It's irreversible damage,” says Dr. Henry. Damaging your skin by squeezing or picking can also cause inflammation, hyperpigmentation and scarring. Squeezing additionally introduces bacteria, oil and dirt from your hands into your pores, which can lead to more blackheads.
If you've already popped a pimple, don't try to squeeze any more out of it. To help it heal, wash it with a gentle cleanser, and try using a spot treatment with salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. To help reduce any swelling, you might try using a cold compress with a cloth wrapped around an ice pack.
'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.
The 'white stuff' that comes out of a blackhead or more commonly in pimples is pus. Pus is formed from inflamed debris, dead white blood cells and is also produced as the body's response to bacteria invading the system. This can it will heal on its own without treatment.
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.
It's actually completely normal for you to have some holes initially after removing blackheads. This is because the dirt and debris filling the pore is suddenly gone, leaving a small space.
You can cause a blood-filled pimple by damaging blood vessels around an existing pimple. This often happens when you pop, squeeze, pick or over-exfoliate a pimple. Blood-filled pimples usually heal on their own if you prevent further damage and keep the area clean.
Pimple pus is made from sebum (oil) that gets trapped in your pores, along with a combination of dead skin cells, debris (such as makeup), and bacteria. When you have inflammatory acne lesions (such as pustules, papules, nodules, and cysts), your immune system activates in this area, resulting in noticeable pus.
A dilated pore of Winer is a common, enlarged blackhead pimple (comedo) that originates where hair grows at the hair follicle. A dilated pore of Winer can appear on your head, neck and torso, ranging in size from a few millimeters to more than a centimeter.
“Gently press on each side of the blackhead until it begins to release,” she says. “Apply slow and even pressure, and once you are able, lightly pinch the tweezers and pull the blacked out material from the skin to extract it. If the blackhead does not release easily, do not continue to attempt the extraction.”
A dermatologist can help rid your skin of blackheads. “There are in-office treatments that can help diminish the appearance of pores,” Suozzi points out. These include nonablative resurfacing (aka laser treatments) such as Fraxel laser or Clear + Brilliant laser or microneedling.
“Squeezing, picking, pulling, prodding—all of that can stretch the elastic around the pores, which makes them wider and larger, and they won't bounce back into shape. Ultimately, your pores will look larger and become increasingly more visible. The perimeter of your pore is like the neck of a t-shirt.
Nodules are a type of hard pimple that can be large and painful. They form when an infected skin pore or follicle is located deep below the skin surface. Cysts are found deep below the skin when a pus-filled membrane forms around the infection.
Pustules contain pus because the body is trying to fight against the dirt or bacteria that has entered the pore. Pus is a natural product of the immune system, which consists mostly of dead white blood cells.
This type of acne develops when oil (sebum) and dead skin cells combine to form a plug that clogs your pores. Sometimes, cleansing and exfoliating may be enough to loosen the plug and draw it out. But if the plug hardens, or it's too deep to access, you might not be able to remove the blackhead on your own.
Clean up. After you've popped the pimple, wash your face and hands a second time with antibacterial soap, and then apply a small amount of alcohol to the remains of the blemish—this will help keep bacteria from repopulating it.
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.
Popping a blackhead that's really just oil buildup won't solve anything, as the oil will typically come right back. When you try to force a blockage out of a pore, you're risking skin damage and infection. But unlike popping other kinds of pimples, blackheads are open pores, which makes them less risky to pop.
Blackheads are made of oxidized melanin and not trapped dirt. Squeezing or scrubbing at blackheads can make them worse. To reduce blackheads, avoid oil-based skin care products, humid environments, tight clothes, and skin products that contain alcohol.
Get A Skin Brush
Washing your face with a mechanical skin brush will help fight the good fight against blackheads—not only because it's essentially a powered-up way to exfoliate, but also because the deep cleanse allows active ingredients to better penetrate your skin, making them, well, more active.
Skincare products can make your pores look smaller by exfoliating the skin—or cleaning out dead skin cells and oil from the pore. Pores that are cleared of blackheads and blockages will look less obvious. The surface of the skin will also look brighter, smoother, and more even. Your skin will feel softer, too.
According to Rouleau, the average person requires extractions about every two months, but you can perform them as needed until you're able to see a professional. Also, keep in mind that blackheads are simply a fact of life for most people, especially on and around the nose.