How to get rid of milia

Hi, how can you get rid of Milia? Is it possible to do it at home or do you have to ask a dermatologist to get rid for you?

I have milia in the corner of my eyes, is it possible for me to get rid of them? Since the eye area is kinda sensitive :pensive:

With it being in the corner of your eye, I would 100% recommend going to a dermatologist! I had one that drove me batty. I have been working six and seven days a week for almost three years. Every time i scheduled an appointment, work would need me, and I had to cancel. I finally got a very fine needle and punctured the area, and made a tiny slit in the skin so I could remove it. NOT recommended! That skin is extremely sensitive and burns when I wash and moisturize for several days. I’m just lucky it didn’t scar. Plus, it was a major PITA since the skin is very elastic there, and it kept moving around when I was attempting to puncture it. If you have the option, get a professional.

Milia will usually go away on their own, but it can take quite some time.

I give people one of two answers when they ask this question: when you’re not sure how to do it (especially if it’s close to the eye), having a derm do it is the best thing you can do.

Depending on their location, you can soften them with BHA or an eye cream containing retinol to make removal easier. If they are in the corner of the eye, you will have to decide if it’s too close to the eye and dangerous for the active ingredient to get into the eye. If so, I would not use anything and wait to see the derm.

It tends to be done the same way at home or in the derm’s office: the milia is lanced and extracted. The issue is that many people do not know the steps to avoid infection, how to lance the milia properly, or how to express it. You could end up with an eye infection, an infection of the “wound,” or a bruise. You may end up doing a lot of work and being unable to get it to come out… Seeing a derm do it at least once allows you to gauge whether you suspect you can do it at home or not.

Milia goes away on their own with product or I should wait some time, I had a few in the corner of my eyes for some years and I tried to use a cleaner in that area but it still won’t go away :disappointed:

To get rid of milia at home, you need to use chemical exfoliants regularly. When I have one close to my eye, I apply a BHA/AHA toner to it using a q tip.

They usually go away on their own after a few weeks or months, but if it’s been longer than that, it’s likely one that will need to be extracted. On their means without any products, so it would just be washing your face, moisturizing, applying SPF, whatever you normally do without any special care or special actives for the milia.

You can see a somnologist at an aesthetic clinic. It’ll take them a few minutes to do and it’s much less risk involved, esp if it’s close to your eye area.

Probably best to see a dermatologist.

I wouldn’t go around attempting to get rid of it yourself when it’s so close to the eye. You risk an infection spreading, or that the needles slide where they shouldn’t be, especially with the skin there being so flexible.

It’s kind of sanctimonious for me to say that because I did get rid of more than one milia near my eyes myself, so just be smarter than I was (nothing happened to me but stupid games tend to win stupid prizes).

Im not saying this is the correct way- but i had milia in the corner of my eye, i took a sharp sanitized needle and cleared it out by kind of flicking it gently in the area i pierced and it hasnt come back, and i had no scarring once it healed. It wasnt going away with product and retinol plus the skin there is so sensitive i wouldnt recommend going too hard on product.

I do the same thing. Sharp sanitized needle, open up the spot, pop the lil white bugger out. Heals in a few days

How close to your eyes is it? Retinol helps with milia, but if it is too close to eye don’t use retinol! I used to get milia around my eyes and when i stopped using thick eye creams I stopped getting them. I had one stubborn milia around my lip and it took 8 months to go away on its own! You could use one of those pimple patches on it, but again if it is too close to the eye maybe see a derm.

I tab a very small amount of tretinoin on them and they’re gone in a few days.

I’ve popped them myself with clean sterile needles but I have been reading some people using head and shoulders to treat it. Not sure how safe it is for around the eyes though!

It’s not recommended to do it on your own as it would require force that is traumatic to your skin. A dermatologist can remove these professionally

Mine, bizzarely, go away when I start using a petroleum based eye ointment for my dry eye. It gets on my eyelid overnight and in a few weeks, the milia are gone. I suspect the petroleum softens the hardened deposit under the skin and allows it to empty. If I stop using the ointment they eventually come back. I know some people say petroleum products cause milia, but in my case, it seems to be the opposite. YMMV but this may be why some people say eye creams help them go away: the cream, like petroleum, is softening the milia.