Premier Clinic recently was visited by celebrity chef Nicholas Pillai, author of cook books and instructor for cooking classes. Nicholas was keen to have some oil seeds removed under his eyes. Also known as milia, oil seeds tend to appear as one gets older. A genetic predisposition is also one of the risk factors for developing eye oil seeds.

Oil seeds are benign, meaning they are actually harmless and do not cause any adverse effects. They are non-cancerous growth and can just be left alone if one desires. However, many people prefer to have them removed as they tend to be unsightly.

For cosmetic reasons, removal of oil seeds are very common and several methods can be employed. These include electrocautery, application of liquid nitrogen or cryosurgery and application of caustic chemicals. These methods tend to be cumbersome, painful and produce scarring.

Nowadays, people tend to go for laser excision, such as using the CO2 laser or Erbium YAG laser.

Nicholas was attended to by Dr Elaine of Premier Clinic and Erbium YAG laser was used to remove his milia, for the sole reason that the end results are better and causes less scarring. The procedure is simple and less time consuming. Numbing cream is used before the procedure commences to minimize any potential discomfort.