How to Get Rid of Blackheads?
Hey guys it's a dermatologist in Haven, Connecticut, and welcome to this blog post. If you're a skin junkie like I am I know you've thought about blackheads and acne.
Today we are gonna break it down for you so I hate to be the bearer of bad news blackheads aren't the easiest to treat.
But we're gonna do our best and we're gonna give you all of our tips all right.
So let's talk basics.
what is a blackhead?
"A blackhead is a little, tiny pore filled with completely dead
skin cells and oils or the sebum on our face."
Now when the oils and the dead skin cells hit the air they get what's called oxidized and they turn black.
Hence the term bucket in scientific terms that's called an open comedo and that's what makes them different than whiteheads which are closed Komi domes and they don't have that blackish color.
Today let's bust all those blackhead myths here. So I'm not mad at nose strips they're like not my favorite thing in the world. But you know.
I think that they make the blackhead look better for that second but by the time you know the next morning rolls around you're back at square one the other thing with nose strips you have to be careful of if you're using products like aah a is PAHs and retinals.
You can rip off your skin with the blackhead little black dots on your skin are not always blackheads you can get those little black dots that are on your nose that are actually more associated with the hair follicle and won't necessarily respond to a traditional blackhead.
Busting routines but they also may respond to some facial extractions. Blackheads aren't necessarily only caused by oily skin. But they're always produced by oils in the skin that is in the pore. You're always going to find a little combination of dead skin cells, oils, and sebum. So I don't think that makeup is the cause of blackheads, but I think that makeup can contribute to the worsening of acne in general and there's actually a term for that.
It's called acne cosmetic A- which means that the more cosmetics you put on your skin the more acne you get. So I personally just recommend it to my patients when they're struggling with whiteheads. Blackheads are any type of acne that use non-comedogenic products and things that aren't ganna irritate. Like all the harsh brushes or tools, they are not dirt in the pores.
All right so blackheads are not caused by any changes in your diet so eating a piece of pizza isn't necessarily ganna cause blackheads. Now eating a piece of pizza may increase the glycemic index which then can make your skin more prone flame Tori which then can give you more acne. But blackheads and acne by themselves go get that pie. The best way to avoid blackheads is to try to exfoliate to some regular degree and also to use alpha-hydroxy acids.
Do that or a beta hydroxy acid like salicylic acid and then also to use a vitamin a derivative like try knowing to adapt Alene or retinoic acid.
Let's talk about the different ways to get rid of blackheads.
the first thing to remember is they're not from dirt because they are dead skin cells. So please don't scrub remember we've said it before scrub ins for your tub, not your face blackheads, are not from dirt. Use a gentle cleanser once or twice a week because if you use something that's actually too harsh. What may happen is you make it more and more blackheads because your skin becomes dry and also your skin is very and very smart and will produce more oils. So use something that keeps the skin at a steady state just like something in equilibrium and also a very gentle cleanser next.
I recommend exfoliating twice or once a week if your skin can handle it and that's something that your dermatologist or doctor can guide you on with an alpha hydroxy acid or a beta hydroxy acid like salicylic acid is particularly good at getting into those pores and breaking down those oils that make up the blackhead.
So that actually is one of my favorites. When it comes to busting those blackheads now what's the other component of the blackhead.it's dead skin cells that are keratin-based. Next, I would use something to liberate the blackheads a little bit and loosen them up in that pore. my personal favorite is a vitamin derivative like retinol of some type, not you, don't have to be over-the-top about it. Just use a tiny bit of a pea-sized amount over the whole face. Don't put them just in the area as concentrated with the blackheads. Because you're certain to get irritated.
So put that pea-sized all over your face. That it prevents new ones from coming out which is the result that we want and helps the old ones to loosen up in that pore is extremely effective and beneficial at regulating the shedding of the skin. You don't get the accumulation of those skin dead cells and so just like we force it to increase collagen production and decrease college and breakdowns in it. It's also an extremely effective exfoliator and really helps to regulate the shedding of the skin cells and then lastly. One of the most important ways to get rid of blackheads or whiteheads is to actually extract them. This is where that pimple popping or blackheads extraction comes in now, I'm not giving you the car blush to like go at.
It's with your nails. But I definitely think that there are many other ways that we need to extract blackheads at home. There are at-home comedones extractors that I use a lot on my poor teenage boys to get rid of the blackheads through these little instruments. Have a circular top and you can apply a little bit of gentle pressure on the blackhead and help to extract the contents. I'm also a really big fan of procedures at dermatologists or at homes like chemical peels or Hydra facials that are using alpha hydroxy acids or beta hydroxy acids to help to liberate and get rid of the blackheads and whiteheads. But microdermabrasion and even a more popular procedure these days are called a Hydra facial.
Actually, you can use a smidge of a vacuum which can suck some of the blackheads out. Talk about gratifying or watching blackheads I mean there probably is nothing more gratifying than seeing those blackheads and whiteheads get sucked off the face. But I really think that there's no magic bullet to fire when it comes to blackheads. You have to force yourself into a routine of not only certain ingredients and food but also certain procedures that help to extract them with the help of extraction methods. One of my favorite ways to help teens and tweens and even women my age combat.
Blackheads are to go to get yourself a facial go get yourself what I call the acne facial or an extraction. Facial those can be extremely beneficial and if you've done kind of the pre-work for it by loosening up the sebum and the pore and using the alpha hydroxy acid.it can be a really pleasant and pleasurable experience. That leaves your skin looking a lot better and smooth.
I would stick with using a lighter lotion on your face If you have blackheads and your skin is oily. You can have blackheads and have very dry skin and in that case, you'd want to use a heavier cream for better results. If you have the combo skin the T-zone that's a little bit oilier than before and the outside. That's dry I would still stick with a lighter lotion to help keep the skin moisturized because moisturization is actually a really really important point of combating blackheads. The drier your skin is the more oil is going to be in those pores because your skin is too smart.it knows it needs more hydration so as result it produces more oils don't skimp just on the moisturizer.
When it comes to busting blackheads. So when you're on a mission and on a journey to bust blackheads. I would say that the two most important ingredients are salicylic acid and some vitamin eight derivatives such as threatened.
Let's dive a little bit deeper into why I like salicylic acid so much. Because remembering the little black head is made of increased oil in your pore. So, we can say that salicylic acid is the best warrior against oil. It's what we call lipophilic or fat-loving, so it can cut through the oils and get into the pore to break it down a little bit hope you busted many myths hope we answered many questions and most.
Importantly I hope you can bust those blackheads thank you so much.
and also leave any questions or suggestions below in the comments.