Blackheads are ugly eye sores. Looking in the morning mirror and closely examining those large pores filled with dirt and excess oil can drive one crazy.

In order to remove them it’s important to take a moment to properly learn how to get rid of blackheads in a safe and effective way. After all, we all want beautiful, smooth clear skin, but being gentle will prevent any scarring or unnecessary damage.

To understand how to properly get rid of blackheads, you must first realize that although blackheads are embarrassing to look at, these are merely clogged skin pores.

Medically, they are defined as an ‘open comedone’ and are normally seen at the first stage of acne before it develops into skin inflammation and infection. When excessive oil accumulation occurs, the oils are oxidized causing the oil to become solid leading to blocked pores.

When oils first start to accumulate it is called a whitehead. At the whitehead stage the pore is still closed. However, once the pore opens and the oils start to oxidize, they become blackheads. So, blackheads and whiteheads both consist of dead skin cells, oil and sebum but the difference lies in whether the pore is open or not.

There are two essential parts to blackhead removal:

1) Preventing blackheads

2) The physical removal of blackheads

Preventing Blackheads

Preventing blackheads will require some habit changes. Making a permanent daily routine of proper skin care is required to keep blackheads away.

First, wash your face twice a day, once when you wake up and once when you go to bed. If you aren’t doing this already, start this change today. Cleaning your face regularly will keep dirt and oil from excessive accumulation.

When washing your face, use a cleanser or exfoliant with non-harsh chemicals. Using harsh chemicals may create more damage. Apply the cleanser to an exfoliating scrub and massage the skin where your blackheads occur in a gentle, circular motion.

Do not scrub too hard as this can create damage. After rinsing, pat your face with a dry clean, fresh towel. Cleansers can act as a pore cleaner, but they can’t remove debris deep into the pores.

Second, apply toner that contains 0.5-2% salicylic acid to shed the dead cells from the upper layer of the skin as well as decrease any inflammation. Overusing products with salicylic acid can irritate the skin so only use it a few times per week.

Third, take precautions. Only use cosmetics that are water-based. Oil based products may clog your pores. This means applying an oil-free moisturizer and an oil-free sunscreen.

Do not use excessive make-up. If you wear makeup, be sure to remove it by using a good make-up remover. The heavier the make-up, the more likely it will clog your pores.

Stay away from humidity and pollution if possible. This deadly combination allows debris to collect and stick to the skin aggravating blackhead formation.

The Physical Removal of Blackheads

Squeezing your skin for blackhead removal has the potential to further block your pores resulting in blackhead formation. This is a common mistake.

The best way to remove blackheads is to use a blackhead remover. This is a more sterile and accurate way of extracting a blackhead to prevent damage and minimize scarring.

Other removal tools on the market such as suction probes, using a pore vacuum or skin spatula can aggravate skin issues and lead to irritation. Using tools like these on sensitive skin is probably not a good idea.

The same goes for blackhead strips. Using blackhead strips may cause more inflammation instead of less! Plus, these strips only work on the surface and may be painful during the blackhead removal process.

To remove blackheads, you will first want to open the pore for easier extraction by using a steamer or placing a warm wet towel over the blackhead for 5 minutes. A great time to do this is after a shower.

Use a quality blackhead remover tool or a comedones extractor for best results. Clean the blackhead tool or blackhead extractor with rubbing alcohol or an antiseptic solution to sterilize the tool before and after blackhead removal.

There are usually 2 sides to a blackhead extraction tool. Gently press the side of the tool that best fits the blackhead and push it against the skin with the blackhead in the center of the hole. Be sure you do this gently to avoid skin damage.

Slowly rock the tool back and forth to loosen the blackhead for 30 seconds or until removal is achieved. If it doesn’t come out easily, you may need to steam your face longer.

Be sure to buy a quality extractor tool. This is your skin, so it’s important to prevent any unnecessary scarring and infection due to low quality implements.

One that is recommended is the Seki Edge Blackhead Remover. It has two sides with different size holes and it’s made of Japanese stainless steel. You can check it out here.

Lastly, if you don’t feel comfortable doing this yourself or your home attempt at blackhead removal is being stubborn, you can see an esthetician or dermatologist who can easily do this for you, but it won’t be cheap. It’s best to see a professional to remove blackheads when there are complications such as a possible infection. And if you’ve got a serious situation, maybe it’s time to see Dr. Pimple Popper!

Regularly removing blackheads and closing the pores afterwards can help to reduce the size of your blackheads when they come back. It is very difficult to completely get rid of blackheads to the point where they don’t return. But with constant careful attention you can minimize pore size over time which makes them less noticeable.