Blackheads: what they are and how to remove them

You know how sometimes you look at your skin and you see little “plugs” of black in your pores? Yes, you guessed it, these are blackheads.

Blackheads fill the pores of your skin’s top layer, the epidermis. The occur when oil production kicks into overdrive and there is too much oil produced by the skin. The clinical term for this oil is sebum.

When sebum begins to harden in the pore, it forms a bump. The top part of this bump, when exposed to air, oxidizes and then turns black. This black top is pushed to the surface by the continually hardening sebum under it. Once it reaches the surface of your skin, you can see a blackhead.

No one really knows why the oil glands start to overproduce. It may be related to hormones, which may be why so many teenagers experience blackheads- but this doesn’t hold completely true for all people who continue to have blackheads and whiteheads throughout their adult years.

In case you were wondering, whiteheads are formed the exact same way as blackheads, except that whiteheads are within a pore that is closed, so the top part does not reach the air- no oxidation occurs, and, therefore, it does not turn black.

Preventing and removing blackheads can help control skin conditions like acne.

The best ways to remove blackheads at home?

There are three keys: cleanliness, exfoliation, and heat.

If you are troubled by blackheads, the most important first step is to keep your skin as clean as possible. Stay away from any very harsh chemicals or soaps which may strip the skin. This can make the oil production even worse.

Use a gentle exfoliant to aid your skin’s cell turnover. This can keep your pores open and keep them from getting clogged with cells, dirt, or oil.

A warm, damp cloth applied to the blackhead may help the pore open up. You can also try gently pulling the pore open by applying gentle pressure to your face and pulling away (again, GENTLY) away from the blackhead on both sides. This may help the plug move closer to the surface.

Do not scrape, squeeze, or push the blackhead. This may lead to scarring.

You might also try one of the commercially advertised “blackhead” strips- these are pieces of a sticky tape-like substance which you place on your skin, allow to dry, and then pull off. These “glue” to the blackheads on your skin and pull them out when you pull the tape off. (I’ve used these with great success, especially for the sides and top of my nose).

If you are troubled by blackheads, try these steps to get rid of them.

If you don’t want to remove your blackheads yourself, you can schedule a facial with extraction to get these taken out. This might be a good option if you have a lot of them and can afford to have them professionally removed. Just be careful though, as extraction can hurt.

Your face is likely to be red for a day or so afterward and it will feel tender. Don’t have an extraction procedure done less than a week (two is better) before any kind of important event.