Xanthelasma

 

These are benign fatty deposits located around the eyes. They infrequently are associated with a raised blood cholesterol and it may be worth asking your doctor to do a cholesterol check if they feel it is warranted.

The main problem with these growths is that they do not look nice and frequently patients seek advice on how best to get rid of them. 3 options exist other than doing nothing. 1. They are be burnt off with liquid nitrogen but this can leave an area with some loss of colour, option 2 snip them off and allow the open wound to heal which normally takes 7 days – this technique is relatively scarless but the lesion may return some years down the line. Finally one can treat these by burning them off with a laser. None of these techniques offers a 100% success rate but they are normally successful if only for a few years.