916SKIN - Acne, Skin & Wellness Studio is an
acne clinic in Chico, California.
530.680.2027
Pretend you're travelling across the oil-slicked surface of someone's skin and magically into the belly of a pore (
follicle) - it's a long canal lined with dead skin cells, an oil gland beneath you, and a hair that extends out of the follicle like a bean stalk. But, this is no ordinary follicle, this is an impaction, a non-inflamed
comedo (pl:
comedones) that is rapidly undergoing retention
hyperkeratosis. The cells lining the follicle wall are storming down like giant snow flakes so fast they stick together and you're surrounded by a massive glob of dead cells, bacteria, and sebum (oil). Just when you think you will be buried alive by this giant snow ball, you see
pac-man like creatures (enzymes) gobbling up the dead skin cells. And, although the snow keeps rapidly falling, the storm is kept at bay by these hungry, protein obsessed, guardians. Although there is a tiny opening at the top of the follicle, it is too small for you to escape, and you are trapped with the impaction inside the follicle.
This is what is known as a "closed
comedo" or "whitehead." This is how an impaction
develops, and it can take up to 3 months for a
comedo to form. Although there is sebum acting as the glue holding this glob of skin cells together, oil continues to glide up the hair, through a small opening, and onto the surface of the skin. Inside the
follicle, the oil doesn't become hard like so many of us believe. It
appears to be hardened oil when it is expelled, but really, it's just a glob of dead skin cells, a little sebum, and bacteria... a snow ball.
Where were we? Oh
yeah, trapped inside the follicle... as the cells continue to storm down and the
pac-man-like-creatures (protein digesting enzymes/
proteases) get full, the opening at the top of the follicle starts to expand letting in oxygen. The glob of dead skin cells becomes oxidized, and like an apple turns brown when it's exposed to air, so does the impaction. The follicle that you are trapped in is now called an "open
comedo" or a "blackhead" and your escape is getting closer. As you and the impaction move towards the opening, little flecks of melanin (pigment) begin to accumulate along side you contributing to the dark color of the blackhead. This is often misconstrued as flecks of dirt from the days activities. Luckily for you, this person decided to get an acne treatment. As the skin care specialist applies pressure at the base of the follicle, you and the impaction, come gliding to the surface, and you
high tail it out of there in your magic school bus!
