How to Detect Cholesterol Deposits in Eyelids

Xanthelasmas are flat, yellow-white fat deposits under the skin on or around your eyelids. They usually occur in older people and are mostly harmless. In some people, however, they can indicate high cholesterol or triglyceride levels.

Instructions

• 1

  Learn the symptoms of cholesterol deposits in eyelids so you can detect them in yourself. They are painless lumps under the skin of your eyelids, usually on the upper surface closer to your nose. Often they will grow over a period of a few months.

• 2

  Feel the lumps in your eyelids. Fatty deposits are soft to the touch and flat, unlike acne blemishes. Also, if you squeeze them, pus will not come out like it does with pimples.

• 3

  Realize that high cholesterol is not the only condition xanthelomas might indicate. They could also be a sign that you have an illness that causes high triglyceride levels (such as diabetes mellitus).

• 4

  Seek treatment if you suspect you have xanthelasmas. If you have them, your doctor will check your blood to detect whether your cholesterol or triglyceride levels are elevated.

• 5

  Undergo medical care if your doctor detects an underlying disorder. Treatment will be aimed at controlling the disorder that causes the lumps, rather than at the cholesterol lumps themselves.

• 6

  Follow a diet if your doctor prescribes one and take any medication you receive. Sometimes xanthelasmas will disappear on their own.

• 7

  Control the lipids in your blood. This may help fatty deposits from forming under your skin. However, sometimes they simply run in your family and are not caused by any underlying disorder.

• 8

  Get unsightly fatty deposits in your eyelids removed with cosmetic surgery acid, liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide if they bother you. Even after removal, though, they might grow back.

• 9

  See your doctor for a biopsy if a growth on your eyelid does not disappear after a few weeks.