Blackheads: How to Treat Them
What are Blackheads?
Having blackheads is a very common skin condition but many of us do not know much about them and a little knowledge can help us how to deal with them and control them.
Over activity of oil glands, cause the formation of blackheads. Pores of skin expand and get thick, due to excessive oil secretion. This excessive oil secreted gets accumulated into the pores and gets hardened. This hardening of oil clogs the skin pores. Skin is a secretary organ also; the toxins from blood and lymph fluid are expelled from the skin but it turns to debris after mixing with sebum. The tip of these pores is open and gets oxidized due to air exposure. These pores become black and the name is given blackheads.
People with oily skin and combination skin get more of these blackheads. Oily skin attracts air pollutants, dirt and grime; these also get mixed with sebum in pores. It further enlarges the pores; it makes the greasy skin thick and rough. Blackheads steal the attractiveness of the face and also give rise to acne. It can get infected by acne causing bacteria and can result into pimples.
Blackheads are mostly present on the face, neck, back and chest. These areas are also rich in sebaceous glands apart from the face.
Whiteheads are formed due to collection of sebum in the pores but these pores in this case are not open and are not exposed to the air. One should control blackheads to prevent acne formation.
How to Eliminate Blackheads?
First step is to cleansing the face or the desired skin area with an effective cleanser which is designed for oily skin. Salicylic acid cleansers are good for this purpose. To control the oiliness of the skin, apply astringent and to reduce harshness of the astringent, you can mix little rose water in it.
After that apply a cream or gel containing salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide to soak oil and peel away the blackheads. After few minutes, apply an oil-free moisturizer to prevent over dryness caused by application cream or gel.
Other Tips to Prevent and treat Blackheads:
Do not wash your face with soaps or gels, many times a day as it stimulates oil glands to produce more oil and it aggravates the blackheads condition. Rather you can wash your face with plain water when feel like washing it.
Exfoliation of skin is must for a blackhead prone skin. It should be exfoliated thrice a week with the help of scrubs or facial exfoliates.
Using AHA creams like glycol-creams is very effective for blackheads. Application of AHA creams removes dead skin cells and exposes the blackheads.
Keep your face clean of hairs from your head; hairs are greasy and can spread the infection.
You should use a clay-based mask once a week to control oiliness and exfoliate dead skin cells.You can prepare a mask by mixing oatmeal with grated almonds. Make this mixture damp by mixing little water in it. Apply it all over your face and leave it for 15 minutes. Use circular motion s to rub it and clean it. This remedy clears off blackheads within a month. Use this thrice week.
How to extract Blackheads?
You should not pick blackheads on your skin as it can leave skin bruised and can damage inner layers of skin. Rather when you feel that blackhead is ready to pop up, use blackhead extractor to gently remove the blackhead. It is small stick like instrument having a small hole at one end. When you place it around blackhead, it gives gentle pressure from all sides of the blackhead and helps it come out. You can also use pore cleanser strips to remove blackheads. You should use them once a week to remove blackheads; it clears the pores.
Other way to extract blackheads is by exposing your face to gentle steam for few minutes. It will soften your skin and the debris blocking the pores. Now use an abrasive wash cloth and rub it gently over the black head. It will exert pressure on blackhead to come out but if it does not pop out, leave it as it is. Fighting with blackhead can make the skin red and blotchy. It can break the skin and broken veins.
