Fordyce On Lips Cure

Hey Kobe I'm about to try the hot needle method. Have any of your spots returned? Did it scar? I'm going to give it a shot...

I've never done CO2 laser and do not know anyone who has tried that method. I had a dermatologist suggest it three years ago but warned me that the healing process might take long and I may develop a cold sore/blister from the laser treatment so I decided not to do it.

I tried the pulse dye laser, a treatment that is mentioned in almost every literature found in fordyce spots and it did not work. The spots are still there and are still progressing. What's worse is I have a very visible discoloration on my upper lip where the laser was done. For months, I did not have ANY color on my upper lip. The pulse dye laser was done 1 year and a half ago and I'm only starting to see some of the color of my lip coming back. For about a year and a half, I looked a little bit like a freak of nature. My lips are naturally red, then I had the white discoloration on my upper lip which made me look like I had like a white mustache, and it actually contrasted with the white spots.

Let us know how your CO2 laser procedure goes and I hope you see a Dermatologist. It's important you seek medical help. Don't simply rely on these forums you have to make a medical professional aware of your condition.

I don't see how botox would vanish a spot. Do you know what botox does? It paralyzes muscles in your face.

The hyfrecator treatment does not zap the spots away. Like I said above, the treatment makes the spots smaller and less protruding. It shaves off part of the spot, but the spot DOES NOT go away. The spots stayed small and manageable after the treatment from 6-8 months, then the spots went back to its original size.

I honestly do not believe the people that say on the forums that tretinoin cream worked for their spots. These glands ARE NOT pores, nothing is going out and nothing is going in, which is why we have these spots. The oil is trapped in the gland, there is no mechanism for the oils to secrete out from the gland. I have never tried creams.

But since there is very little information on this, I guess there's no harm in trying the cream fora few weeks or months. Anyhow I hope you see a doctor about this.

I'm on tretinoin right now, after trying a bunch of other (PDT, ACV, protopic.. )
Derm got a biopsy and it came out as glandularis cheilitis non specific (i.e. it checks out but isn't conclusive) which just seems to work with dried up skin symptoms.
Tretinoin 0.25% seems a little weak, I might try to get a stronger prescription as I am not experiencing any peeling or symptoms expected. The spots appear to be slightly smaller on the lip after a month, and they want me to do it for 3 months. Note that isotretinoin (roacutane) might be another alternative - I am thinking the spots are really a variant of HPV and isotretinoin has had some success in treating cervix lesions / hpv ... with associated non trivial risks. Talk to your doctor, share your concerns, posts and keep up on multiple threads.
Best - H.

Co2 laser is the best option  2 years free of this buggers

I went for the Co2 treatment for the laser skin resurfacing of the upper lip due to fordyce's. It's recommended in the dermatological surgery journal for August of 2003. Only a few weeks to heal and no scarring or any side effects. I did 1mm spot size instead of 2mm but I suppose either spot size will due the trick. It was like a magic wand completely removed everything. Lasers are amazing at treating any skin pigmentation or removel of moles, etc. hope that helps you. 

No spots returned and the lips are fine and normal now. They just look bad after the procedure for about 1-2 weeks because the skin had to heal. The CO2 laser burns off the skin layer by layer so it does take some time for the skin to grow back, so if you have a little time to take off that would probally be a good idea. I went to a plastic sugeon he just point the thing at the area and that's that. He was an older doctor and a very recognized and accomplished surgeon, but using the laser is pretty easy, the laser does all the works it's not like using a scalpel where the doctor has to have good hands. It burns off the layers of skin and the fordyce's and then the skin heals normally without the spots. There are risks associated with the procedure so make sure you examine the risks and if it really bothers you and you need to get rid of them I wish you good luck. Just remember the CO2 burns the skin  so don't expect it to be perfect right after you get it done, it will take at least a week for the skin to fully heal.

Hello everyone, I want to start off by saying that this post is great and very helpful. Thanks for all the advice and comments. Now this is the first time I actually post something on a forum of any kind I dont usually do this. but I would like to share my story. 

