Fordyce On Lips Cure

I tried accutane for nearly 4 months it didn't really work and I've recently found out I have fordyce on my lips also ;-(

Hi Everyone, 

I have had Fordyce spots on my lips for 8 years.  The spots started out very small on the top middle of my lip and they were barely noticeable, they almost looked very natural.  Until slowly, the spots multiplied on my top lip all throughout the vermillion border.  Then a cluster slow emerged and multiplied near the middle of my lip (on the left side).  That cluster continues to get bigger.  Now there is a new cluster forming on the opposite side.  

Three years ago, a very good dermatologist finally gave me the breakdown of what the spots are, the biological make up, that they are oil glands that really do not need treatment.  Our bodies need these oil glands.  Unfortunately for some of us, these glands are visible in places where they should not be visible, like the lips.  For most people, their oil glands are not visible to the eye.  Anyhow, the derma refused to treat me because there really is not a modern technology that can get rid of these oil glands.  They are GLANDS, they are a body organ.

I was desperate, REALLY desperate so I insisted on hearing about CO2 laser, electrodessication, and other laser treatments.  I insisted on electrodessication, which is used on other types of skin lesions which sort of burns of a lesion superficially.  I tried that on the biggest cluster on my lip. The cluster was shaved off for a few days but the spots started reappearing.  So I tried the VBEAM laser after that with another doctor.  The VBEAM laser took all the color from my upper lip, so I looked like a freak of nature.  It took almost 2 years for my lip color to start to come back.  Three years later, my lips have not returned to its normal color.

I tried electrodessication 3 more times.  The only analogy I can think of is like, electrodessicating fordyce spots is like mowing your lawn.  You cut off a top layer but it eventually grows back.

I became extremely depressed and had sever anxiety attacks because of they way my lips looked.  I became more shy and shut myself from the world.  My psychological state was so severe I had decided to see a psychiatrist to help me cope and accept that these spots are a part of me, permanently.  Therapy helped A LOT and for awhile I forgot about my spots.  

I wish I had something else to offer to all of you like a new breakthrough in dermatology.  The reality is, there isn't a permanent treatment right now.  Therapy has helped me but I am here aren't I?  I am here because my spots are becoming worse and I needed to be around people (even if just online) who knows exactly what I'm going through.

I will continue to seek therapy.  We have to see these spots as something beatiful instead of ugly!  We are not ugly! We don't have STDs!  We don't have a contagious skin disease!  

These are beautiful blemishes!  NO ONE IS PERFECT!  We need to spread a better and more positive image and attitude about our spots, we need to show people that these spots are normal.  We are beautiful people.

Checking back in and I see no cure has been found. I have been doing some reading and it was advised to shave facial hair near the lips and also Omega 3 fish oil

to reduce sebum production. I guess I will try it as I just need this to not be noticeable before I have a mental breakdown.

Every one on here should do them selves a favour and checkout the fordyce forum. There are a couple of possible new cures that are waiting FDA approval which are discussed on this forum.

There is a new 1720nm laser which is being patented and been shown to cure acne and sebacous hyperplasia. It should work on fordyce spots as well since it is overactive sebacous glands. It selectivly targets sebacous glands and destroys them without damagiing the skin around it. The laser hits way deeper than the co2 laser and detstroys the glands.

Another treatment being patented is nanoshells. Nanoshells are introduced into the sebacous glands and then a laser is used to heat them up and destroy the glands.

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beliv me...i tried all procedures ...nd yag ..co2..pixel laser....nothing work...i met 3 derm...one recomended me try peel..called tca peel...then it made my fordyce spots on lips worse..my lips totally destroy...i felt so ashamed...i tried contact all derm around n met one really pro derm...it suggest electrocautery... the treatment really paintful....really 200x paintful...but it worth..90% of fordyce spots really gone..i coudnt eat for a month...but the result worthy...no more tretinoin...vinegar..jojoba... the answer is electrocautery...!!!

