, 2022
