Yellow tufts, or yolk sacs – not just an aesthetic discomfort
The yellow tufts (Latin: corpora amylacea) are deposits of polysaccharide compounds such as glycogen, proteins, lipids (e.g. cholesterol). They can appear on the body, as well as on internal organs. When they grow on the eyelids or in the corners between the eye and the root of the nose, they make it difficult to blink and often restrict vision.
Can the yellow tufts disappear on their own?
The yellow tufts are not a health hazard and do not hurt. However, when they are located around the eye, patients often decide to have them removed. They grow slowly, but systematically, and there is no way for them to disappear on their own.
Laser, surgical or other (cryotherapy, electrocoagulation) removal of yellow tufts is a procedure in the field of oculoplastics, which combines ophthalmology and aesthetic medicine. All methods are safe and effective, although it should be remembered that in the case of traditional surgical intervention there will be a need for sutures, and small scars will be left after the wounds heal.
Treatments for the removal of yellow tufts are short (taking about 30-60 minutes) and painless. They are carried out under local anesthesia. After removal, the lesions are most often subjected to histopathological examination. The jaundice does not tend to develop into a malignant neoplasm, but may instead reappear.
Who is particularly vulnerable to the formation of yellow tufts?
Jaundice is more likely to occur in people who have elevated lipid levels, as well as those struggling with certain diseases:
- diabetes;
- Atherosclerosis;
- cirrhosis;
- Renal dysfunction;
- chronic pancreatitis.
Statistically, yellow tufts appear more often in women than in men, usually between the ages of forty and fifty.
What to do so that in place of the removed yellow tufts do not appear new ones
The key is to cure or stabilize the condition that may be causing it. It may be necessary, for example, to change the diet, especially in people who have elevated cholesterol or a diagnosed metabolic disease. Switching to a low-fat diet and lowering cholesterol levels is important, especially because of the risk of heart attack or atherosclerosis. By the way, we push away the specter of the formation of more yellows, which this time may appear not only in the eye area, but also on the hands, feet and in the flexures of joints, among others.