So to make it short about 10 months ago in mid july 2012  I had unprotected sex with this girl I know in a spa. Now a few days later I started to feel discomfort and itching down there. and a few days after that I little white dot on my lip which i easily scrapped off. a few weeks went by and the discomfort in my penis was always there. Also my lip started to have a small cluster in the middle of my upper lip like a white/yellow spot. It took me 5 months to actually go and get tested for STD's but the girl confirmed she was clean. I wanted to make sure myself. I went in did all the tests urine and blood for every std out there. a week later got the results and alll came out negative. so i didnt think much of it. Maybe just an allergic reaction or something. Nobody noticed anything nor said anything. now few months went by I still have the rash kinda on my penis glans and white spot near my urethra. Also my upper lip and vermilion started to have a few tiny spot barely noticeable when stretched but the point is that it grows. Now i went again in February to get checked again to make sure even though after the spa girl all my encounters were safe meaning i had a condom. but just to make sure i went in again cant do any harm. And once again all the tests were negative. So i didnt know what was going on.  now in march 2013 I moved to china for my work. I have been here almost 3 months and the fordyce did become more noticeable to myself. still nobody ever said anyhting but I know its more then what it was back in august or january.  So i did alot of research about this finally came up with a bacteria/yeast infection.which either the girl gave me or I got from all the bacterias in the spa and chemicals that lay in there. Now the doctors here do not speak english and are not very helpful as they are thousands of patients waiting. Now my theory is that the bacteria or yeast infection i got actually cause my glands or organs to inflame and swell which is what caused these fordyce. Prior to that I had nothing. I also read on alot ofposts that derm's acutally prescribe anti fungal creams for fordyce. I know for a fact that it is not std related as I am 100% clean and healthy. I think that it is some sort of bacteria or infection that causes swelling of the gland which resulted in this. Now ofcourse it is differentfor everybody but it could very well be the case for me. Next week I am going to Hong kong as they speak english there and will get treated for my yeast infection. Hopefully this will have good effect on the fordyce. Will keep you all posted.

Any ideas or help will be appreciated  

frikkin hate fordyce!  It is ruining  my life  Im 28years old male and its all over my lips (upper-lower- sides)  also I notice a few below my tongue.  I have it since i remember but it  starts to be noticeable a year ago, now I have thousands of spots. I dont know what to do my lips look like a huge white spot. im going to start taking  accutane at low dossages maybe for life cause I cant live with this condition anymore.  I THINK CO2 LASER WONT WORK FOR ME CAUSE I HAVE TOO MANY SPOTS

 

BY THE WAY I ALREADY TRIED EVERY SINGLE METHOD OR HOME REMEDY IN THIS THREAD  EXCEPT : HYFRECATOR , CO2 LASER

ALSO VISITED 5 DERMATOLOGISTS.

I wish i had studied medicine to help treating this condition

 

My girlfriend, and I both have this issue, her from putting too much lipstick on and things that supposedly 'lock in fullness' or whatever adverts that basically lead to thick films of gook clogging up the pores on your lips.  Any time you lock the pores on your lips, you have to know you're going to get these spots.  Any time you do excessive rubbing of the lips, you're going to get bumps. If you get a lot of dryness to the lips, you're going to get these bumps.  These are the core caution factors, and you're going to look at this like "well who doesn't do any of that?" You're right, we all do, so you have to know that's why A GREAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE THIS ISSUE.  So you can't beat yourself up over this, it's not the end of the day.  Once you start to see it for yourself, on other people, you will be a little more at ease.  My girl beat herself up, too much, and it made me sad to see her like that. I told her many people have this happening, but just like her, you have to get up close and SPREAD THE LIPS to see it. You're not spreading their lips while standing with them, so you can't see it on them. She had them way before I met her, and I told her that it's not HPV because HPV heals and goes away, this stuff is just THERE all the time as bumps, no way even close to HPV. So she calmed down since.

Me, I developed more pronounced versions of these at age 30, a few years ago, while ending my tour of military service, outside all day and being dehydrated more than a few times.  I rubbed my lips constantly, due to pressure and heat. I developed habits overseas, and when I came back stateside, I would work out and not put on any balm, and my lips would be on fire, whether in the gym or working out outside. Who would think to do that? Well I realized why I started getting more, as the climate changed and now I've ways to manage it.

Fordyce will keep coming, and you have to change habits to limit them.  Surgery with lasers, on your lips, is silly, as you're going to scar and they can't promise to remove the glands, which is why people cite the bumps came back then they go for more surgery. In fact, a lot of things shared, in these forums, that don't make much sense, based on other people's feedbacks and comments here, are:

 

1) Using chemical 'exfoliants' on the lips actually agitate more, for most people, and they certainly did to my girl. A lot of things in this forum don't work or are harmful, I'd not suggest the harsher versions of them. Lips are sensitive. You're likely to dry them more or make other bumps and rashes.

