As you apply your eye cream, you notice a tiny pearl-like bump under your skin. Although it’s painless, it looks eerily similar to a whitehead—and you find yourself with the sudden urge to pop the tiny white bump you noticed under your eye area.
Not so fast.
What you’re looking at might be a milium (the singular form of milia), and they don’t respond to poking or prodding. While they’re harmless and often disappear naturally in a few weeks, you might not be willing to wait that long to part with them.
Thankfully, there are treatments you can incorporate into your at-home skincare routine that can help you treat milia faster. Below, we touch on how to get rid of milia under the eyes so that you can get that much closer to a pristine complexion.
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What Are Milia?
Before you begin your treatment efforts, it’s important that you know what causes milia on face and that what you’re seeing are in fact milia. Milia are minute, benign cysts filled with keratin, a protein your body produces to help form your skin, nails, and hair [1].
Milia is often mistaken for whiteheads due to their appearance—they look like small white pustules. But they have one key difference: unlike whiteheads, milia are firm to the touch and won’t pop if you attempt to squeeze them. That’s because the inside of a milium is filled with hard, dead skin cells (keratin) and covered with a thin layer of skin.
How To Get Rid of and Prevent Milia
Whether you think those tiny bumps are milia or whiteheads, popping them is not the answer. As tempting as it may be to squeeze blemishes, irritating them can cause a variety of skincare problems, including [2]:
- Infections
- Inflammation of the skin
- Scarring
Instead, aim to take milia to task by using some tried-and-true, at-home treatments. They may help speed up the process of diminishing your milia’s appearance and help prevent them from cropping back up later.
#1 Cleanse Your Face Daily
- Removing excess sebum, a natural oil your body produces to keep your skin moisturized
- Sloughing off dead skin cells so that a new layer of fresh ones can take their place
Although washing your face may seem like a breeze (and it mostly is), there are a few extra steps you can take to ensure you’re treating your skin like prime real estate [4]:
- Choose a non-abrasive cleanser that’s free of irritating ingredients like alcohol and parabens.
- Dampen your face with lukewarm water before applying your cleanser.
- Spread the cleanser on your face with your fingertips. While you may be enticed to rub it in with a thorough scrub, using force—whether with your hands or with a washcloth—can irritate the skin. When putting anything on your face, a gentle touch is best.
- Rinse your face with lukewarm water and gently pat dry with a towel before continuing the rest of your skincare routine.
Follow up your cleansing routine with a daily moisturizer with SPF to ensure your skin stays hydrated and protected from the sun’s damaging rays.
#2 Open Your Pores With Steam
To create your own facial steam, follow this simple three-step method:
- Turn the shower on and set it to a hot temperature.
- Close all doors and windows in the bathroom and allow the steam to accumulate in the room for a few minutes.
- Enter the bathroom and shut the door. Sit in the steam for 5 to 10 minutes to help open up the pores on your face.
When you’re done, turn off the shower and gently pat your face dry with a towel.
#3 Use Products with Exfoliating Ingredients
When searching for cleansers, toners, or creams, look for products that contain the following exfoliating ingredients:
- Salicylic acid – A beta hydroxy acid (BHA), SA is commonly used in skincare formulas due to its ability to pare down redness and inflammation. It may be helpful in combating milia because it helps to soften and loosen thickened skin, making them easier to remove [7].
- Glycolic acid – GA is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA). Like its cousin, salicylic acid, it works to break the bonds that hold skin cells together. In turn, it can encourage healthy cellular turnover [[8]. Using a formula that combines glycolic acid and salicylic acid may intensify its exfoliating properties and potentially lessen the likelihood of developing more milia.
- Retinoids – Retinoids are a topical form of vitamin A found in various skincare products. One of its many potential uses is to soften rough patches of skin by helping remove dead skin cells [9]. This may also reduce the production of keratin. The result? Potentially lowering your chances of forming new milia on your face.
- Peptides – This ingredient is known for boosting your skin’s production of collagen, which can help to lessen the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles [10]. Many people use products containing peptides around sensitive areas, like around the eyes. Unlike some other collagen-producing ingredients, peptides may increase collagen production without clogging your pores.
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#4 Apply Sunscreen Every Morning
- Medications – Corticosteroids and drugs that include tyrosine kinase inhibitors may contribute to the formation of milia on the skin [12].
- Skin trauma – Although there are different forms of skin trauma, sun damage is a type of skin trauma often associated with secondary milia.
One way of avoiding secondary milia is by incorporating a daily application of sunscreen into your morning skincare routine. This works like a mirror, reflecting UV light off of your skin so that it doesn’t absorb the potentially harmful rays as quickly. With daily use, it can prevent sunburn or long-term sun damage [13].
We recommend choosing a sunscreen with a minimum of 30 SPF. In addition, the longer you’re outside, the more sunscreen you’ll need. If you plan on spending a day at the beach or going for a jog on a beautiful sunny day, be sure to reapply every two hours [14].
#5 Dermatological Treatments/strong>
These are some of the common treatments dermatologists administer to remove milia:
- De-roofing – De-roofing is one of the most effective ways to extract milia from the skin [15]. To complete the procedure, dermatologists use a lancet to open the flap of skin that’s covering the keratin. Then, they gently extract the built-up keratin using a comedone extractor.
- Microdermabrasion – Dermatologists can recommend microdermabrasion as a treatment option. Although many patients receive microdermabrasion on their whole face, dermatologists can localize the procedure to the specific locations of the milia, working with a surgical tool to remove the rough patch of skin. However, some people may also find dermabrasion to be the cause of milia and seek other treatments.
- Chemical peel – Like microdermabrasion, chemical peels remove the outer layer of the skin. The key difference between the two is how professionals remove it. Chemical peels use a chemical solution with high concentrations of ingredients like trichloroacetic acid and glycolic acid, depending on how deep they want to penetrate the skin to remove the milia [16].
- Cryotherapy – You can also have dermatologists perform cryotherapy on milia. During this procedure, they’ll use liquid nitrogen to freeze the milia [17]. Afterward, you can expect a blister to form and fall off within a week, leaving no trace of a scar behind.
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It can be frustrating to wake up one morning and find that a few milia have seemingly taken over your complexion overnight. But with a targeted, personalized skincare routine in place, you can work proactively to keep them at bay in the future.
With a PROVEN personalized skincare set, you can find the perfect regimen tailored to all of your skin’s needs. Take our quiz to find your skin type and share your skincare goals, and we’ll curate a three-step skincare system with custom formulas full of clean, clinically effective ingredients.
Whether you’re prone to dry skin, are looking to diminish fine lines, or want a regimen that’ll help prevent milia, we’ve got you covered. Take the quiz and start your journey to clearer, brighter skin today.