How do some blackheads produce long stringy pops (think spagetti noodles) and others seem to come out in larger clumps think dirt clump or similar)? IT is always something that has perplexed me. Is it based of the pore size or something else?
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You know, I’ve had a thought or two about this. Mainly that I prefer extracting the stringy ones! I’ve never really considered the ‘why’ though.
I might compare it to picking your nose. Sometimes you get a longer, stringy one, and other times just a little ball. I believe it may just be dependent on how far back, or how deep the thing you’re pulling out is. Consider pulling out a thumb tack vs. a long nail.
The stringy ones are called sebaceous filaments, they aren’t actual blackheads but occur due to the natural buildup of oil and skin debris in pores. Its that long shape since it builds up around a hair follicle without building up as a blockage.
The large clumps are actual blackheads where there is too much oil and skin debris in the pore/hair follicle that the opening get blocked. When this blockage peaks outside the pore, it’ll react with the air to become black-ish, but if it is still enclosed by skin, it’ll stay white-ish.
Stringy sebaceous filaments are a natural part of healthy skin, clumpy blackheads are when things get overloaded with too much oil/debris.
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