What are milia seeds?
Milia seeds are white bumps that form when skin cells get trapped under the skin’s surface and often appear around the eye area. They can be caused by lack of exfoliation, sun exposure or oily moisturizers and sunscreens that aren’t suitable for the delicate eye area.
How to prevent the growth of milia seeds
- Exfoliate by using gentle scrubs or an exfoliating cleanser once or twice a week.
- Avoid using oily and greasy creams around the eye area as they could clog your pores. Opt for oil-free products instead.
- Avoid too much sun exposure.
- Don’t use rough pillowcases that could irritate your skin.
How to treat milia seeds
If you already have milia seeds, you should go to a dermatologist to have them removed. I heard some people get rid of them at home with the help of a needle, but because they appear in such sensitive areas, like around the eyes, I wouldn’t recommend doing that, unless you’re absolutely certain and confident you can do it. And even then, make sure the milia seeds haven’t hardened. If so, don’t attempt to do anything on your own and consult a dermatologist.
What do you do to prevent milia seeds?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I have milia around my eyes but exfoliation seems to help. If the eye cream is too rich, a seed will definitely sprout.
thank u! i’ve had these my whole life but never knew what they were til i was an adult. they weren’t “whiteheads” or “blackheads” and no matter what i did, they never went away. mine are trapped below the surface and no amount of exfoliation would get rid of em. i tried to squeeze them out and sometimes that’d work but the milia is way bigger than the pore and so it was nearly impossible. i did try the needle thing too– it works but it hurts. the skin is so delicate and u basically have to create an artificial hole and squeeze the thing out.
definitely recommend seeing a dermatologist. altho, most eye creams tend to be rich anyway, so i don’t see how u can avoid that. the other thing i’m trying is aveda exfoliant (liquid toner/glycolic acid) to keep my pores clean. but it’s hard when u use creme de la mer or other rich creams (esp in winter)
Exfoliating helps for me although sometimes they disappear by themselves. Thankfully, I don’t get them that often.
I think I might actually be getting some on my neck, of all places! I don’t exfoliate that area nearly enough. I’ll see if exfoliating more often will help.
Dao: if the milia seeds are new and not hardened too much, exfoliation will remove them, but it takes a lot of time.
Suz: I’m sory to hear you have this problem. I think exfoliation helps only if milia are new. But if it is already hardened, consulting a dermatologist is the better thing to do. The needle thing sounds painful and, if one is as clumsy as me, dangerous. I know it’s hard to avoid richer creams, esp in the winter, but if don’t apply them around the eye area, you should hopefully be fine. As for the eye cream, you just need to experiment until you find one that is light enough and works well for you. But I know that finding good skincare product isn’t that easy.
Jnie: lucky you! I never heard of them disappearing but glad they do for you.
Danielle: The neck is such a neglected area. I’m guilty of not taking care enough of it in the winter when I usually war those halterneck sweaters. If the milia seeds are new, exfoliating should help, but it will take a while.
The ones on my neck have mostly gone away with exfoliation. Do you have any experience of getting rid of small, soft bumps around the eye area? I have some where I have undereye circles. They’re about the size of milia seeds, but they’re soft and I’m afraid of exfoliating them because the skin is so thin there. Any ideas? I’ve heard some women refer to them as “chicken skin”
I’m sorry to hear you have chicken skin. Personally I’ve never had it but as far as I know there is no cure for it. There are treatments available but you need to be consistent or the condition will reapper. One option is to exfoliate with a loofa and dermatologists recommended mild exfolaiting products that contain AHA, like glycolic acid. Products with Retin-A would help too. But for a better diagnosis and proper treatment II recommend consulting a dermatologist.
pettybeautiful, that’s too bad! Removing milia can be painful and also very expensive. I’ve heard more dermatologists charge about $100 to do it! But unfortunately it’s the only way to get rid of them once they’ve hardened..
A good home ingredient that can get rid of milia is aspirin.. i recently discovered that the tiny raised bump i have n partso f my face are called milia.. so i made a desperate search and found that solution to come up in places.. so i tried it,.
Apparently aspirin masks work good after a while (like 15 mins 2-3 times a week) but i was impatient so i did an aspirin mask then rinsed.. then took an aspirin tablet and wet the edge SLIGHTLY (cos it dissolves quick) n rubbed it on areas where i had the milia (which took AGES cos there are quite few lol). But i could see it working!.. little balls came out or would come onto the aspirin.
However don’t do it on whiteheads or spots – it will not have the same affect and only irritate that part… but as far as milia is concerned it improved it… i’m planning on continuing till it goes.. but i’m givin my skin a little break from all the rubbin.
Anyway i hope this helps someone!
Hi Ella, thanks for sharing. I’m glad aspirin worked for you and hopefully it’ll help others too.
Hi ELLA!!
I tried your trick and it works!!! It has cleard up some of my milia, i will keep doing it a few times a week. Thank you so much, sometimes i look at my face and all i can see are those white dots!!
It does leave the area you rubbed a little red, but i put a little eye cream over it!
anyways hope this works for everyone out there, has anyone else tried??
Hi Amber, I’m so glad that Ella tip worked so well for you.