Tag: cauter

ELECTROCAUTERY 2.0: Wounds & Post Treatment

As you probably know already, milia and syringoma are genetic. Both are harmless, yet aesthetically disturbing. Before 2022 ends, I did another ElectroCautery procedure (or shorten as Cauter) to get rid of them.

Did my first ElectroCautery back in 2018, you can check the post here.

Don’t panic if you google Syringoma and turns out they are actually tumors. They are mild and non-cancer ones. Similar to milia bumps, but they are not formed by oil glands. Instead, Syringoma are the result of over-productive sweat glands. Unfortunately, both can only be removed by professional procedures, and I choose ElectroCautery aka Cauter because I’ve done it before. 

BEFORE CAUTER (mind the angry zit)
BEFORE CAUTER: Milia and Syringoma usually appeared around the eyes area

Since both are genetic, they might reappear after a few years, and in my case, they did after four years. I did my treatment at Beauty By Appointment again with the same steps applied. Clean the face, numb cream for 30 minutes and on with the Cauter. It wasn’t painful during the procedure, but after, your skin might felt sore (depending on your pain endurance level). 

Do’s and Dont’s:

  • Do not wash your face 6 hours after the treatment. 
  • Apply antibiotic cream on the wounds, twice a day on clean and dry skin. Do this consecutively for 5 days.
  • Alternatively, you might compressed your skin before applying the antibiotic cream, with NaCl solution (great for treating burnt wounds). 
  • Use gentle facial cleanser with no active ingredients
  • Do not apply any actives while your skin is healing, wait until the wounds are completely and naturally flaking off.
  • Avoid any type of base makeup when the wounds are still wet. 

How long did it take to heal? It might vary, depending on your skin ability. It took my skin 30 days to heal back in 2018 after the first procedure, see the photos here.

6 DAYS AFTER CAUTER: around the lids were healed more quickly
6 DAYS AFTER CAUTER: no scabs, just the red marks all around

Unlike most people that did Cauter, who had black scabs that peeled off naturally when they dried, my wounds didn’t. Instead they turns red like acne marks without no scabs. No worries, I will do my skin update when my skin heals completely, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, here are the products that I used during skin healing after Cauter. 

  • La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5
  • 0.9% Sodium Chloride as my CSM to compress
  • Bioplacenton Gel

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

PRODUCTS I WON’T REPURCHASE (PERSONAL REASONS)

Hope things are fine with you all. For those of you who are still in a job and having fixed income in this pandemic situation, congratulations, you are lucky. But for those who are not (including yours truly), we really have to save some money and lose some things that we don’t urgently need.

Currently here are some products that I decided not to repurchase, not just because I’m in a saving mode, but I don’t think they really belong in my skincare routine. Anyway, these are just my personal opinions. Your final verdict is up to you.

UNDEREYES FILLER
CAUTER PROCEDURE

I DITCHED EYE CREAM
After I had undereyes filler done by dr. Olivia Ong at Jakarta Aesthetic Clinic, and Milia removal done at Beauty By Appointment, I only use emulsion (which is lighter in texture than moisturizer) on the whole face, including undereyes. Seriously, all that fancy eye creams can’t do wonders for dark circles and undereye bags (you need stronger treatment than just applying eye cream). Especially if you’re prone to milia like me, better pick your products wisely.

ESSENCES

Most essences are pricey. Usually they come in a luxurious looking glass bottle, but do we really need one? Essence might help with hydration, but I can get that from my current booster and hydrating toner.

FACE MIST

If I need to mist some on my face, I’ll just put my hydrating toner in an empty mist bottle. Anyway, most face mists are either having hydrating or soothing purpose.

MASKS

BYE WASH-OFF & PEEL-OFF MASK
Both are not practical, I am done with the hassle of washing them off. Do not add stress to an already stressful time in life. I prefer to use sheet mask and modeling mask.

FACE OIL

Been there, done that. My pores seem to dislike face oil, even though I already tried the so-called ‘good oil for oily skin’. Personally, I believe if you want that glowing skin, don’t fake it with face oil. But I still use cleansing oil for double cleanse, just because it’ll be wash off anyway.

PHOTOS (FOR IMAGES PURPOSE ONLY): SHINTA ROSVITA

UPDATE: CAUTER WOUNDS

After my Cauter Procedure on September 28, 2018 (read the post HERE), I thought I’d update you all about my skin condition.