hey im back sorry for lagging but i have good news!!!! that treatment i did didnt work after all... for whatver reason when i got the treament done a second time the fordyce spots came back more unlike the first time i did the treatment.... but forget about that anyways i found a solution on another fordyce spots forum and it was GARLIC!!!! just peel some garlic then cut it in the middle and rub it onto your lip and leave it on for 30 mins to an hour then wash it off and for the first two weeks do this twice a day morning/night.... after the 2nd week youll notice your lip will start peeling after that your lips will look ALOT better.... so after the two week period youll only need to put the garlic on your lip once every 2 or three days and that will maintain the look and also keep your lips from peeling again because you dont need them to....... if you dont believe me research garlic for acne treaments youll see alot of people use that as a home remedy! also youtube it there are videos of people putting it on there acne and how to do it just incase you dont understand how to apply the garlic........ also noting this doesnt completly get rid of the spots but i would say it makes them about 70-75% less visable so it damn near does get rid of them lol.... SO REALLY GIVE THIS IS TRY!!!! reason im saying this is because in the forum where i found the guy that said all this about garlic being the solution and was right there were people still posting after "i wish someone would post a soultion" so yeah this is a pretty awesome and dirt cheap soluion and the only way your gonna know if it works is if you try it.. so try it!........ well i hope i helped someone because i know the guy who first posted this soulution helped my life tremendously and im forever thankful for whoever that guy is! lol .... goodluck everyone!

I have been on the path of trying to get a co2 laser treatment.

It turns out that many dermatologists are not knowledgable.

1. I read somewhere earlier in this thread that someone had pulse-dye laser treatment on their lips. This is ridiculous, that is meant to be for removing redness, and like that person said, their lip remained discoloured for years. Don't let a doctor use pulse dye.

2. Do not let a doctor use FRACTIONAL laser on your lips. Fractional co2 laser is an utter waste of time. Why? Fractional involves just making lots of tiny holes with the laser around an area. All it would do is cause some blistering, shed, and then the spots return within weeks. The treatment you need is 1-2mm spot size non-fractional ablative co2, to zap the spot individually and with more than 1 pass to make sure it can get deep enough to ablate the oil gland.

I assume that any of the people saying they had "co2 laser" and it not working is because their dermatologist was an id**t and tried the treatment they usually give for wrinkles, but on the lips. Or they didnt have the laser set correctly and only slightly burnt the top skin.

A lot of dermatologists and even plastic surgeons are completely inexperienced with dealing with things like this. Dermatologists are used to dry skin, acne and moles only. And plastic surgeons are used to scars, breasts and noses.

You are all really at the mercy of whether luck is on your side when you see a doctor.

But here's the only certainty. Of all the studies done on fordyce spots, their removal always required a laser doing more than one pass in a non-fractional way, and co2 laser is generally the only laser that is seen to get deep enough to affect the oil gland.

I'm going to detail how at one point I managed to remove all lip fordyce spots with prescription creams.

It will NOT make your lips feel normal however. Yes, they will remove the spots and make your lips smooth again, but in return your lips will constantly feel dry and feelingless because your lips will constantly push out and shed layers of skin.

Not only that, but spots will be visible again after just 3 days of discontinuing treatment, and almost full size in just 10 days, and you will need to sleep with cream on your lips every night.

Here's the treatment. 1. use lactic acid 8% cream for 3 minutes, then with tissues and water wipe cream off. repeat this again immediately, this time your lips will burn mildly. Depending on if you can tolerate it do it a 3rd time.

By now your lips should be stinging and raw. But if they have begun to swell up like an allergic reaction, you have used too much lactic acid, but it will go down in 30 minutes.

After wiping off the lactic acid cream for the final time, apply a very small amount of 0.05% (less % may work too) tretinion cream to your lips. Then, sleep with this on your lips.

In the morning, take a towel and wet your lips and carefully wipe them (and a layer of skin) away. You can now apply lip balm if you would like.

Throughout the day your lips will feel quite dry, despite using lip balm, this is due to a layer of skin on the outside of the lips. Over the next couple of weeks your lips will look weird, red and disease-ish constantly. It will take about 2 weeks-ish to remove all the spots, you will see them getting smaller day by day until they become invisible. You may develop cracks in the corner of your lips, and you will not want to be seen by anybody.

