# Is there a name for clogged pores that look like little hairs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 16, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687 "2013-07-16T18:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/1 "2013-07-16T18:33:07Z")
At least, I assume they’re clogged pores of some sort. They look like little light colored short body hair, but when they’re pulled, there’s no pain or pulling sensation at all, they remove very easily, and they sort of stretch a bit at the base where it was under the skin and look like the base is made of sebum or some other waxy biologic material. Don’t need answer fast, don’t need to know what to do about them; they’re not particularly bothersome and they’ve been coming around forever, so I’m not concerned. But I am interested in whether there’s a technical term for them, so it’s a GQ question, not a medical one. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/2 "2013-07-16T18:41:10Z")
It seems to me you’re talking about ingrown hair. Some are very thin and colourless. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/3 "2013-07-16T19:05:07Z")
It’s possible, but there’s no redness or pus at the base, and they don’t hurt at all, and the free end is, well, free, not embedded in the follicle, and the base isn’t rounded or darker like a hair root at all. One of these days, I’m gonna find me a microscope and see what’s actually in there. I wonder if these are some of the things that people with Morgellon’s think are foreign things coming out of them? I certainly don’t think they’re invading parasites or anything. I suspect they’re just compacted sebum and/or skin oils, especially since they’re much more likely to show up when it’s hot. I tried taking a picture, but it’s beyond the capability of my cell phone camera’s macro setting. They’re just too small and I don’t know how to light them to get them to show up. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/4 "2013-07-16T19:20:56Z")
I have those too, where my nose attaches to the rest of my face (is there a name for THAT?). Remember those Biore strips, which I think you can still get? Those things worked wonders for removing them. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/5 "2013-07-16T19:27:14Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Remember those Biore strips, which I think you can still get? Those things worked wonders for removing them. [Like this?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzNsArIH1sw) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/6 "2013-07-16T19:43:02Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I have those too, where my nose attaches to the rest of my face (is there a name for THAT?). I get them too, mostly in that exact spot. I only started noticing them in the last two or three years (I’m 36 now). Sometimes they protrude by half a mm or so, but often there is just the tiniest white tip visible, but if I scrape a fingernail gently across the skin I can snag them and pull them out. They kind of stretch as they come out, then almost shrink down to nothing once they are free. It’s quite satisfying. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/7 "2013-07-16T19:51:25Z")
I used to get those all the time, but they went away when I stopped eating wheat. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/8 "2013-07-16T19:57:06Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I have those too, where my nose attaches to the rest of my face (is there a name for THAT?). Ooh, good question! I don’t think there is. The cartilaginous part that you can push in to block your breathing is called the “ala” (you more often see the adjective form “alar” as in “alar cartilage” or “alar-sidewall”, if you’re a cosmetic surgeon.) But I can’t find a name in my anatomy texts for the place where the ala meets the cheek. [Here are some great pictures](http://www.rhinoplastyinseattle.com/rhinoplasty-essentials/rhinoplasty-anatomy), marking the ala, the supra-alar crease and alar rim, but no label for the part I think you’re talking about. > [@](#): > > Remember those Biore strips, which I think you can still get? Those things worked wonders for removing them. Yes! In fact, I think I recall users, and maybe even the packaging, referring to a little “forest” of sebum that you can yank off with those suckers. Loved that. Yes, I think that’s what these are, only on the belly and breasts and sometimes thighs, so they’re not as thickly “planted” as the nose-forest. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/9 "2013-07-16T20:22:29Z")
Are you talking about [blackheads](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedo)? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/10 "2013-07-16T21:01:25Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Are you talking about [blackheads](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedo)? Nope. Those were largely gone after my 20’s, thank goodness! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/11 "2013-07-16T21:07:02Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Nope. Those were largely gone after my 20’s, thank goodness! Did you read the cite and see this sentence: “The word comedo comes from Latin to suggest the worm-like look of a blackhead that has been secreted” ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/12 "2013-07-16T21:26:35Z")
Perhaps a “clean” blackhead/compacted sebum? The black end on a blackhead is IIRC dirt and maybe some oxidization. You may be doing a good enough job at cleansing to prevent the black buildup but not the clogging of the pore. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/13 "2013-07-16T21:29:50Z")
I always assumed they were ingrown hairs. I have them too, and sometimes the hairs are all weirdly curly from being bunched up in my skin. But perhaps we aren’t talking about the same thing (although I really really think we are). ---
**Author:** ![chrisn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@chrisn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/14 "2013-07-16T21:36:56Z")
I think you’re talking about sebaceous filaments: [“Sebaceous filaments are composed of a skeleton of 10-30 horny cell layers which enclose a mixture of bacteria, sebaceous lipid, corneocyte fragments and one hair. Following the expression of the filament the follicle refills within 30 days.”](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/130839) They’re tiny, but you can get a clear look at them on this [YouTube video.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BnSSehQYvI). Although they’re normal, I sometimes will use a Biore strip to pull them out (and dear god is that satisfying), but it’s apparently more effective and less damaging to the skin to use AHA or salicylic acid. > [@](#): > > I have those too, where my nose attaches to the rest of my face (is there a name for THAT?). The alar crease/nasofacial sulcus maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/15 "2013-07-16T21:40:23Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > I used to get those all the time, but they went away when I stopped eating wheat. Are you saying you stopped being a gluten? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/16 "2013-07-16T22:14:17Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Did you read the cite and see this sentence: > > “The word comedo comes from Latin to suggest the worm-like look of a blackhead that has been secreted” Yes, I did. They’re not blackheads. They’re not black (or white) and they don’t secrete anything when squeezed. They’re not associated with acne. They can be pulled out painlessly, but they cannot be squeezed. > [@chrisn](#): > > I think you’re talking about sebaceous filaments: That could very well be it. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/17 "2013-07-16T22:41:38Z")
> [@chrisn](#): > > I think you’re talking about sebaceous filaments: . . . . Sounds like what I used to have. They were most noticeable, ironically or not, right after I had shaved. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-clogged-pores-that-look-like-little-hairs/663687/18 "2013-07-16T22:42:52Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > [Like this?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzNsArIH1sw) Gnarly! Mine always looked like that too, although I never really did any closeup shots. You get the strip damp, put it on your nose, let it dry, and then peel it off. It didn’t hurt.