Milia, wrinkles and glycolic acid
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Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:16 pm

Ok, so I have a milia problem. I bought Reviva Labs 10% glycolic acid night cream, and have used it 3 times, every other day.

My skin is not sensitive - I can barely feel the tingle. But anyway, the milia is still there, but I also noticed that I have started breaking out and got a prominent wrinkle on my cheek.....what gives?

I have dry/combination skin, never had an acne issue.

I am a little confused how a product recommended to renew the skin can cause wrinkles? Can glycolic acid really do that?

Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:56 am

I am a little discouraged by a complete lack of answers/suggestions to this...I guess these forums are just dead?

free skin care · Thu Mar 03, 2011 5:24 am

I would guess that using glycolic acid 3 times a day is irritating your skin which is why you are developing wrinkles. Using it once a day should be plenty. As for the milia, see a dermatologist or a cosmetologist and have them removed properly. You'll end up with scarring if you try to remove them yourself. Thirdly, some people find their skin responds better to saliclyc acid rather than glycolic acid. This is used in a lot of acne products as it tends to dissolve oil and clear out pores better than glycolic acid which is mainly used to remove flaking skin and treat wrinkles by irritating the skin to produce more collagen.

As for the forum being dead, I'd say it's far from it. The next time you're not getting a response from the question try bumping it to make it current and see if that works.

free skin care · Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:36 am

luckylouie wrote:

As for the milia, see a dermatologist or a cosmetologist and have them removed properly. You'll end up with scarring if you try to remove them yourself.

I remove them myself with no problem. My dermatologist's advice was to keep picking at them! That irritates them so sometimes they eventually come off. Otherwise, I dip a needle in alcohol and poke it to irritate it. The irritation brings it to the surface and it falls off.

However, I rarely have had milia since using LacSal by skinbiology.com, coupled with their copper peptides.

Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:15 pm

luckylouie wrote:

I would guess that using glycolic acid 3 times a day is irritating your skin which is why you are developing wrinkles. Using it once a day should be plenty. As for the milia, see a dermatologist or a cosmetologist and have them removed properly. You'll end up with scarring if you try to remove them yourself. Thirdly, some people find their skin responds better to saliclyc acid rather than glycolic acid. This is used in a lot of acne products as it tends to dissolve oil and clear out pores better than glycolic acid which is mainly used to remove flaking skin and treat wrinkles by irritating the skin to produce more collagen.

As for the forum being dead, I'd say it's far from it. The next time you're not getting a response from the question try bumping it to make it current and see if that works.

I used it 3 times, every other day, not three times a day lol. In retrospect, my mistake was that I put it on after exfoliating my face....I eliminated the wrinkle with putting jojoba oil on my skin for a week, whew! I do use the cream 2-3 times a week with jojoba oil on top of it. So far, 2 milia came out. My derm will remove it, but it costs a fortune at 75CAD per milia...so I decided to try other methods first. No spas here in Vancouver will do that (removal of milia with needle), all of them recommend all kinds of procedures (peel, microdermabrasion etc), but all I need is someone just extracting the buggers out!

I had a glycolic peel back in October, didn't do much at all. In fact, I have never had a wow-facial, and I have been to some swanky spas...my skin is pretty good as is, aside from milia, but it seems to be genetic as my mom has some too.

Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:17 pm

does it hurt to poke the milia? What needles do you use? medical lancets?

free skin care · Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:58 pm

I got the Easy-Eye Solutions undereye cream and eye cream, sold by NCN skin care to improve the dark skin under my eyes and help with bags. The results for this were very good (see the thread on it), but what was an added marvel was they got rid of 4 milia that I had had for at least 4 years and no pain. One day they were just gone!
While Easy-Eye makes no claims about milia, it worked for me and I can recommend it most highly.

free skin care · Thu Mar 03, 2011 9:49 pm

sarsnake wrote:

does it hurt to poke the milia? What needles do you use? medical lancets?

