Acne Archives - Luminosity Acne Skincare Blog

Do you constantly squeeze out blackheads from your nose, only to find that they return a few days later? Well you might be shocked but what you’re squeezing out of the pores on your nose aren’t actually blackheads! Read today’s blog post to find out what they are and if there’s anything you can do to prevent them from coming back!

When I decided I wanted to blog about acne, I knew that one of the most important topics I needed to cover was sebaceous filaments. Sebaceous filaments are constantly mistaken for blackheads because they appear to be so similar.

Here’s the thing about these filaments though…

They are not related to acne!

Everyone on earth has sebaceous filaments, even those that are not acne-prone. These lucky, pimple-less people usually have smaller pores than those of us who are acne-prone so their filaments are not as visible. BUT, if you were to squeeze the pores on their nose or any other areas where filaments are more concentrated, you would see that they also have them just like us acne prone people do.

So let’s talk about the differences between blackheads and sebaceous filaments.

Blackheads vs Sebaceous Filaments

A blackhead, also known as an open comedo, is a non-inflamed acne lesion that is mainly made up of dead skin cells and oil. Its dark appearance is a result of oxidation, similar to what takes place after an apple is sliced. A blackhead most times is slightly raised and feels a little bumpy if you brush your hand over it.

On the flip side, a sebaceous filament forms from an impaction of oil in the pore. Everyone on earth produces oil to some extent so that is why everyone on earth has sebaceous filaments. A blackhead goes a step further by combining an overabundance of dead skin cells with the oil. That’s because acne prone people create up to 5 layers of dead skin cells a day, whereas those that aren’t acne prone create a regular 1 layer of dead skin cells that easily sheds and doesn’t get clogged inside of the pore.

Sebaceous filaments are usually yellow or a lighter gray in color than a blackhead. And finally, sebaceous filaments are typically flush with the skin so if you brush your hand over your face, you generally would not feel them, unlike a blackhead. Now sometimes these filaments can poke out of the pore opening a bit, but usually they are level with the skin.

How to get rid of sebaceous filaments

Exfoliating products and treatments may minimize their appearance BUT you can’t get rid of them completely! No matter how many nose strips you use (which by the way I don’t recommend) or how thorough your esthetician is with extractions, these filaments always fill right back up. That’s because you are always producing oil so there is no way to prevent them from coming back. They are just a normal part of your skin.

What’s worse is that repeated pressure from picking at the same area of the skin can cause broken or dilated capillaries. Trust me on this one, I know from personal experience. That is why at our Luminosity Acne Skincare office, we do not extract sebaceous filaments for our clients. We don’t want to risk breaking their capillaries and these filaments just fill right back up so there is no point to extract them.

We do extract true blackheads though because once they are pushed out the skin, our products will prevent them from coming back.

So while exfoliating products and treatments can help to minimize the appearance of sebaceous filaments, the best thing to do is to make peace with them and know that everyone else has them too! Just recognize that they are meant to be on your skin! It’s also important to realize that most people do not even notice them on your skin! I’ve made peace with mine many years ago and they no longer bother me. I encourage you to put away the magnifying mirror and make peace with yours as well.

For my first blog post I think it’s important to go over the real cause of acne because there is so much misinformation out there and it’s no wonder that many people are confused by their acne condition.

Believe it or not, acne is a genetic condition that effects the way the pores function. So I know some of you may be thinking, “but my parents didn’t have acne” or “none of my siblings have acne, it’s just me.”

The thing you have to realize is that there is no set pattern with acne. It doesn’t always skip a generation nor does it always effect every generation. In some cases you may be the only person in your immediate family with acne, but try to look outside of your immediate family. Do you see acne in your cousins or aunts and uncles on one particular side? For example, in my family, neither one of my parents ever had acne, but both my brother and I did. When I looked outside of my immediate family, I noticed that a good amount of those on my mom’s side had acne, but no one on my dad’s side did. So for me, I can pinpoint that I inherited acne from my mom, even though she never had it herself.

Now that you know acne is genetic, let’s talk about how this effects the functioning of the pores.

Our pores are constantly shedding skin cells and replacing them with newer ones. The average person that is not acne-prone can shed 1 layer of dead skin cells per day. Someone who is acneic however, can shed up to 5 layers of dead skin cells per day! That is a huge difference! These cells also do not slough off easily so they start to build up or clog the inside of the pore. The technical term for this process is called Retention Hyperkeratosis.

The second component to acne is sebum or oil. Most acne prone individuals tend to be more on the oily side of things, but I will say that sometimes we do see clients in our office that are acne prone but naturally more dry skinned, so you can still be dry and have acne. This is because whether you produce a lot of oil or a little bit, the quality of the oil in acne prone individuals will be slightly thicker than what it should be, so this thickened oil ends up mixing with the buildup of dead skin cells and just further clogs the pores.

Finally, the 3^rd component to acne is bacteria. There is a special type of acne causing bacteria that lives within the skin, known as Propionibacterium acnes, or p. acnes for short. It’s important to know though that everyone on earth has this bacteria, even those that don’t break out, however us acne prone people have a much higher population of this bacteria. And it’s specifically this bacteria that is responsible for inflamed acne lesions such as pustules and cysts.

The reason why acneic skin has a higher population of this bacteria is because of retention hyperkeratosis or the excess buildup of the dead skin cells that I mentioned earlier. This bacteria is anaerobic meaning that it survives in an environment without oxygen, so because the pore gets clogged by the buildup of excess dead skin cells, oxygen cannot reach inside to kill off the bacteria. Furthermore, the bacteria feeds itself on the fatty acids of sebum and because most acne prone individuals produce a lot of oil, the bacteria has an endless supply of nutrients to keep it going.

So to quickly recap, acne is a genetic condition that effects the functioning of the pores. The 3 components are excess build up of dead skin cells, oil and bacteria.

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