What Are Whiteheads?
No one on TV or in the movies seems to have acne, ever. Well, that’s just the magic of Hollywood. The fact is everyone gets acne, and whiteheads are one of the most common types. Unfortunately, it’s just part of how your skin works. That doesn’t mean you have to live with whiteheads, however. Knowledge is power, and understanding what whiteheads are (and are not) makes eliminating them faster and easier.
In the medical community whiteheads are called closed comedones. They typically appear on your skin as small, whitish bumps.
So what causes them? When the pores of your skin accumulate oils or sebum (a natural oil/waxy substance), you get whiteheads. This plugs your skin’s follicles, creating what are known as lesions. The reason these lesions turn into whiteheads (versus blackheads) is because the clogged areas are not exposed to air. (With blackheads, air causes oxidation, and that oxidation darkens the tips of clogged areas.)
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