Ever woke up one morning and find the skin texture on your face is bumpy all over? If you have oily or acne-prone skin, trying to keep your pores clear and unclogged is constant hard work. Oily and acne-prone skin types are more likely to experience blockages in the pores. And with the combination of accumulated dead skin cells, dirt and bacteria, this will lead to whiteheads, blackheads and acne breakouts.
We’ll explore more on the condition of clogged pores and how to keep them in tip-top shape for healthier-looking complexion.
How do clogged pores happen?
There are many pores in the skin, which are the openings of hair follicles. They each contain a sebaceous gland which releases oil and sweat. When dead skin cells and debris are trapped in your skin, the pores become clogged and result in inflammation, before it leads to breakouts.
How to deal with clogged pores?
It is crucial to reduce the likelihoods of your pores getting clogged as they will develop into a pimple once infected. Here are 3 ways to tackle your clogged pores effectively.
- Exfoliation
Regular exfoliation will help remove dead skin build-up and lift impurities such as dirt and oil that are residing in your pores. This can be done using chemical exfoliants which contain proven-sloughing ingredient such as retinol and alpha hydroxy acids (AHA) to clear congested skin and increase your cellular turnover rate. Combine this routine with cleansing and moisturising skincare products to improve your clogged pore problem and overall condition of your skin.
Boost your efforts in clearing your clogged pores with our 3D Deep Pore Cleansing Facial. Your pores will be cleansed thoroughly and effectively using 50 Micron Jets, instead of the conventional facials that involve squeezing and bruising on the skin. This treatment helps to remove dead skin and clear micro blockages that will eventually lead to pimples and acne. Nutrients will also be infused into the skin which helps in the regeneration of skin collagen to provide a lifting effect.
- Sebum control
In your skincare regime, use products that are best suited for your skin type and the given weather. Hot and humid weather easily causes the skin to perspire and excrete higher amounts of sebum. Instead of cream, you can opt for water-based moisturizer as heavier moisturisers combined with sebum can be pore-clogging. Products with AHA or Vitamin A derivatives help to control sebum excretion and speed up cell turnover rates, thus keeping sebum levels at bay.
For some people, they may experience overactive sebaceous glands that excrete sebum in excessive amounts. If you’ve been struggling with this issue, Botox can be injected at tiny micro-droplets at the erector pili muscles – which control your pore size. This technique will reduce the muscles’ size and make the pores look smaller, therefore lowering oil production. Botox is a well-known injectable muscle relaxant that can smoothen and soften facial wrinkle lines, but it also helps to constricts the pores and give a lifting, tightening effect for a more radiant look.
- Improve damaged pores
For stubborn, damaged pores, they are unable to cope with the increased levels of oil production in the skin and can get clogged easily. This will subsequently lead to an acne breakout that recurs on those damaged pores regularly. No matter how much skincare products you use, you may need to rely on the appropriate acne treatment to address this concern.
Our AGNES treatment treats problematic pores selectively by introducing a tiny electrical current to the oil-producing gland. This results in a reduction in the size of the gland and controls the amount of oil produced. With lower production of oil, there will be less changes of blockage in the pore, thus no pimple or acne breakout will occur. By treating the same selective pores that were getting blocked repeatedly, you are able to directly address the issue of recurrent acne breakouts.
How to reduce enlarged pores?
Several factors can affect pore size. One of them is caused by pimples that stretch out the pores and give it an enlarged appearance. Collagen loss caused by prolonged UV rays and natural ageing process can also increase the appearance of pore size. Squeezing a pimple or picking at your skin can easily cause trauma to the skin, which also contributes to widening the pore permanently.
Mildly enlarged pores can benefit from chemical peels but for severe enlarged pores,
fractional resurfacing lasers such as INFINI can be an effective solution. This micro-needling treatment uses fractional radiofrequency technology to penetrate deep into the skin at 3.5mm and stimulate collagen production. By stimulating collagen and growth of new cells, pores look smaller and deep scars become less prominent – making it an effective acne scar treatment as well.
The above-mentioned treatments are available in our clinic. To book an appointment or find out more on other treatments including nose fillers, contact us today.