Milia?/Skin issues?

[BWS1982]

Anyone else get a side effect/symptom like this, it's supposedly something called Milia my gf says after she talked to someone at her cosmotology school....I HATE it, not as bad as moon face, but it only appeared in the last couple months, probably a side of some sort, most likely from pred, but with starting/stopping a dozen meds lately, who knows....it's on my chest/shoulders/neck and face, I tried asking the dr. about it but it was one of the things the stupid receptionist at the office neglected to tell him, I'll try to ask him this week.

[dingbat]

yep, thats the term i would use for that kind of skin condition. my daughter is pre-pubescent and has had this on her upper arms since being a toddler. now she has it on her face... i have no idea what it is, i've asked the practice nurse but she dismissed it as anything to worry about.

having said that, if as you say this has appeared recently, and particularly since taking certain drugs, i wouldnt leave it.. i'd definitely insist someone takes a look at it. it may well turn out to be an innocent but annoying side effect, but nonetheless it needs diagnosing.

those stupid things just popped up on my forhead again this week. i look like i have acne or something!
i am assuming that it is from prednisone, cos the only other thing i am taking is remicade but i have had these pop up before i started that. i wonder if it has to do with tapering at all? i've been tapering .5 mg a week for a few weeks now. (from 60 to 20 at this point)
thanks to prednisone i got 4 chins, a buffalo hump, a couple of spare tires and if it's not bad enough now i gotta have this!

[Creepy Lurker]

The upper arm rash mentioned above is almost certainly Erythema nodosum, which is very common.

If any start to look like this:
http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/cours...um/fm00066.jpg
then you need to see a doc pretty sharpish. Crohn's can occasionally cause Pyoderma Gangrenosum, but can look similar to your problem at the beginning.

It's probably not though. :P

[My Butt Hurts]

It's from pred for sure. I've been on it 3 times, and all 3 times I get it. Otherwise know as pimples. It starts on my back first, then my chest, also in my scalp. iIm lucky I don't get it on my face too much, just near my hairline. I can't stop playing in my hair. It's almost like picking a sunburn. Make it fun! (Oh my gosh - i MUST be a whackball! Who can make zits fun??) I'm down to 5 mg - Woo-Hoo!! I'll really miss the energy, but I do NOT need any more appetite.

[Wiles]

I get something like that too, on my upper arms, my face, and now I think I have it or something else on my right hand.

Along with it pred gives me bad acne. I've got scars on my face from that.

[Colt]

If they really are milia they are tiny harmless cysts. They are very common in children and especially newborns. Adults most often have them as a result of harsh treatment of the skin like soaps and face washes or excessively hot showers. I know steroids will cause acne, but this isn't acne. As for steroids causing milia, I wouldn't know enough to even offer you a guess. Your GP should be able to help you with these. If any get bad enough they can be drained just like any other cyst.

[BWS1982]

Thanks for the replies, good to know I don't suffer alone, it's all over and it's actually really grossing my gf out, and I hate them badly. I KNOW it's not acne, I've got that too, not hard to diagnose that, I've had that since I was 12. The acne I plan on going to see a dermatoligist for again, as I've seen one before too for that (but he sucked, and my Crohns diagnosis/first flare took presidence over that treatment back in '06)....I had issues with acne get even worse from weightlifting all the time (extra circulating testosterone)....SO DISGUSTING though the milia on top of it all....just more fuel on the prednisone hatred fire for me....

I was told just like mentioned above by Colt that they're cysts under the skin...the bad thing is the girlfriend said her aestitician (sp?) at her beauty school says they NEED to be drained, they don't just go away or get treated topically...I have literally like 250 of them or some crap like that, it'll take days to individually drain them all!!! WTF? I find that hard to believe that they can't be treated with a cream or something or will go away when I get off the pred.

There's even directions (but not recommended) to drain them at home with a hot needle and antiseptic....not gonna do that though.

[Colt]

The small ones will eventually wear away with your normal skin loss if you feel like waiting a long time, but if they're really disrupting your life that much your GP can drain them for you. It's going to be very expensive to do that much work though. Sorry. You could ask your doctor about draining them yourself. They may be supportive and offer some tips. There is also the acid option but there's the chance that beating up on your skin like that could in itself cause a few more milia to form after you've gotten rid of these ones. Plus it's not any more attractive to have your face flaking and peeling.

[BWS1982]

Do you speak of like microdermabrasion (sp?)? I'm not sure on this stuff (my gf would know all about it I suppose...)

I almost am willing to let my gf try to drain them, or at least most of them...she IS technically a few months away from being a "professional", not a doctor, but she will have a license in the summer to do facials among other skin type-things (mostly hair though)...she's got training for being sterile in the processing of such procedures etc...(I'm just thinking aloud here, although it's typing, not aloud, whatever.......)

[Kev]

Wellll, if one had 'decided' to try to drain these themselves, and was aware of the risks... IF it were me.. (bear in mind I'm a farm boy by birth AND old N foolish due to age).. I'd invest in some disposable latex gloves, some 'hospital grade' isopropyl alcohol NOT 60%.. but in the high 90's... AND DON'T leave it open, as it absorbs water (moisture in the air).. AND it's pretty darned flamable.. Then I'd use some infant strength oragel/anebesol for teething as a topical anesthetic... Sterilize everything.. skin, hands, gloves, needles.. cloths or wipes to clean any discharge... pick a patch and give it the old college try.
Getting this infected... perhaps accidently driving infection deeper in the skin, or just the process making it worse.. spreading it... those are some of the risks i can think of from attempting this.. Like, in some cysts, boils, acne, whatever, it really can spread from just the discharge.. so one needs to be careful of that.

[Colt]

By acid I specifically mean salicylic acid. It's what they sell over the counter as wart remover but your doctor would likely use something a bit more powerful than what you get OTC. Generally it's not a good idea and draining is usually a much better option for your face but plenty of people with acne and such and their doctors use it.

Hi, have you been tested for shingles, because i have it at the moment and your rash look's very much like mine.

[BWS1982]

hmm, no, isn't shingles basically "adult chicken pox"? I don't think that's what it is, it's only on me from about the sternum up, and doesn't really itch (much). They're not red or scabby either...I'm in the process of setting up an appointment with a dermatologist to get it checked out.

[soupdragon69]

Glad you are going to Derms. It took me a few trips to them to figure out my skin problems but certainly worthwhile!

Let us know how you get on Benson.

[BWS1982]

to update, these things on my face have really gone down well, on their own, but the ones on my chest/shoulders... not really.