Re: Fordyce spots - new developments and my changed opinion

A thoughtful member wrote me to let me know that some people are reporting that Blistex works to reduce Fordyce spots, and also jojoba oil, and tretinoin.

I wrote that person back, and thought that I'd also post some of my reply here.

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I have stayed away from Blistex and that type of lip balm, because I think they are bad for cheilitis, and actually they don't even work for normally-chapped lips (they seem to perpetuate the chapped state, rather than cure it), so I don't want to try that.

Tretinoin is a form of Vitamin A, as are retinol, retin-A, etc. It is very drying and peeling, which is why it's the top prescription anti- Acne medication. A lot of people with exfoliative cheilitis actualy developed their cheilitis after they had used retin-A Acne medicine on their face, and the Acne went away for good, but the retin-A had destroyed their lip surface and caused their cheilitis, which they are still suffering from.

Actually, I think my current form of cheilitis was not started by, but was drastically worsened by, some vitamin A/retinol creams (they were anti-wrinkle creams marketed for women in their 40s/50s, not acne creams) that I tried this summer, and those creams also were terrible for my other facial skin, so I wouldn't put anything with a vitamin-A derivative on my face. A vitamin-A cream might get rid of the fordyce spots, but I'd have no lip skin left either, because the vitamin A cream would make it all peel off!

In people who have fordyce spots but don't have cheilitis, probably the blistex and tretinoin work better for them. They discuss it on their own forum -- http://www.fordycespotsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=6


A lot of people are saying that fordyce spots are "misplaced" oil glands, as if to blame our bodies for doing something wrong, or as if these spots were an uncommon phenomenon, but if 75% of the population has them, and if they are present at birth (just not full of white stuff yet) which the wikipedia article says, then I don't see what is so misplaced about them. They are a natural part of life for 75% of people, it's just that for some reason, in some people, their spots suddenly get bigger, get more full of white stuff, and become visible, or suddenly form in patches/sheets on their skin (like on their lips or penis), and it can be disturbing and look a little ugly.

I think what we have to control is not their origin (if they are present in the skin at birth, of the 75% of people who have them), but to control their appearance.

If my solutions to try to stop my lips from peeling/cracking have inadvertently increased the size of my fordyce spots -- which I do think they have -- then it might be a trade-off I have to live with.

My anti-cheilitis experiments this month have involved measures to STOP my facial skin from exfoliating, which is the opposite of what I've tried to do with my facial skin for the last 20 years of my life, because I have oily, acne-prone skin. It does make sense now that if skin is not exfoliating so quickly, the oil glands will get bloated and larger. My facial pores are definitely becoming bigger, there are more blackheads on my face, more pimples, etc. this month, because I've called a halt to all exfoliating activities and products (except for benzoyl peroxide - I've still been using it on my forehead and nose, though maybe I'll stop and see what happens to my lips). If the fordyce spots in my lips are a result of less exfoliation of my lips, then that is a sign that what I intended this month is indeed happening - to have less surface peeling - but there is a side effect, which is the clogged oil glands.

In the future, if my lip exfoliation stops and my lips are healthy again (healthy in the sense that they aren't cracking/peeling all the time), I can work on decreasing the size of the fordyce spots.

I'm not glad to have such teenaged-looking acne skin when I'm in my 40s, which is another side effect of stopping all facial exfoliation this month. But I am saying to myself that when my lips get better, and become normal, they will then be more resilient, less vulnerable, and I can try to re-introduce some of the facial products and treatments that have kept my oily/acne-prone skin under control all these years.