What is Secondary Milia and How to Deal with It.

There are many bad skin conditions and primary or secondary milia are most likely the least of your problems. However, for many, it can be very irritating to see and some people constantly pick at these small bumps in the mirror, making matters worse. From acne to the

hypersensitive skin, there is no end to the many skin blemishes.

However, there could be one you’re experiencing that you may not even understand by name. Perhaps you have experienced those small, pearly-white bumps on your cheeks and around your eyes? 

Lets go onto examine all aspects of secondary Milia, why you have it and how to treat it. 

Unlike acne, which almost all of us recognize with its white head full of puss, staring you in your face in the mirror, a lot of us have these small white bumps on our cheeks, called Milia, but have zero ideas about what they are, what triggered them or how to get rid of them for good.

First things first: These white bumps aren’t an allergy, nor are they triggered by a contamination or an allergy. They’re called milium, and milia are safe. A lot of people find they only notice their secondary milia because they view it in their reflection, not because it’s bothersome or painful.

They can group together in nodular clusters and do have a habit of expanding in size over time.

What exactly are secondary milia?

Milia are clusters of small milium cysts which often form around the cheeks, nasal area and eyes. They are formed because of trapped cell proteins, known as keratin under the skin’s surface. Milia may appear in newborns but usually with babies, it disappears within a couple weeks, but adults have them as well, which stay.In young adults and older people, normally, it may not go away whatsoever without treatment.

They appear to be tiny white dots which you might dismiss as a result of acne – but do not be fooled. If you attempt to take them off yourself, you will be left with ugly scars. Discover more about the problem below and the way you should take care of it. 

Basically, there are two main types of milia: primary and secondary milia, and here we’ll speak about what causes secondary Milia, as well as what the procedure options are and how to prevent them. Secondary milia are a lot like primary milia but it evolves because of blocked sweat glands in your skin. This usually happens after there’s been some type of trauma to your skin, specifically any time when your skin had blisters such as with poison ivy allergy or a severe treatment of dermabrasion. 

Secondary Milia originates from the Eccrine ducts in the skin. Whilst they may look and resemble primary Milia, as they are both on the surface tiny Keratin cysts. The difference is that they originate from the eccrine duct connective tissue that holds the Milium in place.

Sunburns and subjection to ultraviolet rays of the sun are also common factors behind milia. For instance, sun exposure damages the surface of your skin and that destruction causes your skin to thicken. When the dead and damaged skin cells make an effort to make their way to the top of skin area to flake off and can’t, they start to create small white cysts of keratin as they build-up.

These cysts are Milia.  

There are various classifications of Milia; Secondary Milia breaks down into 3 Classifications;

• Disease-associated Milia

• Medication-associated Milia

• Trauma-associated Milia

Disease Associated Milia

This version of secondary Milia is a genetics, inherited skin condition. Disease associated Milia, can at times resemble the primary skin condition called Genodermatoses- associated Milia, due to the fact that it can result from an auto immune disorder. Due to the auto immune nature of such health issues as Lupus and Diabetes, secondary Milia is a common skin condition, a secondary element of the main auto immune disorder.Saying that the auto immune characteristics of a lot of other common health issues, do place any person diagnosed with an auto immune disorder at risk of having Milia.  

This is why it is recommended that if you are informed that you have a genetic disorder, to make sure that your Doctor is aware if you start noticing large batches of Milia. The auto-immune recessive disorder, which is responsible for Alopecia and hair loss, commonly present Milia, due to the disorder affecting the structure of the hair follicle and placement in the skin. So for a lot of people as the hair starts to fall out, the problem is compounded by Milia seeds appearing. 

The natural reaction would be that the condition affects the hair, so it would be classed as primary milia. Due to the fact that Alopecia affects the eccrine tissue in the follicle, then the classification of secondary Milia is asserted.  

Medication-associated Milia

When understanding secondary Milia, Medicine associated Milia can be a very common side effect of the medication. Any treatment that has an effect on the skin, whether it be from the inside or the outside, can cause Milia. Even though with today’s advanced medications, whether they be over the counter or prescribed, there is a common side effect of Milia presenting itself.

Obviously some medications have a higher risk of Milia as a secondary side effect. These can be and are not limited to, topical steroids, cyclosporine, benoxaprofen, penicillamine, fluorouracil. It’s not that every client who takes the listed medication will get Milia, but their chances are higher with the use of these products.This also goes to show how the recommendation of applying something like Retinol, a topical steroid, will possibly benefit the removal of Milia. 

If the application of topical steroids promotes the appearance of Milia, then the recommendation of using it can have subsequent effects and cause you to have MORE Milia. Fungus treatments can also be promoter of Milia. The best summing up on Medications Milia, is any drug that can affect your skin as an organ, can by proxy distort the lipids in the cells and result in Milia.  

Trauma-associated Milia

As the name implies, trauma associated Milia arises from damage to the skin, whether it be small or a large traumatic event on the skin. The stimulation of undifferentiated Pilosebaceous cells due to trauma as well as the implantation of epidermal cells, brought on by impact, can cause Milia. 

Any treatment which has a damaging effect on your skin, whether it be a tattoo, heavy invasive beauty treatments, such as chemical peels, even hospital grade therapies such as skin grafts. Due to the disturbance on a cellular level, the area on the edges of the treated areas, can promote milia.

This is why such treatments for milia, such as laser therapy and dermabrasion have started to fall out of grace. 

The more we understand about milia, the more the trauma associated milia being treated by traumatic treatments, can be viewed as being a bad idea.

Taking dermatology as an example, the shredding on a microscopic level of the skin cells, will do nothing more than implant the eccrine elements of the milia, in other close healthy cells. It’s easy to see why these treatments in the end actually spread the Milia even worse. Add on the fact that the skin has been damaged, so the skin will be harder, then the Milia in turn becomes even harder to remove.  

What can you do to treat secondary milia and stop it spreading?

If you have milia, your can be in a tricky situation.  The issue lies that as you notice the Milia, you start to apply more makeup to help cover it up.  The problem is that a lot of the time, its the Makeup clogging up the pores and giving the Milia the chance to spread even further.

The use of harsh medication blackhead removing products and anti-aging skin medications, which may aid in the regeneration of the skin.  Despite how it may seem contra-indicative, using harsh exfoliating products may actually increase the problem. This is because secondary milia are triggered by the inability of dead epidermis skin cells to flake off your skin. Actually, you need to omit exfoliating areas where you observe milia to lessen the skin irritability, which, bear in mind, is an added cause for producing milia. 

When you have the secondary milia you will need professional treatment. There are various possible treatments that are professed to be suitable for treating Milia, but they do come with downsides.  Such as the concept of extracting them.  Whilst in the hands of a professional, there is the possibilities and a great chance of actually leaving in-situ the eccrine connective tissue, IE; the root of the Milia. 

Leaving this in place, causes two issues.  The first being, it is very very common for the Milia to return, as there is still the connective tissue that helped formed the Milia in place.  The second, is that if the skin opening closes where the ‘pearl’ has been extracted, then the eccrine tissue will be encapsulated by the white blood cells and form a harden tissue around the area.  This will in turn force a hardened fibrous bump.  This means you are removing the Milia, to replace it with a larger harden bumps.

Your best solution, is by far to use Cerobio Milia Removal cream.  Its easy to use and will also treat the eccrine connective tissue.  This will mean you get a smoother skin and your Milia will not return, as the eccrine root has been removed, as well.  It is really that simple.