Blocked Pores
Enlarged or blocked pores are the openings to the hair follicles on your skin. Attached to these follicles are sebaceous glands. These glands produce a natural oil called sebum which keeps your skin moisturized. While pores are a necessity to your skin health, they can come in different sizes. Often pores on your nose, chin and forehead are naturally larger than those that are located on other parts of your skin. This is because the sebaceous glands underneath them are larger, too.
You’re also more likely to have enlarged pores if you have oily skin. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do to literally shrink large nose pores. But there are treatments to make them appear smaller.
Causes
As sebum production can block pores, you’re more likely to experience the expansion of pore size around times that create a particularly oily environment for your skin, increasing your androgen levels. Common factors are:
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Hormone fluctuations, such as during menstruation or puberty.
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Genes (if your parents have oily skin and large nose pores, you will likely have the same).
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Humid or hot climates can intensify oil-producing activity. The body reacts by sweating more, and pore activity increases to release the sweat.
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Stress can spike cortisol levels, making your skin oilier.
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The combination of sun damage and ageing can cause collagen and elasticity to diminish, resulting in a lack of support for the pore lining. The skin’s ability to shed dead skin cells efficiently also slows down, making pore blockage more likely.
symptoms
Pores typically consist of a combination of sebum and dead skin cells that get stock in the hair follicles beneath. This creates “plugs” that can then harden and enlarge the follicle walls. In turn, this can make the pores more noticeable. More individual causes of clogged pores and enlargement include: acne, excess oil, a build up of dead skin cells, increased humidity, stress, alcohol and hormonal fluctuations.
Expert Tips
These curated expert tips will help you to avoid blocked and large pores, and to reduce their size.
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Your first step to unclogging nose pores is to make sure they’re cosmetic-free before going to bed. You should also remove makeup before washing your face to make sure the cleanser can work in your nose pores more effectively.
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Closed comedones i.e. whiteheads don’t take much irritation before they can turn in to more severe types of spots like papules or pustles. We recommend professional extraction for your blocked pores.
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Using mineral-based products or oil-free products will lessen the interference with sebum production so that you’re less likely to see breakouts.
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Acne-fighting ingredients like salicylic acid, retinol and benzoyl peroxide will help to remove bacteria and regulate sebum production.
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Use an exfoliating product two to three times a week to help get rid of dead skin cells that may be clogging your pores.
Treatment options
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Clear & Brilliant
The clear & brilliant Laser is a fractional non-ablative laser that targets acne scars by inducing controlled microthermal damage.
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Filter Facial
The Filter Facial offers a non-invasive solution to remove unwanted facial vellus hair (peach fuzz) and exfoliate the skin. Using a medical blade at a 45-degree angle, our practitioners gently scrape the skin, followed by a mild peel or hydration mask to enhance the results.
