Common FAQs for Milia

At Caring Skin, one in five customers come to us with skin woes like Milia. Milia usually appears out of nowhere, despite being harmless, they can be a cosmetic sore eye when it looks like a white bump and your makeup just don’t fully conceal it. Many people would naturally attempt to give it a squeeze and when nothing happens, you begin to wonder what it is.

Who does Milia affect? How does it occur?

Milia, in short, are cysts made of Keratin (the same stuff that makes up your nails and hair) and it can happen to just about anyone regardless of age and skin type but are more prone to appear with skin damage-an injury, medication or illness. Milia are commonly found on the face, especially nose, cheeks, and around the eyes, says Sejal Shah, a dermatologist in New York City.

Milia appears when the keratin gets trapped under the surface of the skin, when there is skin trauma, for instance, burns, blisters, etc, or after application of topical medications.

How do you get rid of them?

Milia can be removed in a number of ways – like chemical peels, topical retinoid, and microdermabrasion. Avoid squeezing it yourself, in case of inflammation, infection, or scarring. The best course of action is to visit an esthetician to have the milia safely removed. This procedure, called “unroofing”, involves the esthetician piercing the skin with a lancet, then gently pushing the keratin ball out.

At the end of the day, there is no way to prevent Milia from forming or coming back, and there isn’t a definite cause for its occurrence. Will they ever go bad? Milia, for the most part, is harmless, so resist the urge to pick on it and seek the professional help of an esthetician.