Xanthelas age: causes and treatment

With age, many people have small yellow spots on their eyelids. These are xantelasms of the eyelids, which are a sign of a violation of fat metabolism and liver function.

Xantelasm or flat xanthoma of the eyelids is a benign formation in the form of a slightly protruding plaque. It is usually located on the upper eyelid at the inner corner of the eye.

The treatment of this disease is aimed at correcting the lipid and blood cholesterol content. To eliminate xantelasm, it is removed.

Definition of disease

Xantelasm - a disease in which there are plaques of yellowish color, protruding above the surface of the skin of the eyelids. Plaques can be either single, or make up a group. Most often they are located in the corner of the eye in the upper eyelid. They can also be one of the manifestations of xanthomatosis of the skin, in which such plaques are located in other parts of the body.

Diagnosis of xanthelasma is based on the appearance of education. When it is detected, the lipid profile of the blood is examined. In detecting pathologies on this side, the treatment is aimed at correcting the lipid and blood cholesterol content.In the case of xantelasm, consult an endocrinologist and dermatologist.

This disease is most likely to affect older people and women.

It should be noted that xantelism is usually not accompanied by painful sensations, itching and does not degenerate into a malignant tumor.

Among other formations on the eyelids, papillomas are isolated as a result of activity of the virus with the same name, miliums are the result of disruption of the digestive tract, and hernia under the eyes (on the lower eyelids). A sensible defect is the ptosis of the upper eyelid - the descent due to the paralysis of the muscles of the eyelids.

Causes

The exact causes of xanthelasm are still unknown. Xanthomatosis of the skin can occur against the background of impaired lipid metabolism. It represents local deposits of fats in the papillary layer of the dermis. Although xanthelasmes in their structure are practically not different from xanthom, their isolated appearance according to analyzes often fails to detect significant disorders of fat metabolism.Xanthelasms and xanthomas often bother people who are overweight, diabetes, pancreatitis, mixdem, lipoid nephrosis, liver cirrhosis, and also with high cholesterol levels in the blood.

the appearance of xanthelasma may indicate heart problems, the risk of myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis.

Xanthelasm can be inherited. As a result, a genetically determined violation of fat metabolism develops. The disease manifests itself during the first year of life.

Over time, xantelasms increase in size.

Symptoms

Plaques with xantelasm are soft and have a yellow or orange hue.Their surface is usually smooth, but may be uneven. Several plaques can merge into a tape that passes through the upper eyelid or the lower eyelid. Pain and other unpleasant sensations from the appearance of plaques do not.

xanthelism is a benign entity. It does not degenerate into a malignant tumor.

The appearance of xanthelasma can be associated with impairment in the body, especially in lipid metabolism.Plaques are formed slowly, without any concomitant symptoms. From a small pea they sometimes grow to the size of a large string bean.

If xanthelasm is a manifestation of xanthomatosis, it happens that they affect the lower eyelid, on which xanthomas are formed. In this case, xanthomas are localized and on the face, neck, knees and elbows, buttocks and so on.

It should be noted that plaques persist throughout life, increase in size and in quantity.

Yellow spots can form on the conjunctiva glaucomafor, and are called pingvecula and pterygium, depending on the localization and proliferation of the neoplasm.

Possible complications

Xantelasma of the eyelids can cause complications from the liver and cardiovascular system, because it is associated with violations of fat metabolism.

Usually complications can arise after its removal. These include:

1. Relapse of the disease.If the level of cholesterol in the blood is also high, and if you do not normalize the lipid metabolism, the disease can return. Therefore, patients are recommended to switch to vegetable protein nutrition.
2. Bleeding from the wound.
3. Scar formationat the site of the suture after surgical removal of the plaque.

Treatment

Xantelasm has no specific treatment.But it will not disappear on its own. Treatment consists in eliminating the cause of their occurrence. Also, xanthelasma plaques can be removed, since although they do not have a very good effect on the appearance of a person.

