Fordyce spots are small, painless, yellow-white bumps that are normally present on scrotum, shaft of penis, labia and near the upper lip’s border. These are also known as Fordyce granules or sebaceous prominences. These spots are named after the john Fordyce, an American dermatologist. These little bumps produce no pain and not of serious concern because they cause no harm. The only reason to get rid of them is the cosmetic background as they may appeal ugly to someone. They are common in both genders and are frequent in elderly people.

Causes:

These are essentially linked with sebaceous glands. Normally sebaceous glands open into hair follicles and their sebum or oil gets discharged through the pores of hair follicles. In some cases, there are no hair follicles associated with sebaceous glands so the natural oil of skin gets no way of discharge. As a result, the sebum accumulates producing prominences on skin. Bacteria may reside in that stored sebum and produce some infection and inflammation of the skin tissue.

Tips to remove Fordyce spots:

Fordyce spots are not a dangerous thing and they resolve away themselves most of the time. Many doctors also advise to let the spots fix themselves naturally. However some tips are given here which have been proved to reduce the Fordyce prominences:

• Garlic is very effective in reducing the yellow-white spots as it causes a decrease in oil production.
• A good diet containing all the important vitamins like A, B, C and E should be used.
• Improving the hygiene of your body will make a lot of difference. Take regular showers and use some good antibacterial soap.
• Some topically applied agents are also effective in making Fordyce spots less visible. One of the creams which are most often used is tretinoin cream. It helps to diminish the spots. It becomes even more effective when used in combination with alpha hydroxyl acid.
• Keeping the hormones level in control is also very important as they trigger the oil production. So make sure that you have your hormones in limit and contact a doctor in case of irregularity.