Sebaceous filaments

[urfavAbigail]

So I’m younger than most people here and just started puberty, and I recently realized that I had the white bumps on my chin crease and nose. I didn’t know what it was, so I researched and found out that it is probably sebaceous filaments. I don’t know how to treat them. What should I do/use?

[WinglessOne]

Hi @urfavAbigail ! Hmm, sebaceous filaments usually aren’t little white bumps. Instead, they often look like tiny black dots (usually on your nose)—until you squeeze the skin around them, which can make white gunk come out. That gunk is just sebum, the oil your skin naturally makes. Sebaceous filaments are the little tubes that carry sebum up to the surface of your skin. Everyone has and needs ‘em, though some have more visible ones than other folks. 

If you have little white bumps, that’s probably something different. We can’t diagnose you here on BIC (the community you’re reading right now), so your best bet is to ask you parent/guardian to take you to see a dermatologist or your primary care doctor. Little white bumps can be many different things: milia, closed comedones (a type of acne), or another skin condition. Normally I’d say “try applying salicylic acid 1-2 times a week for a while and see if it helps”—but since you’re so young and I’m not a derm or other medical doctor, I recommend talking with your parent/guardian about it first. 

[CorgiMommy]

A medical professional  would a better person to discuss this with. I am not one.  But  I would recommend  a gentle cleanser and  product like differrin. gel, which is an OTC .