Sewing needle. Just dip it in alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to sterilize and swab the spot before and after with the same solution. Milia are hard to hold still so you just have to carefully poke around on all sides. If it doesn't come out immediately, it will be irritated enough to pop out in a few days.

I've learned over the years to watch what my doctors do and try to duplicate it if possible. For example, when my dermatologist just snipped off skin tags with scissors, I did the same. It only hurts as much as plucking a hair.

free skin care · Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:18 pm

I have also removed my own milia... I used a syringe needle from when I used to work in a doctor's office.

Milia are not hard to remove, especially if you have any rubber fingertips available (like mini condoms for your fingers, lol). Or even just using Kleenex on both fingers... Getting a good grip is the key.

It's kind of fun to pop them out actually. Then again, I used to wax myself and lived to tell the tale. Laughing

free skin care · Fri Mar 04, 2011 9:37 am

It's really not recommended to remove your own milia. It's easy to damage them, and usually when you can't remove it, you just keep trying and trying and you just keep making it worse. You should consider a stronger glycolic acid strength

free skin care · Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:04 am

oasisjc wrote:

It's really not recommended to remove your own milia.

Reminds of years ago my dentist telling me it was 'dangerous' to bleach my own teeth. He charged hundreds of dollars. Somehow I wasn't worried when Crest Whitestrips were invented. Laughing

Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:13 am

oasisjc wrote:

It's really not recommended to remove your own milia. It's easy to damage them, and usually when you can't remove it, you just keep trying and trying and you just keep making it worse. You should consider a stronger glycolic acid strength

I am not sure I like its effect on my face so far. I am using Reviva Labs 10% glycolic acid cream, twice a week, and I put jojoba oil on top to minimize the burn(it says to do that on the package), my skin has actually become dryer since then, none of that plump youthfulness they promise from glycolic acid....

I am thinking to visit my derm after all.
I used to use Aubrey Organics rose mosquita mosturizer for years and my skin was great,(my skin is on the dry side), until one day I noticed that darn milia bump that didn't go away for months...I switched my mosturizer to derma e hyaluronic acid day creme and seems like I am getting more milia.Agh. I am not sure what is causing it. I am more interested what keeps it at bay rather how to remove it. I am not objected to paying to have it removed, I just don't want it to come back.

Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:18 am

SoftSkin wrote:

oasisjc wrote:

It's really not recommended to remove your own milia.

Reminds of years ago my dentist telling me it was 'dangerous' to bleach my own teeth. He charged hundreds of dollars. Somehow I wasn't worried when Crest Whitestrips were invented. Laughing

Tried the strips, waste of money. Didn't actually do anything, of course this was years ago,lol. I had to buy bleach from my dentist to bleach my teeth, and that bleach actually worked.

free skin care · Fri Mar 04, 2011 6:14 pm

oasisjc wrote:

It's really not recommended to remove your own milia. It's easy to damage them, and usually when you can't remove it, you just keep trying and trying and you just keep making it worse. You should consider a stronger glycolic acid strength

I can see your point - one needs to know when to stop trying if the milia is just not coming out. That said, it's not exactly a surgical type procedure by any stretch. I've only heard of glycolic as being a preventative rather than as a cure.

Milia need to come out physically (rather than chemically) - at least that was what I was taught in school.

free skin care · Fri Mar 04, 2011 7:54 pm

I also suffer from milia on my forehead. Despite trying different topical products, glycolic acid , Retin A and microdermabrasion and having a beauty therapist physically removing them, they still persist! Recently I started using acne strength products and these have helped, saliclyc acid and benzoyl peroxide, in particular protactiv #3 repair lotion has oddly enough made a difference! They are very stubborn and difficult to remove both physically and through use of products. So I was surprise that the protactiv product is working for me.

