Milia

Milia are small epidermal cysts that can be found on the skin of many individuals. They can occur at any age.

They often occur in infants and newborns and clear on their own. In adults, they can occur following traumatic or laser abrasions, or spontaneously.

Manual opening of the tip of the milium with extraction of its contents can be very effective. When numerous, electrodessication or CO2 Laser ablation can be effective, but can result in scarring.

We have used, for some time, a new method, by coloring the milia black with a fine point sharpie and targeting them with the Diolite Laser (a 523nm Laser). With this technique it is easy to treat between 50 and 100 milia at a time.

Duration: 20 to 30 minutes. No scarring ensues. Milia resulting from Laser resurfacing can be similarly treated. Before and after photos can be seen on our website.

Possible treatments:

Topical treatments: Chemical Peels

Physical treatments:

• Incision and drainage of individual lesions. (Tedious and time consuming)
• CO2 Laser ablation of individual lesions ( Tedious and time consuming).
• Diolite Laser (532 nm laser) ablation following black ink application (extremely effective with rapid improvement). Please see our before and after photos.

We recommend the latter method. We have treated several patients with the Diolite/black ink method with excellent results.