It’s not a whitehead
Are you bothered by clusters of small white bumps on the skin around your eyelids, neck or scalp?
Syringomas are small benign tumours that form in clusters on the skin. Though conventional creams used to combat whiteheads or pimples will not work on syringomas, syringomas can fortunately be treated with AGNES or CO2 ablation via an Edge Fractional CO2 Laser. Let’s discuss in further detail about what syringomas are, and what treatment options are available for you.
What are syringomas?
Syringomas have an appearance similar to whiteheads or milia. However, unlike whiteheads or milia, syringomas are not caused by the clogging of hair follicles or eccrine sweat glands, they are instead benign (non-cancerous) eccrine sweat duct tumours formed due to unnatural and excessive growth of the sweat duct tissue.
While syringomas are tumours, they are generally harmless and do not cause cancer or pain to the individual suffering from them, but they do cause the affected skin to have an undesirable “bumpy” look.
Types of syringoma
- Milia-like syringoma – Milia-like syringoma have white or pale yellow centers and are generally very small in size. This form of syringoma is often mistaken as white heads, pimples or millia, it is also the most common type of syringoma.
- Eruptive syringoma – Syringoma that forms on the font of the chest, neck, arms and abdominal area. It may take the form of consecutive outbreaks of rash in the affected area.
- Plaque type syringoma – Epidermal skin thickening can result from plaque type syringoma due to its link to itching and chronic scratching.
- Familial syringoma – A genetic form of syringoma that can be inherited from a parent.
Signs and symptoms
Syringomas are easily identifiable as small 1–3 mm rounded bumps on the skin, the bumps may vary in colour ranging from skin-toned to white, or even a pale yellow. The tumours usually form in small symmetrical clusters on both sides the face, eyes, or scalp. Depending on the type of syringoma that you suffer from, the tumours may also appear as a rash on your neck, armpits, abdominal area, chest or groin.
There are usually no other symptoms accompanying the appearance of small bumps on the skin as syringomas are generally harmless and do not cause discomfort or pain. However, a slight itch may be present for people who suffer from plaque type syringoma.
AGNES skin treatment for syringomas
AGNES is a permanent and safe treatment solution for adults suffering from chronic acne, AGNES works by using small microscopic needles to accurately deliver radio frequency (RF) currents into the skin to target and destroy overactive sebaceous glands that cause acne and pimples.
I use AGNES machine to treat chronic acne and have found AGNES treatment to be effective in not only treating acne, but also in removing syringomas.
One of the key advantages of AGNES is its ability to specifically target problematic areas in the skin, for example an overactive sebaceous gland, and eliminate the problem without any thermal injury to the heathy skin tissue surrounding the affected area. This unique feature of AGNES can be applied to the removal of syringomas as it allows me to deliver controlled RF energy deep into the skin’s dermis and into the syringoma tissue to remove it while avoiding damage to the surrounding skin.
A common misconception is that the terms “sweat gland” and “sebaceous gland” are interchangeable, this is far from the truth as while sweat glands and sebaceous glands are both located in the skin’s dermis, they are separate glands. In fact, you have two types of sweat glands: the apocrine sweat gland attached to the hair follicle, and the eccrine sweat gland responsible for your syringomas.
As the sebaceous glands and eccrine sweat glands have different structures and are located separately from one another, the length of the needle as well as the power of the RF energy being delivered must be fine-tuned to ensure effective treatment of syringomas or acne.
At The Clifford Clinic, we use two separate types of needles that deliver two different strength of RF energy for the treatment of syringomas or acne. To target sebaceous glands we use a 1.5 mm long needle with 0.45-mm of base insulation, while to target syringomas we use a 1.2 mm long needle with 0.2 mm of base insulation, so you can rest assured that the needles used for your treatment are fine-tuned specifically for your needs.
The use of microscopic needles of different lengths as well as the ability of AGNES to deliver RF energy of varying energies allows me to precisely control the location, depth, duration, and power of the RF energy being delivered into the tissue, making AGNES a very reliable and safe treatment option with no risk of scaring unlike the surgical removal of syringomas. I highly recommend AGNES, as it is a permanent solution for you that targets and destroys syringoma tissue at its roots in the skin’s dermis, effectively removing the problem at its source.
Laser removal of syringomas using a Fractional CO2 Laser
Fractional CO2 laser treatment can rejuvenate your skin by promoting collagen growth to improve your skin’s texture, shrink your pores, and smoothen out wrinkles. The CO2 laser works by stripping the outer layers of damaged skin tissue and simultaneously heating the inner dermis of the skin to stimulate rejuvenation. Fractional Co2 delivers controlled damage to the skin, signalling to the body to repair and rebuild the thermally damaged tissue. This regenerative process promotes collagen remodelling in the skin resulting in tighter and rejuvenated skin tissue.
CO2 lasers are ablative lasers, meaning that the laser is also capable of ablating or removing any excess skin on the surface or beneath the surface of the skin. This technology can thus be applied to syringoma removal. Using the CO2 laser, I am able to deliver controlled thermal damage to syringoma tissue to destroy it without the risk of harming or scarring the surrounding skin. This treatment method also has the additional benefit of promoting collogen growth for tighter skin after the removal of the syringoma, ensuring that you have a quick recovery with little downtime.
Final words
Due to the lack of other symptoms besides the appearance of white bumps on the skin, syringomas are often mistaken as an outbreak of whiteheads or pimples, and many people tend to take the wrong approach to treating their syringomas.
As mentioned above, syringomas are not formed due to clogged pores or hair follicles. Applying pimple creams will not get rid of them and trying to “pop” or “extract” the syringomas like pimples may exacerbate the problem and lead to scarring.
If you are unsure if the bumps on your skin are syringomas or pimples, do not hesitate to arrange a consultation with me and my team. We at The Clifford Clinic are happy to assist you with diagnosing your problem, and regardless of the outcome of your diagnosis, we are prepared to solve your problem with our wide range of effective treatments to combat both syringomas and pimples.
