A milium (: milia), also called a milk spot or an oil seed, is a clog of the

eccrine sweat gland Eccrine sweat glands (; from Greek '' ek(s)+krinein'' 'out(wards)/external+ secrete') are the major sweat glands of the human body. Eccrine sweat glands are found in virtually all skin, with the highest density in the palms of the hands, and sol ...

. It is a

keratin Keratin () is one of a family of structural fibrous proteins also known as ''scleroproteins''. It is the key structural material making up Scale (anatomy), scales, hair, Nail (anatomy), nails, feathers, horn (anatomy), horns, claws, Hoof, hoove ...

-filled

cyst A cyst is a closed sac, having a distinct envelope and division compared with the nearby tissue. Hence, it is a cluster of cells that have grouped together to form a sac (like the manner in which water molecules group together to form a bubb ...

that may appear just under the

epidermis The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and Subcutaneous tissue, hypodermis. The epidermal layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the ...

or on the roof of the mouth.Freedberg, et al. (2003). ''Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine''. (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill. . Milia are commonly associated with newborn

babies In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of ...

, but may appear on people of any age. They are usually found around the nose and eyes, and sometimes on the genitalia, often mistaken by those affected as warts or other

sexually transmitted diseases A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral ...

. Milia can also be confused with stubborn whiteheads. In children, milia often disappear within two to four weeks. For adults, they may be removed by a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medi ...

has specialist knowledge in this area). A common method that a dermatologist uses to remove a milium is to nick the skin with a #11 surgical blade and then use a

comedo A comedo (plural comedones) is a clogged hair follicle (pore) in the skin. Keratin (skin debris) combines with oil to block the follicle. A comedo can be open (blackhead) or closed by skin (whitehead) and occur with or without acne. The word ''com ...

ne extractor to press the cyst out.

References

Epidermal nevi, neoplasms, and cysts Conditions of the skin appendages {{Epidermal-growth-stub

See also

References