2) Drinking tons of water helps to not dehydrate the body, and your skin, ultimately, but do know, that's not going to stop sebum production, nor sebum from escaping the skin, so these spots can reduce themselves.  You can drink a ton of water at night, before sleep, and see that it doesn't help dry lips in the morning, you're still chapped. Something environmental is defeating your intake and retention of water.

3) Taking extra vitamins doesn't cut sebum production down, doesn't help allow the lips to breath, doesn't keep them moist, so that's not helpful for this problem. Some vitamins help promote healthy skin formation, but that has nothing to do with trapped sebum that won't come out. 4) Chemical peels are good for thicker skin, not your lips! You're going to force cheilitis if you do this, and you really don't want that. Exfoliate lightly and not often using tips on how to build homemade scrubs- which are all natural. Don't use more harmful chemicals like facial scrubs on your lips (no apricot scrub from St. Ives). They DRY your skin terribly.5) Lip Balms with lots of chemicals in them do more damage than good. MANY people are allergic to the chemicals in them and get spots they think are fordyce that stays, but they're not, they're something else like rashes. They're bumps from reactions to chemicals or HPV even, and when they go away quickly, you think the fordyce went away quickly. Get an allergy test, note your favorite balms to your dermatologists, and find out.6) People claim they put jojoba oil on lips and it worked in seconds. Wrong!  Depending on the lighting in your room where you viewed yourself in the mirror, and your skin pigmentation, the spots can look more pronounced or weakened when your lips are dried, as opposed to wetter/shinier.  It's simply optical illusion by lighting, if you report results that quickly. People say the spots are more pronounced after some treatments with balms containing the oil, yeah because they're using OTHER chemicals that further block the pores and blocks more area of skin too causing bigger spots or more clusters.

7) Don't pick it with a needle. Guess what? STAPH infections also look like Fordyce spots, especially towards the top of your lips. If you pick the wrong one, you'll regret it for the rest of your life, if it's staph, because that will spread, balloon up, and at worse, kill you. If you touch your lips a lot, with your fingers, you might want to stop doing that. If you go to the gym, watch it!

8) Garlic isn't going to help this, that's nonsense. You're just going to sweat and stink up the place, then no one will really want to be around you!

9) Lasers/cryosurgery are not your friends, when it comes to your lips. Lasers penetrate deep, through tissues. You have nerves on your lips, so you're not being told that you're risking nerve damage!

What does work? Nothing that works for everyone, but surely here's what worked for my us, and a few others we've talked to:

* Dermatologists are just people who didn't have what it takes to be a real doctor, or ran out of funds half way through. They have no idea how to treat this, and many I visited, didn't even know what it was! So they might be a little too quick to tell you it's herpes, then you notice that what they gave you to put on it, only agitates Fordyce, makes it more dry and clumped!

* Keep lips moist, but not flooded with things that will clog the lip pores, because that's what's not allowing the sebum to come out in the first place. If you put another layer on top, how can you expect results? Steamy showers promote extra moisture, but directly applying hot water to lips dries and hurts them. So don't take hot water directly to your lips either, that will dry them badly. You can exfoliate with just your washcloth, at this time. With your lips still moist then, you can apply lip balms to already soft lips, and that lasts for long periods of time.  When you put balm on dried lips, doesn't it seem to not work unless you over do it? Because they don't work unless your lips can be made moist, in the first place.

* Don't lick lips because saliva will dry them badly.

* Don't wipe your lips with harsh napkins, or using hard pressure.  You should pat/dab/remove mess from your lips, after eating, and or just cleaning them. People wipe lips pretty hard, if you notice, and if you have this issue, you're irritating them. Even when you get out of showers, pat dry all areas of your face, don't wipe. Every facial wash tells you this for a reason!

* Weekly light-circular-exfoliating with toothbrush and jojoba oils works for my girl, after a warm shower where pores are opened.  You can exfoliate with sea salt (or sugar) + olive oil, or honey + sugar, so we say stick to substances your lips don't have allergic reactions to, when traces are left on them. We both use the jojoba with toothbrushes because you can leave the oils on there, at night.  You can use vaseline, as well. Never peel off skin, give it time to fall off, and never squeeze the bumps. The exfoliation, done in circles, will loosen the skin, and you might notice some of the sebum coming out too, attached to flakes of skin that trapped it in. This is why exfoliation works, over trapped skin areas.