free skin care · Sat Mar 05, 2011 12:08 am

Yeah, my point was that if you've tried removing them before and you were successful, then by all means go for it. But if you were never able to get one out and leaving your face unharmed, you should probably avoid doing anything else to them because 1. it may not even be milia if you're having such a hard time removing them and 2. you're just harming your skin and irritating it even further

free skin care · Sat Mar 05, 2011 1:29 am

oasisjc wrote:

It's really not recommended to remove your own milia. It's easy to damage them, and usually when you can't remove it, you just keep trying and trying and you just keep making it worse. You should consider a stronger glycolic acid strength

I would have to agree with oasisjc about removal. It is not that it can't be done. But rather it is too easy to keep picking/trying to remove, etc. and could possibly do damage.

I won't own a blackhead remover for the same reasoning.

free skin care · Sat Mar 05, 2011 1:32 am

fongflyer5 wrote:

I also suffer from milia on my forehead. Despite trying different topical products, glycolic acid , Retin A and microdermabrasion and having a beauty therapist physically removing them, they still persist! Recently I started using acne strength products and these have helped, saliclyc acid and benzoyl peroxide, in particular protactiv #3 repair lotion has oddly enough made a difference! They are very stubborn and difficult to remove both physically and through use of products. So I was surprise that the protactiv product is working for me.

The Proactive toner (repair lotion) has glycolic acid. If this is working, you should continue with it and or products that contain AHA. (glycolic and or lactic acids)

MUA has good reviews on the toner.

free skin care · Sat Mar 05, 2011 1:38 am

sarsnake wrote:

Ok, so I have a milia problem. I bought Reviva Labs 10% glycolic acid night cream, and have used it 3 times, every other day.

My skin is not sensitive - I can barely feel the tingle. But anyway, the milia is still there, but I also noticed that I have started breaking out and got a prominent wrinkle on my cheek.....what gives?

I have dry/combination skin, never had an acne issue.

I am a little confused how a product recommended to renew the skin can cause wrinkles? Can glycolic acid really do that?

I have not used the product you are currently using. I have used various products with AHA.

The best eye treatment with AHA is MD Forte. If you look at the reviews on makeupalley.com; you will see varied results.

1)It did remove milia for some people
2) It does cause dryness (and wrinkles appear more obvious)
3) it is an eye TREATMENT. This does not moisturize. I used a moisturizing cream over it later. I would suggest an oil such as emu or squalane.
4) you cannot buy this and use it every night AT FIRST. You need to ease into it.

It is approximately $50.00. I did see results from it when I was using it and I did not use every night.

I have Neostrata now and like it. The MD Forte is more effective.

Mon Mar 07, 2011 11:58 am

Autumn1995 wrote:

I have not used the product you are currently using. I have used various products with AHA.

The best eye treatment with AHA is MD Forte. If you look at the reviews on makeupalley.com; you will see varied results.

1)It did remove milia for some people
2) It does cause dryness (and wrinkles appear more obvious)
3) it is an eye TREATMENT. This does not moisturize. I used a moisturizing cream over it later. I would suggest an oil such as emu or squalane.
4) you cannot buy this and use it every night AT FIRST. You need to ease into it.

It is approximately $50.00. I did see results from it when I was using it and I did not use every night.

I have Neostrata now and like it. The MD Forte is more effective.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Reviva Labs glycolic acid cream I am currently using has 10% of glycolic acid. What's the MD Forte's %? The paradox of these products is that they do dry the skin out and cause wrinkles. I already have dry skin and I am not sure I want to make it worse.

What I have done over the weekend is go to Whole Foods and got myself 100& pure Rose-Hip oil. I have eliminated ALL moisturizers, except jojoba oil. My new routine will be jojoba oil in the morning and rosehip oil at night with a weekly scrub/mask. I may keep on using the glycolic acid as well - I haven't decided yet - it does make my skin dryer and thinner, not plumper and more youthful.