Medication

There are no drugs for the treatment of xanthelasma, the formation can only be removed surgically or by electrocoagulation.

In the treatment of this disease, nicotinic and ascorbic acid, cyanocobalamin, pyridoxine, calcium pangamate, choline chloride are used. Lipotropic drugs that lower cholesterol in the blood can also be prescribed, for example Cetamifene, Piricarbate, esters of unsaturated fatty acids, lipoic acid, thioctic acid, Diosponin, Clofibrate.

Cyanocobalamin is used in the treatment of xanthelasm

Surgically

Surgical removal of xantelasm involves several methods:

1. Cryodestruction.The plaque is applied with liquid nitrogen for several seconds. The temperature of liquid nitrogen on the xantelasm during application is one hundred and ninety-six degrees. As a result, the cells of the neoplasm are destroyed.
2. Laser removal.The laser beam is directly applied to the xanthelasmatic plaque. There is a removal of education without injury to neighboring tissues and gross traces of surgical intervention. The advantages of this method of removing xantelasm include:

1. • Painless, bloodless.
   • Safety, the possibility of infection in the wound is excluded.
   • Absence of scars.
   • Absence of a postoperative period.

1. Radio wave removal.The operation takes place without contact and bloodless. It is completely safe. Under the influence of high-frequency waves, the tip of the instrument heats and evaporates the cells of xanthelasm. The procedure is painless.
2. Operative intervention.Excision of nodules is done after local anesthesia. Plaques are separated with scissors and tweezers. The edges of the wound are connected with forceps and lubricate the edges of the tissues with a half-chlorine iron. Heals everything in about a week. If a very large plaque was removed, then after its separation, the edges of the wound are cauterized with the help of an electric current.
3. Electrocoagulation. It is used in conjunction with the surgical method. After removal of the plaque, the edges of the wound are connected and cauterized with an electrode. As a result, a crust forms at the junction of the edges, which disappears after a week, leaving a small trace in its place.

   Laser cauterization

People's means

People with xanthelasms are recommended to adhere to a diet with a low content of animal fats.They need to be replaced with vegetable, for example, for sunflower or olive oil.

As folk remedies use birch buds, dandelion root, hips, corn stigmas, plantain juice, immortelle flowers.

these drugs have a choleretic effect, so they can not be used for violations of bile flow along the bile ducts.

It is recommended to use herbal preparations that improve fat metabolism and facilitate the work of the liver, as well as choleretic, helping the pancreas, it, for example, preparations from flowers of an immortelle, corn stigmas, juice of a plantain.

Folk remedies:

• Twenty grams of birch buds to brew in a glass of boiling water. Drink two tablespoons three times a day.
• Two teaspoons dried yarrow pour a glass of boiling water and insist one hour.Strain and drink four times a day before meals.
• Mint, hips and leaves of the immortelle(all for one hundred grams) pour three glasses of water, boil for one minute. Insist four hours and drink one hundred and fifty milliliters before meals four times a day.

Prevention

Prevention of xantelasm includes:

1. Getting rid of excess weight.
2. Minimize the intake of animal fats.
3. Eat at least three hundred grams of vegetables and fruits a day.
4. Regular moderate exercise.
5. Drink one and a half - two liters of water a day.
6. Do not eat trans fats, include in the diet products rich in omega-three (contained in fish).
7. Avoid injury to the skin.
8. To drink infusions of herbs that improve lipid metabolism, help to establish the functioning of the liver.

If you follow these simple methods of prevention, then the appeared xantelasm does not disappear, but after its removal, it is more likely that it will not occur again.

To prevent the recurrence of xanthelasm after surgery, it is recommended to adhere to the dairy-vegetable diet with the exception of animal fats and restriction of carbohydrates.

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conclusions

When xantelasm appears, it is necessary to consult a dermatologist. If it causes inconvenience or causes a cosmetic defect, then the formation is removed. It is also necessary to establish the cause of these plaques, for this you will need to pass a lipidogram and a blood test for sugar.