How does one eradicate blackheads on her nose :dubious:?
First of all check out if you are using any kind of hair care lotions or skin lotions that could be clogging your pores, just get that out of the way.
Blackheads are subject to a LOT of myths, I have researched this and black heads for those with chronic cases start BELOW the skin. It has to do with keratin and the skin on the inside of your pores shedding in large pieces that clog the pore.
Just curious but does dead skin on your face and scalp come off in large flakes?
The only real treatment is accutane, and that of course has major downsides and side effects. But it will stop or slow down the production of both sebum and skin flakes.
I’ve seen suggestions various places that sufficient vitamin A intake can help regulate sebum production and keratin, so you could take a multivitamin and see if that helps.
You don’t have to be as hardcore as Accutane. Try a BHA/salicylic acid-containing product to help clean them out. You’ll have to keep using it or else the oil in those pores will just keep oxidizing and creating new blackheads, but it’ll help. Also look into getting a gentle extraction (like squeezing but better) if you know a good aesthetician at a salon/dermatologist.
Dead skin doesn’t come off my face in large flakes. But I’ll try boosting my vitamin intake. Whatever it takes to get rid of these damned things!
I’ve also been using salicylic acid products since the beginning of time, but they don’t seem to work. Perhaps you’re right - I’m not using them often enough (I usually wash with acid once in the morning and once in the afternoon).
Can extractions be done at home?
They sell things called comedome extractors, I think even walmart carries them. They are little sticks with wire loops and or small slits on the ends, you put it over a black head and gently depress to express the black head. There are better ones available on ebay from asia, they have smaller openings to get smaller blackheads.
You don’t want to use your fingernails except on the largest BHs, otherwise you’ll just end up damaging the skin and possibly causing an infection. Always go as gently as possible.
The problem I’ve experienced at least is that you have to keep doing it forever, as no matter what the black heads return. Like you I was using salicyclic acid washes and gentle soaps to no avail, but you definitely want to avoid harsh soaps as that only makes you skin ramp up sebum production.
Yup, just be gentle and follow the directions. I suggested a pro since it might help to have the first one be done by someone else, then you can play “cleanup” after.
You really need to take off the top of the blackhead then follow with a BHA. Blackhead info article from Paula’s Choice, including extraction tips. I listen to their podcast, and they’ve said that blackheads will kind of distend pores, so with repeated gentle extractions and BHA cleansing, you can help the pore get back into a smaller, better shape at least.
And yeah, no irritating products or it just makes matters worse.
I also get a lot of blackheads on my nose.
I’ve had good results with a Clarisonic Pro, though you have to use it religiously, at least for one month. And your skin will briefly get worse (for 1-2 weeks) before it starts to get better. But it does work - not a miracle treatment, it’s not like I don’t have pores on my nose any more. But there is significant improvement in reduction of blackheads.
As for Accutane - I was on that as a teenager, and I’ll say never again. It did work like a miracle, but at the time I just felt “not right.” And now, some years later, all sorts of nasty potential side-effects are being published. So I’d never use it again.
Instead of a wash, try a salicylic acid gel or lotion of at least 2% concentration.
Thank you guys for the suggestions. I improvised a bit and used a tooth scraper as an extractor and managed to remove the blackheads to a satisfactory degree. I also washed before and after using my 2% salicylic acid OTC medication.
However, one problem remains. How do I smooth skin on my nose? Instead of black dots on my nose, there are gaping holes on my nose where the black dots used to be.
Huh. I always just use the pore strips and they work great.
I’m quite nearsighted. I can use a pair of splinter tweezers to grab a blackhead and pull it out, or use a pair of slant tip tweezers as an extractor. After doing this for some years on both myself and my husband, I’ve found that the blackheads will get smaller in diameter and shallower. That is, the pores are still there, but they aren’t nearly as noticeable. I do still have to watch some pores, as they will fill up and won’t drain by themselves, but they develop much smaller blackheads.
I’ve never had much success with pore strips. Yeah, they’ll get SOME stuff out, but won’t get the whole blackhead out.
Plus pore strips really irritate the area and can even cause tiny tears in the skin.
What Lynn said - just keep gently cleansing, removing blackheads when able, and using the appropriate treatments, and with time that “omg my pores are HUGE” feeling (because frankly, no one sees anyone else’s pores as close up as that person him/herself!) should go away. The oily plug being gone will allow the pore to stop being stretched out, and use of BHA treatments will help both clean out the oil and exfoliate out the dead skin cells that collect in the pore’s opening.
Hmm. I’m sure I’d read that pores would always stay the same size once “stretched”. I have very oily skin on my nose, and after several years of overzealous squeezing of blackheads I have lots of large pores. I can never work out whether they look better “full”, i.e. with a blackhead but relatively smooth, or “empty” i.e. with a big hole! If only there were some way to resurface an entire nose…
In my experience, the pores will get somewhat smaller, but it does take time, and you do have to keep removing any stubborn sebaceous plugs. You won’t see the changes over a week, or even a month. But my husband used to have a deep wide pore in the middle of his back, and it’s now almost normal sized.
Note that you’re going to have pores no matter what you do. You can affect whether or not they’re full or empty, and you can help reduce their size. You can put makeup (liquid or powder or both) to reduce the appearance of pores, but I’ve always found that makeup tends to make me break out more.
Also, it’s best to remove blackheads right after a long steamy shower or bath. The skin is clean and soft, and the blackheads are easier to get out then. Follow with an astringent. Make sure that you clean the tweezers or extractor by soaking in alcohol for a few minutes.