Enlarged Pores
News flash! Pores don’t open and close like doors. I love this analogy. There are so many products and procedures designed to “open” or “shrink” your pores. Sorry, it’s not that simple and doesn’t quite work that way. Not overnight, anyway. Actual changes in pores take months, not hours or days. Now that I’ve dispelled the myth. Let’s learn the truth.
What is a pore? Pores are small openings in the skin centered around the hair follicle. The pore is the opening to the follicle and oil glands empty into the follicle.
Why are my pores enlarged? Pores are more noticeable in some areas of the body than others. Male pores tend to be larger than females. Pores look enlarged for two main reasons. First, the pores get clogged or plugged with dirt and dead skin, and what you are actually seeing is the “plug†that is clogging the pore. Clogged pores often are worse with higher testosterone and growth hormone levels. Second, the structure around the skin of the pores can degrade with time leading to larger pores with increased age.
How can I make my pores look smaller? Again, looking at the two main reasons pores look larger. First, they are clogged. Pores get clogged for two main reasons. First, the skin sometimes does not grow and shed correctly under hormonal control. For lack of a better simple description, dead skin clumps in the pores. Second, the sebaceous glands produce excess oil or sebum that further clogs the pores. The combination of these two things leads to blackheads and whiteheads. I like to emphasize that in those prone to acne, this process can happen independently of how well we wash our skin. In fact, over scrubbing the skin can make acne worse. But, we still need to effectively cleanse our skin to remove the debris in the clogged pores.
Although it is a splurge, a Clarisonic spin brush greatly improves skin cleansing technique. Cetaphil’s oil control wash does well but only for those with very oily skin. For those with normal to dry skin, I prefer ZO gentle cleanser. In addition to cleansers, ZO Exfoliation Accelerator and Enzymatic Peel do well to degrade the dead skin that is clogging the pores and ZO Exfoliating Polish helps mechanically remove dead skin.
Second, we want to strengthen the “walls” of the pore by growing collagen that gives structure to the skin. RetinA like products called retinoids work well to BOTH build up collagen and elastin and help degrade the dead skin clogging the pores. OTC Differin gel and ZO Instant Pore Refiner are a great place to start. For those that are ready for some radical change, ZO Advanced Radical Night Repair works great! To learn more about Retinoids and tips for using RetinA, please see our prior post.
FINAL TIPS …Use Non-comedogenic products. Make sure all products that you put on and leave on say (right on the packaging) non-comedogenic, or doesn’t clog pores. Wear sunscreen daily…. Sun is the number one thing that breaks down collagen and elastin that we need to strengthen the walls of our pores. Remember when picking a sunscreen THINK ZINC!
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