Treatment of Sebaceous Hyperplasia

Sebaceous hyperplasia is a skin disorder, wherein an individual develops small yellowish pimple-like growth on the skin, normally on the face. These growths are also known as Fordyce's spots. People who are in their middle ages and elderly people normally experience this disorder which affects around 1% of the total population in the US. Approximately 10-16% of people who are on a semipermanent use of 'cyclosporin A' for organ transplantations, are affected by sebaceous hyperplasia. There are few cases, where lesions are formed during pubescence, and they may be single or in a group. They are formed in areas where several oil secretors are present, like the nose, cheeks, forehead, chest, upper arms, vulval region, and around the teats. They are tiny, pain-free, whitish yellow colored bumps on the skin surface.

Oleaginous glands are highly sensitive to androgenic hormones, even though the number of these glands don't change much, throughout a person's lifetime, their functions and size differ depending on the age and circulating internal secretion levels. This disorder has many symptoms such as hickeys on the skin, especially on the forehead and cheeks, a 'seborrhoeic' skin infection, or acne.

People may choose treatments of sebaceous hyperplasia depending on the symptoms. Applying 'tretinoin' cream or gel on the affected area, is a simple method for treating the disorder, which would make the pimples disappear over time, and will also preclude further complications. Trichloroacetic Acid (TCA) chemical peels, can also be used to treat the disorder, but new hickeys will keep forming initially after the treatment.

If the pimples are severe, blemishing, or cover a considerably larger area on the skin, oral isotretinoin medicaments can be very useful in treating the complication. This medication has proven to show its effects in around 2-6 weeks of treatment. 'Isotretinoin' has the capability to temporarily decrease the size of oleaginous glands. However, its use for this purpose should only be recommended by a dermatologist, as a part of the oral retinoid therapy. In case of a women, androgen antagonists would surely serve the purpose.

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) or photoradiation therapy, is one of the effective treatments, wherein the effected area is exactly targeted. This procedure doesn't have any long-term fallouts if used in a correct manner, and also allows one to have a clear skin free from scars, after the treatment. Light cauterization is another efficient way of getting rid of lesions.

Diathermy, which is a method of physical therapy that includes producing local heat in body tissues by high-frequency electromagnetic currents, is also opted by people to remove skin lesions. Skin hickeys can be removed by another treatment known as 'laser vaporization', however, this procedure is expensive and very advanced. Some skin specialists may recommend a minor surgical operation, or the liquid nitrogen freezing procedure for bringing the skin condition back to normal.

Before applying any kind of creams and gels, or undergoing any type of treatment, it is strongly recommended to consult a skin doctor, for appropriate steps to treat sebaceous hyperplasia and to avoid serious skin complications.