Some things I have been pondering lately about the mysteries of the human body:
I am 24. I had some raging acne in my teens, but it more or less cleared up by age 20. But I still get blackheads in some high-oil areas. Will this continue 'til the end of my days?
Why do some zits keratinize? What the heck is this stuff? And does it help to remove the gunk trapped in my pores, since I’m basically removing a foreign body from my skin?
Why do we have earlobes? Is it an evolutionary hold-over from the days when our ears were movable?
Where is snot made? Why is there always so much of it? And when my nose is stuffed-up, is it because it is full of snot, or because the nasal passages have swollen or contracted, or both? Or something else entirely?
I’m just curious. Thanks for any help you can provide.
Wash your face at least twice a day. Use a soft brush or a washcloth to help exfoliate. If you work in a dirty environment, or some place like a fast food restaurant, keep a bottle of witch hazel or sea breeze & some cotton balls in your locker and give your face a good rubdown on your lunch break. If the problem is really bad, and related to stubborn bacteria, a visit to a dermatologist is in order. Panasonic has a new face sucking device that I have been curious about, but not curious enough to spend $50.
Mucous is our body’s lubricant (well, one of them) and protects the linings of most passageways into the body. It provides superior protection against all kinds of airborn particulates, stopping them from getting too deeply into your body. The “nose full of snot” condition you describe is probably an overreaction of the immune response against foreign invaders, i.e. an allergic reaction.
I have little tiny colorless bumps under my eyes and on the side of my eyes (only 3 or 4 total). People probably don’t really notice them. But I’ve always wondered what they are. They appeared when I was about 28 or 29. Now I’m 35 and they’re still there and look the same. Is that what you’re talking about? Does anybody know what they are?
Everything you wanted to know about zits but were afraid to ask…
**Keratin **“an exteremely tough protein substance in hair, nails, and horny tissue; insoluable in water, weak acids or alkalis and unaffected by most proteolytic enzymes. The fibrous protein is produced by keratinocytes and may be hard or soft.”
Soft Keratin is found in the epidermins of the skin…
Keratinizationis the process of keratin formation.
**Keratinize **means to become hard or horny.
** Ratty ** a keratocanthoma is a papular lesion filled with a keratin plug and usually subsides w/in 6 months.
** Comedones ** are lesions usually formed by acne vulgaris…
closedones are whiteheads, open ones blackheads…whiteheads are prone to inflamation which cause putules and nodules
** Acne **is an inflammatory disease of the sebaceous glands and hair follicles…Therefore it’s more an issue of sebum than keratin.
Keratin is associated with cystic acne…not common acne…
Thank you to Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary!
My skin is oily enough that I can wash twice a day, scrub with sea breeze from time to time and still have a greasy forehead a few hours later. I figure that if I drag an astringent-dampened cotton ball across my forehead and it comes away black, I need to wash no matter how dry it might make my skin.
I say wash until you get the opposite problem- skin too dry & irritated from washing too much, then back off until you find a comfy middle.
I hesitated before adding my suggestion because it sounds crazy–but I’ll go ahead anyways. I suggest you go to www.icompact.com and do a search on “Miracle Whip” in the Skincare II forum. You’ll find plenty of messages about it. Basically, you spread about one tablespoon of miracle whip over your face and neck, wait about 20-30 minutes and gently rub off the top layer of dead skin cells. Make sure your face, neck and hands are dry when you do this. The theory is that the vinegar, sugar and eggs in the miracle whip provide different kinds of alpha hydroxy acids which exfoliate the skin thoroughly yet gently. I started this regimen on January 1, 2002. I had noticeable forehead lines, nose to mouth lines and rough, dry surface skin with zits underneath. Within a week, I was rubbing off large amounts of dead skin every night. I had a clogged pore on the side of my nose for about a couple of years. It rolled away after a week. Now, I use the miracle whip mask three nights a week. I don’t have any more forehead lines, nose to mouth lines or even any crow’s feet. My face is all one color and my only problem is large pores, which I’m confident will shrink fairly soon. Why don’t you try it and report back how it works?
As for where mucous is made, although NJ is the primary source, the remainder comes from cells. It is made inside the cell, “excreted”, and then it expands 500-fold into the gooey stuff we know and love
My pop used to work in the mucous mines in Akron and Toledo. That’s where the really HIGH QUALITY snot comes from. There are also some good deposits in KY and AR, but the stuff is just too deep. It’s not cost-effective to mine it, truck it up there, and sneak into your house and pack it into your nostrils at night. It’s a volume business, really.
Seriously, for adult acne: investigate Accutane ™. This stuff is NASTY and NEVER to be used by women of childbearing age (there are actually pictures of deformed children in the literature that comes with it, in case the user can’t read), but it kills whatever causes that (the acne, not the children). I have not used this product and I don’t sell it - I had a friend that used it and was cured forever.
To add to the OP’s questions, my dermatologist said to wash my face twice daily with DOVE UNSCENTED soap- nothing else- using clean hands and no washcloth, loofah, or any other scrubby. (This was for adult acne). If you still have trouble, see a doc- they can give you some antibiotics to clear your skin up.
Good question, and one I’d be interested in hearing the answer to, as I know for a fact that they don’t do anything, because I am lobeless. Ok, well, some earrings look a bit strange, but other than that…
Thanks for all the answers and suggestions, everyone. My acne is mainly gone now, and my problem is more dry skin than oily. But I still get a few zits now and then, and once I had a zit (GROSSNESS ALERT!) on my upper back that keratinized. It took forever to clear up, and I still have a little round scar from it. (The things we will confess to on message boards, eh?)
VDarlin, what do you mean you are “lobeless”? Do you just have attached earlobes, or was there some…unpleasantness that led to your present state? (I’m not being a smartass- just curious. Once I ripped an earlobe pretty badly, and I always wondered what would have happened had it torn just a little further.)
I guess the answer is that they are attached. It’s not like there is a longer bit of flesh towards the bottom, that is attached to the side of my head, though. My ear just curves around, and attaches to my head in a perfect semi-circle. It’s genetic, my mom, my brothers, and my kids are all lobeless, as well.