I must says that Derma-e hyaluronic moisturizer I have been used for 2 months has made my milia problem worse, but since my skin is dry I need to moisturize it. I would rather stick with 1 ingredient for now which is why i decided to use oils. They don't make me break out, so I will give it a go and see if this makes the problem worse. If no new milia appear I will go to the derm, remove the existing milia and keep on with oils. What I am interested in is eliminating the CAUSE of milia. I have never had any problems with my skin (never had acne, not even in my teens) and I would rather find what's causing it.

Needless to say, I would rather not use the majority of products available because they contain parabens, petroleum derived compounds, and other nasty substances.

free skin care · Mon Mar 07, 2011 1:58 pm

Some people say milia is related to diet - try to remember if you changed anything around the time they started appearing.

People have had success cutting out dairy, especially. Even though there is controversy around how milia can be prevented, it doesn't hurt to experiement.

It really depends on how badly you want to get rid on them!

A diet high in fat is another often cited culprit - or just the inability to actually process one's intake of fat. Digestive enzymes are a huge benefit in that department (check out your local health food store). I've worked in esthetics and naturopathy so have been exposed to some interesting conditions and their treatments. Any problem with the skin is related to issues with elimination in general. The skin can show us where we need to purify and get back into balance.

Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:43 pm

Luminosity wrote:

Some people say milia is related to diet - try to remember if you changed anything around the time they started appearing.

People have had success cutting out dairy, especially. Even though there is controversy around how milia can be prevented, it doesn't hurt to experiement.

It really depends on how badly you want to get rid on them!

A diet high in fat is another often cited culprit - or just the inability to actually process one's intake of fat. Digestive enzymes are a huge benefit in that department (check out your local health food store). I've worked in esthetics and naturopathy so have been exposed to some interesting conditions and their treatments. Any problem with the skin is related to issues with elimination in general. The skin can show us where we need to purify and get back into balance.

I do believe that also. Anything we put in our bodies affects our well-being: skin included.

I have had one milia on my upper cheek for years actually, I started noticing them more, but it may be because I stare at the magnifying mirror more, lol:) I think I have always had milia and sun damage after spending 5 years in a desert country.

My diet is very healthy, I don't eat a lot of dairy, occasional hard cheese and I actually cut that out a month ago. No red meat, I do eat good fat: essential omega stuff, in fish and nuts. I don't drink nearly as much water as I should though. Hardly any sweets aside from dark chocolate. No processed hydrogenated fats at all. Veggie/fruit etc. I can't really think of making my diet more healthy...I am trying to drink more water though. As far as carbs go, I am a carb junkie, but stick to healthy ones: such as spelt, buckwheat, rye and quinoa...

free skin care · Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:37 am

Have you been using a moisturizing enough moisturizer? Some milia can be caused by dryness of the skin

Tue Mar 08, 2011 2:56 pm

First victory! I poked at milia 2 days ago with the sterilized lancet, and unsuccessfully. one of the bumps has been there for close to 10 years:) anyways, last night I took a hot shower and after that I gently squeezed them out. i still have some small ones left, but the majority are out! very happy!

I can't attribute it to any product though - I am afraid the solution is to physically extract them.

free skin care · Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:21 pm

sarsnake wrote:

First victory! I poked at milia 2 days ago with the sterilized lancet, and unsuccessfully. one of the bumps has been there for close to 10 years:) anyways, last night I took a hot shower and after that I gently squeezed them out. i still have some small ones left, but the majority are out! very happy!

I can't attribute it to any product though - I am afraid the solution is to physically extract them.

Congratulations!! Like you said, physically extracting them was the only way I could remove my own.

And please keep in mind those digestive enzymes! If your body is struggling in any way to absorb fats, they will help immensely. I've seen people have real turnarounds from adding them to their diet.

One thing I learned was that the older we get, the weaker our HCL acid is... that's the acid in our stomachs. It gets harder for our bodies to metabolize things. Any help we can give the process is valuable!

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