What can I do to get rid of blackheads on my chin? What are their causes, and best treatments and removal products like masks and scrubs?
Cause and myths
Table of content
The main reason for the occurrence of chin blackheads is due to the production of excess body fats and oils by the sebaceous glands. Other factors that increase chances include hormonal changes at puberty, during pregnancy and birth control pills.
The acne form is not caused by foods or engaging in sexual activities. Sebum is produced naturally whether you are eating certain foods thought to be trigger cause. However, infections can worsen the appearance and condition of blackheads on your chin.
Let us now focus on various methods of removing and treating them.
How to Remove or get rid of them?
How are blackheads treated? With many products in the market to choose from, some people end up being frustrated after discovering they cannot fix this problem.
1. Removal products – facial masks & scrubs
How do products remove them? The mode of action or mechanism differs slightly from one to the other.
The significant of all mechanisms is that they greatly help in the breakdown of excess body oils (sebum) together with dead skin cells and dirt that may be trapped after applying makeup. In fact, this feature is the most crucial one as far as getting rid of excessive production of oils is key to tackling blackheads.
Secondly, good facial masks are quite effective in drawing out sebum, toxins and other wastes by absorbing excess oils. This process cannot be regulated completely since body fats and oils are constantly produced by various complex body processes.
The third mode of action of some products is to reduce the size of the skin pores or making them shrink while regulating the amount of sebum in the process.
The quality of removal product may be judged by its ingredients but your body and skin condition is the ultimate determinant. Actually, do not condemn the manufacturer’s product specifications if you do not realize the expected results. Instead, go for treatment offered by dermatologists.
2. Treatments
Majority of treatment options are provided by medical practitioners, beauty experts, and dermatologists. Treatment is either administered externally where creams are prescribed or doctors use oral drug administration.
a). Retinoid drugs
Are retinoid medications safe for treatment of blackheads? Yes. Retinoid drugs greatly reduce the amount of sebum or body oil produced and also helps in unclogging hair follicles, especially in men.
The most common forms of retinoid drugs are retinoids such as (Retin-A, Renova, and Avita) or isotretinoin. They come in different forms. For instance creams, gels and liquids. Although this drug is majorly used to control severe acne, if properly administered, tretinod medication is effective for treating mild forms of acne too.
Therefore, as a way of treating blackheads, it is recommended that retinoid medications be administered by a doctor to avoid the adverse side effects. These include irritation, scarring, and black spots. Due to the side effects, most patients are forced to discontinue usage.
WARNING: Women who have conceived or planning to become pregnant and those pregnant MUST NOT use tretinoin.
b). Antibiotics
Antibiotics are not particularly used to treat blackheads but rather to prevent, control or treat infections.
Prescription topical antibiotics are commonly preferred but patients can also get OTC creams and other forms of drugs (but ensure to use them in accordance with the drug safety rules).
3. Strips and pore strips
These are skin products popular in the market. These products are made in a special manner which enables opening up of clogged to skin pores. Individuals who intend to use should learn how to use blackhead strips before acquiring them.
Using them is not a way of treating or preventing but help in removing them especially from the nose and around the chin. Blackhead pores cannot prevent them either. Nevertheless, they are substantial of great help for small blackheads on the surface of the skin.
4. Extraction tools
Extraction is another easier way to extract these dark headed bumps. But removal without safety and caution can be costly and painful.
Tips for using the extractor
- Sufficiently prepare your skin by steaming or facial cleansing or gentle exfoliation. This moistens the skin, opens up the pores and softens the “blackhead stuff”.
- Use gentle back-and-forth finger movements to help dislodge the material under the skin layer. You may alternatively use the edges of tools. (Avoid pointed or sharp-end tools).
- Do not use force or squeeze too much during the extraction procedure.
- Apply benzoyl peroxide to help shrink the pores but you should continue to exfoliate your skin regularly afterward.
- Use tissues for wiping or hand protectively for health reasons.
It would not be wise to use extraction method when you have them all over the face. If you have imperfect knowledge about any of these tools, DO NOT attempt blackhead extraction all by yourself. Ask for help from an esthetician.
5. Other treatment
In this category, advanced techniques are required if the rest of treatments are less effective. Consultation form dermatologist is key prior to treatment. They include:
- Laser treatments
- Dermabrasion
- Chemical peels
- Hormone therapy and pills
Choosing products for chin blackheads
If you have been struggling to try to get rid of blackheads your chin there are a few crucial points you are missing. There are many other many sensitive issues that we seem to ignore.
While most famous and hailed products are effective, the very products might be hiding your skin problem in the true sense. However, that is not what solely determines how effective these products are when it comes to dealing with blackheads.
First, knowing yourself and understanding your body is one way of acknowledging that you have a problem. Ask yourself:
- What is skin condition of my face like (the chin, around mouth and nose)?
- Do I have the skin type that is dry, oily or sensitive skin with large pores or a combination of dehydrated and sensitive skin?
- To what degree is your skin dry or oily? Is it very dry or too oily?
In order to arrive at answers more definite to these questions, forget about myths about blackheads but strive to stick to pieces of advice from a beauty expert.
Best control ways
After discovering the nature and condition of skin in your chin area, you arguably have better means to select and get the best way to remove blackheads from the chin.
1. Regular exfoliation
Exfoliation of skin is one of the best methods to resolve this problem. Even with exfoliation, one need to be careful while selecting the products to use. Learning to use then optimally is yet another factor.
For instance, exfoliating products with less than or labeled 2% salicylic acid are more appropriate for sensitive skin. Salicylic is a better choice because it less irritates the skin meaning that you can experience fewer side effects.
2. Use cleansing products
In your daily routine incorporate mild facial cleansing to enhance skin purification. If your face gets dry easily and is sensitive again, we advise you go for natural cleansers.
3. Go for treatments
Sometimes you would feel that blackheads on chin won’t go away and have remained stuck under the skin for such a long time. It would really be difficult to get rid of chin deep ones.
Deep ones on and around mouth
In some cases, they can be deep i.e. they can form under the skin around the chin and nose. If they get stuck under skin for months they tend to become huge and hardened.
Removal of deeply embedded blackheads by extracting tools and popping it is not easy. A thorough routine facial cleansing can help in tackling deep ones But if you need to properly address it at all cost, see a professional skin care provider.
Do homemade treatments work?
Many natural products less effective compared to the scientifically- proven and medical treatments. Secondly, they have some limitations. Even though, some home-made procedures can serve as a temporal means to fix minor signs of blackheads around the chin.
Common natural remedies include the facial clay masks – egg white masks, milk and honey; honey and cinnamon masks; vinegar, oatmeal and sugar scrub.
For some individuals, homemade procedures can improve and even help remove the condition of (small) or mild blackheads on chin and nose. However, some procedures can produce far much undesirable results.
Squeezing, popping or not?
Squeezing the blackheads anywhere on the face is the last thing you should not think of doing. Besides it being a risk for transferring infections, squeezing can make the removal efforts be horribly a painful experience.
Sources of reference
- Blackheads, Causes Symptoms and how they are treated
- https://beautyhealthtips.in/natural-ways-tips-to-remove-blackheads-on-chin/
- , http://www.myhealthtips.in/2014/04/chin-blackheads.htm