I guess I should tell you about me and my Xanthelasmas. I am currently 43 years old and have normal cholesterol levels. When I was 41 I had a bad go round with kidney stones that resulted in 7 lithotripsies in a six month period. It was during this time that I really noticed them forming. For a while it was only beneath my left eye, but over the last two years I have developed a small spot on my left eyelid and the beginning of what looks like another monster Xanthelasma starting under my right eye. Both my father and sister also have Xanthelasmas, but they are much smaller than mine.
I hate my spots. They have made me really dislike my face. Since these things have popped up I feel like I have lost an insane amount of self confidence. I've gained weight. I go in public as little as possible and rarely wear make up because I don't see what the point is anymore. When I do wear make up, it's Dermablend and I feel like I have too much make up on because it's so heavy. I wear glasses and chose my frames more to cover up my spots that to fit my face. I want these things to go away.
In January of 2013, I saw a dermatologist and requested laser treatment under both eyes. While having the procedure done I was told by the dermatologist that she was afraid to be too aggressive with the treatment and that several more treatments would be required at $500 - $1000 a pop out of pocket. She also told me that she wanted to wait about a year between treatments. This was not exactly what I was looking for. The laser treatment did thin out the left lower Xanthelasma a tiny bit, but other than that all I got was two black eyes for my $500. ;( I started scouring the web for alternatives that wouldn't break my bank. I had read about TCA peels and thought that might be a good alternative, but was again quoted prices from $300 to $500 per treatment. I know there are places that you can buy TCA online, but I'm not brave enough to try and do that to myself.
I kept seeing people mention of the garlic treatment for Xanthelasma in the comments of blogs, articles, and message boards but could never find anyone providing pictures. I was scared for many months to give it a try, but I'm so tired of being super self conscious about them. So I have decided to give the garlic a try and see what happens. I'm just going to try this out on my left lower eye on this go round. I am doing one 15 minute session today, two tomorrow, and will do three a day after that until it gets nice and burned.
This is day one, pre treatment:
I purchased some big organic garlic cloves, some Aquaphor, and some Dove sensitive skin body wash from the grocery store and am ready to go!
Following the instructions I had gathered online I cut a small piece of garlic to fit the area and scored the juicy side with a knife and squeezed it so it became nice and juicy. I washed the area with Dove pulled back the area I was treating and pressed the juicy side against the Xanthelasma for 15 minutes. The pain wasn't too bad, it stung and my eyes watered a bit, but it was completely tolerable.
I decided to take my pictures before I started the next treatment so they would be more accurate. Immediately after removing the garlic it's hard to tell what is going on.
This is pre treatment 2, day two:
Other than the Xanth being slightly pink there really wasn't any difference at all. I washed the area and prepped the garlic as I had before and did a second 15 minute session. Again, a little teary and a little stingy, but it was not too bad.
This is pre treatment 3, day two:
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Not the best pic, sorry. Things were still just a little pink after this treatment. The discomfort level for this treatment was about the same as the last two.
I'll be back with more later!