After about a month though, your lips will begin to get accustom to the creams. There will be no more cracking, and most of the time no redness. Your lips will look a healthy pink color. But you will still be hesitant about their appearance.

However, no matter what you do with lip balms (which do help..), your lips will not feel normal unless you discontinue the treatment for over 48 hours, at which point the spots start to re-occur rapidly.

The reason this treatment works is because the tretinoin is 1. halting the sebaceous gland production. 2. shedding the skin and the past oil with it.

The lactic acid directly before tretinoin is key. If the skin on your lips is not raw and stinging-ish before putting the tretinoin on, then it will not be able to penetrate deep enough to turn the sebaceous gland off.

You also can not eat any spicy foods while on this treatment unless you are okay with severe lip pain.

Many of us are seeking the feeling of "normal smooth lips". This gives you smooth lips, but it never feels normal. I still had it constantly on my mind due to always having a dry layer of skin on them. So if you are looking to not be mentally aware of your lips feeling weird, this isn't going to help you much for that.

I can't say what the long term effects of doing this might be, your lips arent designed to be shed like this. Personally I do not feel it is a solution over co2 laser. To never be able to sleep without c**p all over your lips seems like a harsh price to pay.

Has anyone else had success with this method or is in the midst of trying it aswell?

I tried the garlic method, worked wonders, better than expected. The only downside at the moment is lip dryness, but well worth it for the aesthetic. Would highly recommend people give it a try, your foolish enough not to if you visit this forum.

Have you tried 'permanent' lip makeup, which is like a tatoo. I went to someone who had several years experience and eventually found a good colour match to cover a large fordyce spot I had on my lip. The result was great. As it is not permanent completely, you will need topups every year to 18 months. I hope this will be a solution for you.

hey guys just got back to the forum. its been awhile since i last posted and i actually almost forgot about this place lol. No i never found a cure.   I will try the garlic method tho. Sounds promising, hang in there everyone!

So like 3 or 4 weeks ago, Fordyce spots appeared on my lips out of nowhere (I'm 24). I searched the internet and read what someone said about trying Blistex. So I bought the medicated lip ointment in the white tube and the medicated balm in the green tube. I applied the ointment 3-4 times a day, then supplement with the balm the rest of the day. My lips would always be covered in Blistex. After about 3 days, I noticed a HUGE difference. After about 10-12 days, my bumps were totally gone! So then I used less Blistex and started using lip gloss and lipstick again and sure enough, the bumps came back! So now I am back to my original regime and the bumps are gone again. I think I will only wear lip gloss and lip stick on special occasions and put it over the Blistex because I hate the bumps so much! Anyway, jsut thought I'd share with you guys what worked for me! 

Man I was getting adult acne and started washing my face constantly. I got hyperpigmentation from popping pimples and got so depressed. Didn't eat for a few days and the lips got extremely dry. Next thing you know I got angular chelitis on one side only. When that finally cleared I was so happy ready to go back to work and take on the world. Then I looked at my top lip and noticed a few of these spots. Since then (1year ago), they have spread and my life and self esteem are at an all time low. Now God has brought a wonderful woman from work into my life, but I can't pursue her due to the embarrassment of these spots. I hate daylight and only feel comfortable around people at night because they are less noticeable at night.

I work in retail so I talk a lot. People notice it on my top lip. They cover their mouths with concern and or rub their top lip as if they are wanting to know wtf it is. I obviously do not want to talk about it and keep repeating myself about fordyce spots. I try keeping the conversation interesting for them and make them talk instead. Sometimes it shuts me down or gets me mad. Making me look either insecure or a penis. I do have times where it goes smooth and they learn I'm not making it a big deal so they won't either. Hard to explain what they really think but their reactions tell u more . Be nice and keep the conversation incontrol... I've used a few things and no success.. I'm currently using baking soda. Heard it's a quick home remedy for removing a layer off the skin... Remember to take control in conversations and focus on the other persons eyes and smile. If u really wanna win that person over, be brief and really try being nonchalant about it. Than humbly ask what they think about it.... Sucks but what else can we do but try being more strong mentally to move on.