Blackheads typically form on your face, but they can also appear on other parts of your body, including your thighs, buttocks, and armpits.
Blackheads show up on your face, primarily where there is a higher concentration of oil glands. These areas include the forehead, nose, and chin. They can also appear on your neck, back, and chest areas. Unfortunately, blackheads can show up just about anywhere!
As the names suggest, blackheads look like black dots on your skin and whiteheads look like white spots. While blackheads and whiteheads form differently, both respond to similar treatment approaches.
Complications from a blackhead
If pores are infected, the skin can become inflamed and cause acne, which is the inflammation that results from clogged pores. The pores can also become inflamed if the blackhead isn't treated.
Deep blackheads should be removed by a medical professional — usually a dermatologist or medical aesthetician. They use a small tool with rigid metal loops on the ends (blackhead or comedo extractor) to apply even pressure to your blackheads.
The most common cause is oil gland over-production, which can happen during hormonal shifts, such as puberty, menstruation, and pregnancy. Blackheads can also form when hair follicles are irritated or when dead skin cells do not shed regularly.
Blackheads form when a clog or plug develops in the opening of hair follicles in your skin. Each follicle contains one hair and a sebaceous gland that produces oil. This oil, called sebum, helps keep your skin soft. Dead skin cells and oils collect in the opening to the skin follicle, producing a bump called a comedo.
'You should absolutely not squeeze blackheads. Squeezing a spot can push the inflammation deeper and this can cause scarring of the skin,' she says. Squeezing a spot can push the inflammation deeper and this can cause scarring of the skin.
Clogged pores
The skin on your legs contains thousands of pores, and like all other pores, they can become clogged with bacteria, dead skin, and debris. These clogged pores are called open comedones. When the oil inside the clogged pores is exposed to air, it oxidizes and turns black.
If you have blackheads on your inner thighs and buttocks, they could be a symptom of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). HS is a skin condition that tends to affect areas where skin rubs together, including: inner thighs.
First, apply a generous amount of Vaseline to your nose or designated area with blackheads and keep layering it on. Second, once the petroleum jelly is applied cover it up and wrap in plastic wrap until it stays in place and is formed to your face. Third, go to sleep with the mask on.
Do holes from blackheads go away completely? A blackhead hole will never go away on its own as the dirt buildup stretches and enlarges it. What you can do is clean it with salicylic acid, reduce inflammation using retinoids, and heal the skin and tighten it with a non-comedogenic moisturizer.
"Because blackheads are hard and trapped inside pores they can't be 'scrubbed away' or washed off," Sarkar said. "Most often, they need extraction." But even if they're extracted, they could keep coming back because your nose — with all of its glands — will continue to excrete oil.
After you remove a blackhead, your pore will appear smaller. That's because the dirt and oil have been removed. Swipe a toner, such as witch hazel, over the area to kill any bacteria you may have spread and to condition your pores. You may want to avoid directly touching the area while your skin heals.
Contrary to popular belief, poor hygiene does not directly cause blackheads. Excessive scrubbing in an attempt to remove them can make them worse.
Blackheads are not moles, nor will they ever turn into moles. While blackheads and moles can be similar in appearance, they are caused by very different things. Blackheads are a non-inflammatory form of acne, caused by an accumulation of sebum and dead skin cells that become stuck or clogged inside one of your pores.
However, sometimes the whitehead or blackhead erupts deeper inside of the skin, causing large, tender, hard nodules or cysts under the skin that look like boils on the surface of the skin.
While it might seem that pimples form overnight, it actually takes between 1 – 2 weeks for an acne spot to fully develop.
Baking soda
Baking soda is a natural exfoliator. Create a paste using baking soda and water and apply on the blackhead affected area. Use your fingers to gently scrub the skin for a few minutes and then wash off with water. This should be done twice a week.
The white stuff that comes out of your pores like thin strings when you squeeze your nose is called a sebaceous filament. It's mostly made up of sebum (oil that your skin produces) and dead skin cells.
As acne occurs due to an overproduction of sebum, deep blackheads often appear in areas that have a higher concentration of sebaceous glands. Sebaceous glands are small glands in the skin that are responsible for the production of sebum.
A dilated pore of Winer is a noncancerous tumor of a hair follicle or sweat gland in the skin. The pore looks very much like a large blackhead but is a different kind of skin lesion. Dr. Louis H. Winer first described the skin pore in 1954, which is where the pore of “Winer” gets its name.
While cellophane tape could possibly remove surface dead skin cells, it's unclear how effective this method is in removing clogged gunk in your pores. Don't use masking, duct, industrial, or any other type of tape that could be harmful to your skin.