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Well, as you can see from the pics above, some of the bigger spots on the upper-cheek area are getting lighter (some are gone, YEAY!). Those were the areas that used to be the home of Sebaceous Hyperplasia, so no wonder the wounds were bigger than just Milia’s wounds. I was using Dermatix Ultra, recommended by the clinic’s doctor, but after a few uses (maybe because it contains silicone and vitamin C ester?) big zits were showing up on areas near the dark spots. You see, I only use Dermatix Ultra as dark spot treatment, but if I went overboard with it, it’d break me out. So I stopped using it gradually, and went for vitamin C serum and Rosehip Oil instead.

So, what did I do to treat my Cauter’s wounds?

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At Home Treatment:

  • Double Cleansing: using Micellar Water & Facial Wash (gel texture is preferred)
  • Toning: using Exfoliating Toner & Hydrating Toner
  • Mask: using compressed sheet mask with NaCl solution (great for wounds)
  • Serum: using vitamin C on dark spots.
  • Facial Oil: using Rosehip Oil on dark spots
  • Moisturizer: another gel texture on my beauty repertoire.

Clinic Treatment (I did these at Beauty By Appointment):

  • Nd-YAG laser for skin rejuvenation and to treat dark spots.
  • BBA Glow (not to be mistaken with BB Glow). This is a treatment to penetrate the serum under the skin to make the skin looks glowing.

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA

MILIA, XANTHELASMA, SEBACEOUS HYPERPLASIA: WTF?

After the whole fungal acne saga, enter another 99 skin problems. Well…three to be exact.

I blame it all to my hormones. And yes, to stress, fatigue and poor diet, too.

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Check out my bare and made-up skin (covered by powerful primer, concealer and foundation). Yes, I can cover that much. But by the end of the day, the spots are there. Weird looking spots (some look like pimples and closed comedones). Weird looking brown spots that actually rise on the surface of the skin like nano-sized cyst.

What the heck are them? Are they harmful?

On my eyelids are milias, small, dome-shaped bumps that are white but not ichy or painful. These formed directly from entrapped keratin, usually genetic. And also on the outer corner of my eyelid, some Xanthelasma occurred. They are soft, a bit yellowish, fatty deposit. Basically, it’s related to fat consumption (thanks butter and lattes!).

On my upper cheeks, there’s Sebaceous Hyperplasia. These occurred when the sebaceous glands that are attached to hair follicles all over our body, including face, become enlarge and trapped with sebum. Unlike Xanthelasma, these bumps are flesh-colored. People with fair skin (check!), and who’ve had a lot of sun exposure (also check!) are more likely to get this. Oh yeah, this is also genetic (darn it!).

At one point, even though they are mostly harmless, I feel cosmetically unattractive. What to do when one felt like one? Enter cosmetic procedure: ElectroCautery. I did mine at a local clinic (check their IG @beautybyappointment).

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From what I read, electrocautery is also known as thermal cautery, a surgical procedure often used to remove growths on our skin. Basically this heated needle will burn those b**ches. Certainly smelled the burnt skin while doing this procedure. Did it hurt, you might ask. Not during the procedure (thanks to the numbing cream pre-procedure), but afterwards, it felt like a burnt wound on my face (especially when I washed my face for the first 3 days).

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As you can see, some of my wounds are pretty big, especially on upper cheeks area (when most of them are sebaceous hyperplasia). While on the eyelids, milia wounds were quicker to dry and much smaller in size.

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After the procedure, the clinic gave me: NaCl aka Sodium Chloride for compress mask, anti-irritation cream and retinoic acid (which I ditched sooner because it seemed to redden my wound. They told me to always use sunblock whenever I go out and only put loose powder as my makeup (no foundation, no nothing). Will keep you guys updated on my journey with the wounds. Currently, doing my best to remove those scars with natural remedy: Rosehip Oil and chemical: Dermatix Ultra. Wish me luck!!

Meanwhile, if you asked me is it worth it to do this procedure? YES, if you are forever annoyed by bumpy textures. NO, if you can’t deal with the reality that you’re going to be wounded for a couple of weeks (and nothing you can’t do to cover them, say bye to concealer and foundation). Remember, life is full of choices and cosmetic procedures are too.

PHOTOS: SHINTA ROSVITA