Moon Unit has a big gross zit on her nose. I suggested she do the hot washcloth thing a few times a day to help it heal - maybe help it come to a head and drain, or just simply heal up.
She asked “How does it work?”… and stumped me.
I don’t know the answer. I just know that “everyone says” (and indeed I’ve had hot soaks help other infections).
So what’s the straight dope? Why do hot compresses help things come to a head?
A warm compress increases blood flow to the area by making the capillaries dilate, or get bigger (If she wants to know why, you can tell her that capillaries dilate when warmed, because they’re “trying” to let off the heat and bring the body area to a normal temperature.) This increases the rate at which immune factors arrive and bad junk (cellular wastes, dead bacteria, etc.) is moved out. This makes healing faster, and bringing a zit to a head is part of its healing process.
Thanks!
So why does a zit (or other injury) “come to a head”? I mean, you’ve got a few cubic millimeters of inflamed tissue where the bacteria are (I presume) reasonably well distributed and there’s no central pocket of fluid - how does the heat (or unheated natural process) cause everything to migrate to a central spot - the “head”.
The head is, I believe, the actual sebaceus duct or pore that got infected in the first place. Since it opens onto the surface of the skin, it’s the path of least resistance for the sebum/bacteria to exit the body.
Ooh, ohh! Here’s a really cool picture that might help: Different Types of Acne and How It Forms