What Are Blackheads?
As tempting as the activity of popping deep blackheads might sound, this is not something a wise person would ever do. But before talking about if you should or should not pop deep blackheads, let’s find out what these bumps actually are.
A fashionista’s nightmare and a teen’s most dreaded occurrence, blackheads are a kind of acne that gets its name from the way they look. When oil, dead skin cells, and bacteria clog open pores or hair follicles, blackheads can form on the skin.
Deep blackheads are ones where the pores are clogged deep inside the skin, away from the surface. Unlike normal blackheads, these are more stubborn and not easy to pop.
At What Age Do Blackheads Start To Appear?
There isn’t any fixed time when these annoying bumps start appearing. However, during times of hormonal changes, these are more common. During puberty, menstruation and pregnancy, the hormonal balance shifts and causes oil glands can become hyperactive. This over-production of oil often clogs the pores leading to blackheads on the face and also sometimes on the back, chest, neck, arm and shoulders.
How To Tackle Excess Oil, Dead Skin Cells And Bacteria To Prevent Deep Blackheads?
Oil - Some are blessed with combined skin, while some have hyperactive oil glands. If you have oily skin, choose products that suit your skin type. Don’t stop using moisturizers, thinking that might increase the oil content of the skin.
Dead skin cells - Fight dead skin cells with a scrubber. Use a mild scrub to prevent dead cells from forming clogs within skin pores. You can use mild steam on your face to open up the pores of your face or take a warm shower before scrubbing off dead skin cells.
Bacteria - Keeping your skin clean is the best solution. Wash your face with an activated charcoal cleanser when you come home after being exposed to the elements. Don’t touch your face with unclean or unwashed hands. If you already have any form of acne, let them be. Don’t touch them since that might spread the bacteria even more.
Should You Pop Blackheads?
Before just popping a blackhead, you first need to prepare yourself for the popping process. Start by identifying a blackhead. Not all bumps on your skins are that. For example, the black spots often seen around the nose and chin aren’t always blackheads. Leave anything that doesn’t look like a blocked hair follicle and only pop if you really can’t resist yourself. Although blackheads are less risky to pop since they are open pores, there’s nothing that guarantees a cent percent safe popping. Still, if you can’t resist, here’s what you can do:
Step 1: Clean your hands. Wash them well and ensure that you don’t touch anything before popping the deep blackheads.
Step 2: If the blockage pops when you squeeze it, you have made it! If it doesn’t come to you easily, please don’t squeeze hard.
The best thing to do is leave a blackhead that has the blockage deep in the skin. Trying to pop that might lead to infection and here are other reasons why you are not supposed to pop deep blackheads:
- Too many to squeeze
Blackheads mostly come in clusters and let’s face it, there are too many to pop. No matter how much you try, you will not be able to pop them all.
- Risk of spreading bacteria
A small blackhead can lead to severe infections if it is deep and you try to pop it with all your might. If you don’t have clean hands, you might as well risk spreading the bacteria and, in turn, make things worse. For deep blackheads that need more pressure, the clogged follicle doesn’t come out most of the time.
- Popping often leaves scars
Acne scars are a nightmare for teens as well as adults. These scars refuse to fade away and often demand expensive dermatological procedures to get removed. Remember this any time you are tempted to pick a deep blackhead. It should not be popped through improper means, which could be very risky for your face as it may lead to inflammation or scars.
- Frequent picking may result in dilated pores
It is proven that if anyone does excessive blackhead picking, it may worsen the situation by putting your skin at risk of severe infections. When blackheads are being popped very frequently, the pores get exposed to dirt which may infect your skin from within and might result in bacterial infections. It is therefore important to understand that skin is a delicate part of your body that should be treated with utmost care. It should be treated appropriately by keeping skin clean and using natural skincare products like a cleanser with charcoal.
How To Not Get A Deep Blackhead
Even if there aren’t any sure-shot ways of treating blackheads, the best that you can do is lead a healthy lifestyle. Healthy from within shows on the skin. Add to that a proper skincare routine and reap the best benefits and minimum chances of getting deep blackheads.
Pay attention to what you eat
Since blackheads are caused by oil, get a diet where you consume less oily food. Include more leafy vegetables and fruits with lots of water content like cantaloupe and watermelon. Drink plenty of water as hydration is often the simplest of all solutions to keeping all forms of acne at bay. You could also sip healthy juices that detox your body from toxins that are very much responsible for infections and bacterial growth on the skin.
Keep your skin clean, toned, and moisturized
By now, you know that oil is what starts a blackhead so you need to keep the skin clean. Cleansing, toning, moisturizing, and adding to that scrubbing to get rid of dead cells- there you go. If your skin doesn’t have excess oil and dead skin cells, you have less chance of developing any kind of acne, including the dreaded deep blackheads.
[Read up on activated charcoal skin benefits]
We hope this detailed article answered all your burning questions about blackheads. We all get them at some stage of life so it’s good to know how to deal with them.
