Can I use salicylic acid/BHA to exfoliate Fordyce spots in the "under eye" area?

[specialistblend]

 

I'm a male who has Fordyce spots aka visible sebaceous glands under the eye on the inner/nose side and I read someone here on the Sephora forums said they used inkey list BHA/salicylic acid to exfoliate them and it fixed the problem.

I'm referring to this post https://community.sephora.com/t5/Skincare-Aware/Under-Eye-Bumps-NOT-milia/m-p/5406105

But I've read you're not supposed to use salicylic acid in the under eye area?

So I'm confused? Will this work?

[WinglessOne]

@specialistblend  Before you use an exfoliant under your eyes, I recommend you see your primary care doctor or a board certified dermatologist if you can. They're the medical experts. Has a doctor already diagnosed those bumps as Fordyce spots? 

Many doctors tell folks not to use BHA or AHA under their eyes because that skin's thinner and usually more sensitive than other skin on the face. If the little bumps under your eyes bug you, lemme tell you the last thing you want is red, flaky, scaly, painful skin under your eyes. AHA and BHA can irritate the heck outta any skin on your face if used at too high a % and/or too frequently, but especially the undereye area which is easy to irritate. 

If you really wanna try using BHA under your eyes, consider washing that skin with a cleanser that contains a low % of salicylic acid. First one that comes to mind is Paula's Choice CLEAR Pore Normalizing Acne Cleanser 6 oz/ 177 mL which contains 0.5% salicylic acid. I'm not sure what % is in CeraVe SA Cleanser since CeraVe doesn't specify. I've always assumed it's 0.5% or lower—but then again, CeraVe doesn't market the SA Cleanser as an acne-fighting product, so they might not have to list salicylic acid (and its %) as an active ingredient on the product label. So, use the SA Cleanser at your own risk. Whichever cleanser you choose, lather it very gently on your undereye skin, let it sit for 30-60 seconds, and then rinse it off. Follow with a good moisturizer (applied while that skin's damp but not dripping wet). Use a salicylic acid cleanser just once or twice a week; don't use it daily under your eyes or you risk irritating that skin. 

Note that I'm not a doctor and can't promise this will do much for your undereye texture. I've used PHA (a very gentle exfoliant) and even 5% lactic acid (an AHA) on my bumpy tear troughs once or twice a week, but that's with my dermatologist's blessing for my particular skin. Bumpy texture under the eyes is quite common, so I still think you should see a doc (if you haven't yet) to find out which skin condition you really have. 

[specialistblend]

Hi and thank you for your response. Yes I went to a medical derm who confirmed it. She explained that laser and fillers may be the best treatments but said I need to meet with their cosmetic derm for consult. So she set me up an appointment for that next week. I'm just seeing if there's anything I can do in meantime OTC possibly.

But I see your point on the BHA and AHAs. I'll skip them lol. I've been trying out pure tea tree oil for 2 days now, no bad reaction but don't see any change either, but it does feel kinda good under there. I don't know if I should keep using it or not? If I understand correctly, tea tree oil does also help dark circles and puffiness and also contains vit E?

Other than that,.not sure what else to do about these prominent oil glands. I heard about under eye retinoids as possibility but I'm kinda scared because I heard they make your skin extra sensitive to the sun ? Also heard about vit C serums. Any thoughts/suggestions?

[specialistblend]

Anybody?