You Clean the Blackheads from Your Nose, but Why Do They Always Come Back?

There is something frustrating about the small dots that appear on the nose. We clean, use masks, sometimes even press on them gently, and the next day it seems they're there again.

But there is something interesting that not everyone knows. Not every dark dot on the nose is a blackhead that needs to be extracted.

Sometimes it's something completely natural called Sebaceous Filaments.

What are sebaceous filaments?

Inside our pores are glands that produce sebum, the skin's natural oil.

Sebaceous filaments are natural structures that help transport the sebum to the skin's surface. They are found in almost everyone, but are more prominent in areas where there is increased activity of the sebaceous glands, such as the nose and chin.

Usually they look like tiny dots in a grayish, yellowish, or light brown color.

Real blackheads, on the other hand, called open comedones, are formed when the hair follicle becomes clogged with a mixture of oil and skin cells. The material at the pore's opening oxidizes and looks dark.

So why do the dots come back after we extract them?

Because if it's sebaceous filaments, we are actually trying to extract something our skin is supposed to produce.

Even if we succeed in emptying part of the contents, the sebum continues to be produced and the pore fills up again.

And that's not a sign that the skin is dirty.

In fact, repeated attempts to squeeze the dots may cause irritation, injury, and sometimes even scars.

What can be done anyway?

If the dots bother aesthetically, it's possible to try to reduce their prominence.

Salicylic acid in an appropriate concentration may help clean clogged pores and reduce the accumulation of oil and cells.

Certain retinoids can help prevent comedones, but they are not suitable for everyone and may cause irritation.

It's also important to use a gentle cleanser and not to scrub the nose in an attempt to reach a deeper clean.

And what about nose strips? They may temporarily remove part of the surface contents, but they don't change the natural structure of the pore.

My daily recommendation

I think sometimes we try to fix things in our skin that don't require fixing at all.

We look in the mirror from very close, identify every small dot, and immediately search for a way to make it disappear.

But our skin is not a completely smooth surface. It has pores, sebaceous glands, and natural structures that play an important role.

Before you try to extract the dots on your nose again, it's worth understanding whether they're real blackheads or simply part of the skin's natural structure.

Not everything we see in the mirror is a problem that needs to be solved.

Nurit Rozenblat

With love,
Nurit Rozenblat
OrOrgani

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