Bacne: Its Acne On Your Back
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 it's a good idea to get rid of the blockage before your pore becomes infected. Blemishes are not only isolated to the face: 60% of people will also suffer acne on their backs and 15% get blemishes on their chests. Men are more susceptible than women because our skin is more oily and our pores are larger.
Wherever sebum can build up, blackheads can form. This can be your chin, your forehead, the sides of your nostrils, anywhere. 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 solidified sebum that blocking your pore and causing a blemish. If left alone the blackhead will build up until it stretches the pore permanently. Once a blackhead becomes infected it becomes a whitehead and the skin around the infected area can become red and inflamed as your antibodies try to fight off the infection. It is essential to take care of blackheads as soon as they develop.
So what can you do? 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. Form pads around your fingers with tissue and gently push until it pops out - 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 soothing cream.
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 shift anything that might be clogging up your pores.
Be careful not to get too carried away when it comes to the cleaning, though. 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. Neither do you want to aggravate your skin. 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 end up causing blackheads and blemishes rather than preventing them. Too much cleaning can be counterproductive to say the least.
Women are always 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.
Wherever sebum can build up, blackheads can form. This can be your chin, your forehead, the sides of your nostrils, anywhere. 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 solidified sebum that blocking your pore and causing a blemish. If left alone the blackhead will build up until it stretches the pore permanently. Once a blackhead becomes infected it becomes a whitehead and the skin around the infected area can become red and inflamed as your antibodies try to fight off the infection. It is essential to take care of blackheads as soon as they develop.
So what can you do? 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. Form pads around your fingers with tissue and gently push until it pops out - 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 soothing cream.
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 shift anything that might be clogging up your pores.
Be careful not to get too carried away when it comes to the cleaning, though. 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. Neither do you want to aggravate your skin. 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 end up causing blackheads and blemishes rather than preventing them. Too much cleaning can be counterproductive to say the least.
Women are always 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.
