Igor MarcikicOh man, this is a topic close to home. For as long as I can remember, I was always fighting, popping or trying to conceal blackheads that were running across my “T zone” (forehead, nose, and chin). But, right after I got rid of my blackhead, I saw a huge hole that stood in its place!
At one point it got so bad, I started thinking I was fighting a losing battle and would never break out this vicious cycle.
But as I grew older, gotten better with my skin care routine and started to pay more attention as to what I put on my face, I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel; I started to believe you can actually do something about it.
But...
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.
What Are Blackheads?
Blackheads are a subsection of comedones. Though it was historically used to describe a kind of a parasitic worm, in medical terminology of today, a comedo stands for a clogged hair follicle in the skin.
If a comedo is open, the “debris” comes in contact with the air, oxidizes, becomes black and thus gets called a blackhead. If, on the other hand, a comedo is closed, it does not come in contact with the air and we call it a whitehead - which can occur with or without acne.
How And Why Do Holes From Blackheads Form?
Blackheads are probably the most annoying type of spots! This is especially true when you’ve got pale skin. So, to get rid of these ghastly looking dots quickly, most people use their fingertips or some type of extraction tool (I’ve heard some people even used tweezers!!) to get rid of them.
This is not the smartest thing to do, especially with the deep stubborn ones that think your skin is their home and refuse to be evicted! When you do finally manage to dig them out, you are left with an even uglier mark, a nasty hole the size of a crater. You will also hear this referred to as an ‘ice pick scar.’
What happens here is all that dirt and gunk buildup stretches the pore and enlarges it even further. After we squeeze that nasty stuff out, the pore fails to shrink back to its original size.
Now, though we got rid of the blackhead, we are left with a huge gaping hole where it once stood. Now, it becomes vital we care for the enlarged pore properly, prevent it from clogging again and help heal and tighten it.
Will Picking A Blackhead Cause Holes?
As despicable as blackheads are, squeezing, popping, or picking them make your skin even worse (Read more: What Happens To Blackheads If Your Leave Them?).
Blackheads are like shopping bags containing nasty surprises that sit underneath the skin. These bags contain bacteria, oil, and inflammation. Anytime you squeeze a blackhead, you release all this gunk into the skin and make your skin even more terrible to look at! Squeezing can also cause infection and cause skin discoloration around the area which is even harder to get rid of than blackheads!
To make matters worse, when inflammation is at its peak, you can become scarred for life, so if that isn’t reason enough not to squeeze your blackheads, I don’t know what is!
But, does picking a blackhead causes holes and enlarged pores?
The truth is, we still can’t be 100{285d6d0ec33f832d63ba71e7361dfa254e621171fe0222a0c97ebd34aa916c6a} sure. Is it a contributing factor? Most definitely!
So, why stoke the fire if you don’t have to. Use skincare products instead of your fingertips.
What To Do If You’ve Already Picked A Clogged Pore?
If you just couldn’t resist the urge and the deed was already done, no worries. It’s not the end of the world, but you need to address the irritated area and cleanse it as soon as possible.
What you’ll need to do is hop over to your local pharmacy and get a product that contains salicylic acid. SA penetrates all the way to the hair follicle and helps remove the excess sebum and dirt deposits. In addition to giving you a thorough cleaning, it also suppresses inflammation.
Another ingredient you might want to reach for is retinoid. Retinoids will have an overall beneficial effect on your skin – the way it deals with all kinds of acne (blackheads, whiteheads and inflammatory acne).
After you’ve treated the affected area, you can top it off by applying a non-comedogenic moisturizer. We already covered comedogenic rating in one of our previous articles, you can read more about it here – “Rosehip Oil Comedogenic Rating”
How To Get Rid Of Blackhead Holes?
As mentioned, unfortunately, blackhead holes will always be a permanent feature on your face. But there are things you can do that will drastically minimize their appearance.
Baking Soda: If you are strapped for cash, baking soda is the perfect cure for blackhead holes. All you need to do is mix a teaspoon of baking soda with a few drops of water to form a paste and use it to exfoliate your skin. You can either do this before going to bed at night or first thing in the morning.
Glycolic Acid: Glycolic acid is great for reducing the appearance of blackhead holes because it contains small molecules that can penetrate the skin and get rid of dirt, sebum and dead skin cells that are clogging up the pores. At the same time as getting rid of dirt and oil, it also speeds up the skins healing process.
A Clay Mask: Clay masks are great for drawing impurities out of the skin and oil reduction. Dermatologists advise that you exfoliate before applying because this will allow the clay to deeply penetrate the skin.
Extraction Facial: If you can afford it, book an extraction facial with a dermatologist. The skin is steamed which helps to loosen clogged oil in the pores. This will reduce the appearance of blackhead holes at the same time as getting rid of any spots you may have.
I’m sure you’ve heard the term prevention is better than cure, the best way to avoid getting blackhead holes is not to pick your spots in the first place! Here are some tips to keep blackheads away for life:
Wash Your Face: Wash your face twice a day, and if you have the unfortunate skin type that is prone to spots, wash with a cleanser that contains benzoyl peroxide, bacteria hates this stuff! Next, get rid of the dead skin cells responsible for clogging pores with a toner containing salicylic acid. Once your face is nice and clean, rub an oil-free moisturizer containing SPF 30 and zinc into your skin.
If you wear makeup: most women have a bad habit of jumping into bed with a full face of make-up on, especially after a long, hard day at work. But if you don’t want blackheads, you are going to have to discipline yourself to wash your face every night. Giving your face a proper wash at night is especially important because you may have been wearing make up all day which has clogged up your pores, and you’ve also been exposed to dust, air pollution and other skin irritants throughout the day.
Therefore, it is important to get this muck off your face before hitting the sack. Think about it this way, when you go to bed without washing your face, you are basically giving yourself a dirt face mask and allowing all the junk throughout the day to seep deeper into your pores and cause even more damage to your skin! Sounds gross right?
Ok, so go and wash your face! Again, use the same soap and toner you used in the morning, and if you’ve got any blackheads, treat them with sulfur and retinol, you will need to get this on prescription from your doctor. This will unclog your pores, get rid of any bacteria and give your skin a bright and vibrant look.
Don’t Over wash: Ok, so I’ve just told you that you need to wash your face twice a day, please do that. But what you don’t want to do is wash or cleanse it too much. People with really bad skin often feel they need to wash their face four to five times per day; this is completely unnecessary, and has the opposite effect. What it does is strip the skin of natural oils causing you to break out even more.
Change/Clean Your Makeup Applicators: Do this at least once a month, if you continue to apply makeup with the same sponges and brushes longer than this, you are basically giving bacteria a free invitation to invade your skin once again. Cleaning them with soapy water, or buying new applicators will ensure that you don’t contaminate your skin.
Take a Shower After Working Out: If you work out or play sports, you are going to sweat a lot. Sweat contains oil and bacteria which are blackheads best friends and will cause you to break out.
