1. Pores are just glorified hair follicles. Pores are simply the opening of hair follicles, which extend down further through several layers of skin. Each follicle/pore contains or has the ability to grow one shaft of hair, whether that hair is visible or not.
Function of Skin Pores
Although we're not covered head to toe in a suit of fur, our skin is abundant with hair follicles, tiny shafts through which hair can grow and reach the skin. "Follicles" and "pores" are sometimes used interchangeably, and other times referred to as two different things.
Sebaceous filaments occur in the lining of your pores, and control the flow of sebum—or oil—in your skin. These filaments only become noticeable when your pores fill with oil and dead skin. For many people sebaceous filaments are noticeable on the nose, with many mistaking them for blackheads.
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.
A blackhead is a blockage or plug at the top of a pore. The plug prevents oil from escaping through the pore. A sebaceous filament is a thin, hair-like structure that lines the inside of the pore and helps sebum travel to the skin's surface.
Though you may be tempted to squeeze or otherwise get rid of a sebaceous filament, it's best to leave them alone. Squeezing or picking at sebaceous filaments risks scarring and spreading any bacteria that may be in or around the pore to other parts of your face, causing a breakout.
Electrolysis is the only permanent hair removal technique that has been authorized by the FDA. Electrolysis works by inserting a tiny metal probe into the hair follicle's base and activating a shortwave radio frequency to shock, burn, and kill the hair follicle, preventing regrowth.
1. Pores are just glorified hair follicles. Pores are simply the opening of hair follicles, which extend down further through several layers of skin. Each follicle/pore contains or has the ability to grow one shaft of hair, whether that hair is visible or not.
"Our faces are covered in fine, tiny hairs, and every hair follicle from which these grow has a sebaceous gland which produces sebum," continues Kate. "An overproduction of sebum from this gland can cause it to become clogged and appear like a blackhead.
When you pull out your hair "by the root," you may observe a transparent swelling called the "bulb." The area above the bulb usually seen on a plucked hair is the root sheath, the growing area of a hair.
The short answer is that you technically can squeeze them, but you really shouldn't. Dr. Purvisha Patel, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of Visha Skincare, says that while squeezing a sebaceous filament can make a “stringy, wormlike structure come out of the pores,” it's best to leave them alone.
But if you look closely at areas of your body that appear hairless — such as your ear lobe or forehead — you'll likely spot tiny hairs. These are vellus hairs, also referred to as peach fuzz or baby hair.
When a hair follicle goes dormant, it cannot be restored. So any ads for hair “restoration” that you might see are actually ads for surgical transplantation of hair follicles—taking hair from one part of the scalp and moving it to another.
“If a follicle has closed, disappeared, scarred, or not generated a new hair in years, then a new hair wouldn't be able to grow,” Fusco says. But if the follicle is still intact, yes, it is possible to regrow the hair—or to improve the health of the existing thinner hairs.
Clogged pores can look similar, but what's happening on the skin's surface — and, thus, how you treat it — is slightly different. Derms call these clogged pores "sebaceous filaments." "They look like blackheads as they can often appear on the nose, but they are not acne," explains Henry.
The bad news is that pore size is genetically determined, so you can't actually shrink pores. However, some products and treatments can minimize the appearance of pores, but none of them are permanent solutions. Pore-minimizing products work by stimulating and plumping the collagen that surrounds pores.
Blackheads are made of oxidized melanin and not trapped dirt. Squeezing or scrubbing at blackheads can make them worse.
If you want to eliminate chin hairs permanently, you might consider laser hair removal or electrolysis, Dr. Lamb said, which both work by damaging the hair follicle so it stops producing hair.
Are Pore Vacuums Effective at Clearing Pores and Blackheads? In short, yes. “Pore vacuums certainly can be an effective tool in helping to regularly clear pore congestion, however they're not essential component to a skincare routine,” says Dr. Reszko.
Pus, a thick, white substance made up of bacteria and white blood cells, sometimes fills the pimple.
Papules and pustules
Papules are closed red bumps that are hard and sometimes painful the touch. Pustules are what most people think of as a zit: Red and inflamed with a white head at the center. The stuff you squeeze out of them is pus, which contains dead white blood cells.