During puberty, boys' bodies begin to produce large amounts of testosterone. This in turn leads to over production of the body's natural moisturiser, sebum. Though sebum has an important part to play in the natural regulation of your body’s chemistry, in excess it can block up your pores, trap dead cells and lead to acne and blemishes. A blocked pore is the perfect environment for bacteria to grow - warm and airtight - so you want to get rid of the blockage before your pore becomes infected. Blemishes are not only isolated to the face, either: 60% of people will also suffer acne on their backs and 15% get blemishes on their chests. Men's larger pores and more oily skin makes them more susceptible to blackheads than women.
Blackheads (medical name “open comedones”, fact fans) are found on any area of the skin where sebum can build up, particularly the chin, forehead and sides of the nostrils. Very oily skin may also develop blackheads on the cheeks and the tip of the nose, as well as chest and back. The brown or black dot is a small lump of congealed oil that blocking your pore and causing a blemish. If untreated the blackhead will build up until it stretches the pore permanently. Blackheads become whiteheads once infection sets in and white blood cells - the pus which gives the whitehead its name - rush in tackle it. As you can see, it is essential to take care of blackheads as soon as they develop.
There are ways and means to tackle blackheads. If a blackhead is large, uninfected and fairly close to the surface of the skin you can engage extract it yourself:
1) Have a hot shower or hold your face over a bowl of steaming water in order to soften the skin and open up your pores.
2) Now here's the satisfying bit. Push gently around the blackhead until it pops out. Placing tissue around your fingers can prevent your fingernails digging it and make it more comfortable. Don't overdo it though, as too much pushing can damage the skin and lead to permanent blemishes and scarring.
3) You don't want any bacteria entering the open pore, so apply an antiseptic cooling moisturiser.
4) After that it’s simply a case of regular skincare and daily cleansing with the right facial wash and twice-weekly use of a facial scrub to help shift pore clogging debris and dead cells.
Prevention is, of course, the best cure, but don’t get carried away with your new regime. Scrubbing your face too often can also cause all sorts of problems: not least an increased risk of blackheads and blemishes as your body produces more sebum to replace that which you have removed. It isn’t true that removing a blackhead causes more to develop, but excessive poking and prodding of the epidermis can lead to increased sebum production and thus an even greater risk of blemishes and blackheads forming. Over enthusiastic squeezing can be counterproductive to say the least.
Women are told to remove their make up before going to bed as it can cause their pores to become blocked. While that obviously isn’t such an issue amongst men, any New Romantics, professional clowns or cross dressers should take note. Best to stay vigilant.