Blackheads are something we are all familiar with, but did you know they are also called open comedones? Blackheads are usually caused by a pore that gets clogged with keratin (skin protein) and sebum (oil). Given the black color many believe these spots are clogged with dirt, but really it’s the exposure to air that oxidizes the clogged pore and turns it black. Don’t worry though, most blackheads can be extracted with a trusty comedone extractor!

A dilated pore of winer is essentially a large, single open comedone, also known as a blackhead. Similar to a blackhead, dilated pores are completely benign. Dead skin cells at the surface of the skin get trapped and widen this pore, plugging up the opening. Using a comedone extractor to express this plug squeezes out the softened keratin/skin cells from the pore. Once the contents of the dilated pore are expressed, it is common for the pore to fill up with keratin again.