* If your lips are peeling daily, you need a HUMIDIFIER by your bed, or at work, not to do more exfoliating. Work on preventing the skin dryness at night, like putting on balms or oils at bed time. Observe your environment, it's likely working against you, and FYI air conditioners remove moisture from the room, that works against your lips directly!!!  In Winter, there is low humidity, that works against your lips tremendously, as you will be dried up there, but in Summer, there is high humidity, but you flock to place with ACs quickly. Each of these environments have low humidity or remove humidity, but you need the humidity for moisture. Always be ready with balm, and water in these kinds of settings. If you're playing sports, outside, or running or whatever, be very aware, you're sweating and working in direct sunlight, two things that can contribute to the sebum trying to come out like sweat would normally.

* Watch that direct sunlight, it burns the skin, makes your lips super dry, and makes dark spots very dark, while your spots now seem WHITER! Not good. Get SPF. This is how I noticed mine, at 30 years of age, the contrast between my skin and the white spots made them visible for me, finally.

* Speaking of bedtime, stop sleeping where you're on your face/lips, in bed. Friction from sheets and bed are a HUGE CONTRIBUTOR!  Skin abrasions cause these bumps too just like rubbing or licking lips too much. Saliva alone dries your lips like crazy, especially if you're sleeping, and so does air flow from your mouth, so sleep with your mouth closed, or get a sleep apnea machine if that's an issue. Your inner corners of mouth have a lot of saliva on them all day and night, be mindful of that.

* Calm the hell down! Many people experience this, it's not the end of the world. If you get a new mate, explain to them your situation, and your regimen, and if they're worth anything, they won't be alarmed. Education is your best friend, in this case, so once you're educated, educate others, so they're less judgmental. Ignorance makes your anxiety race.

Some people try to keep their lips crusty, so you can't notice their fordyce, and that's just not good, because it accelerates the problem. I find if I keep the lips moist, spots can't be seen by even me, without careful inspection. So if you're all freaked out about that, dudes, get some Nivea (for men) replenishing balm that allows protection but won't make your lips look all shiny, and has some SPF.

Co2 LASER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please stop asking and try the Co2 Laser procedure its the only procedure that really make the spots less visible and a most of them dissapear.

NOTHING ELSE IS GOING TO HELP YOU TRUST ME

 

Hi everyone, been going through this myself since I was 16.. am 43 now. For a lot fo you it seems they are the small dot type ones that are just below the skin... mine are not like that. The are deeper and larger than those tiny clustered types... which I have some of as well on the inside of the lips. Along the top lip edge are the bigger ones and they are every noticeable. Every time I am talking to someone I can see them looking right at them and it very embarrassing because they are so noticeable. Softening the skin to exfoliate inst going to work for me. I imagine rubbing softened skin off that actually took these things with it would leave tiny holes on my lip ridge or cause it to bleed. They go too deep for that. I can squeeze them with my finer tips and they will protrude ever so slightly. It looks like it is something that is ready to 'pop' but as we know they do not pop like a pimple. All this to say mine are not the tiny clustered ones... but larger ones that have depth.

I've tried some things. Last one was pricking to center with a needle and popping the needle up on an angle to increase the oping size the needle makes in the skin. Then putting acne cream on the lip ridge at night. It was starting to lessen their presence on my lips but I couldn't keep doing that procedure every night as it was too painful for me. Very sensitive skin.]

I think the last resort for me is C02 laser. My concern is the people who come on here talking about it don't really share their experience and just say "C02 laser!" with no link to before and after or anything. And if it is so good then why do I read on other medical sights that there is no cure and no treatment for these things? And even is that laser does work.. will it work for me since mine seem to be bigger and deeper than most?

 

Really depressing.

Hey StrokerRZ,

All the literature reports that Co2 laser method is the most effective way to treat this condition  The spots could return in 1 or 2 years but less in number and less visible.  so if u want to see before and after pics search for  a thread in fordyce spots forum "Perene"  He post tons of pics.

Good Luck!

hello jayct35

unfortunately all the spots returned after a month :( There was no scarring, but the spots did return.

can you post a link or some more info as to where we can get this done? Im willing to try this