Facial pores are minute, tiny openings present on your skin surface. They allow your skin to breathe properly and keep moisture in the skin. Most important activity performed by skin pores is that they transfer sweat and oil to the skin surface. They remove toxins from our bodies. If sebaceous glands secrete normal or average amount of oil, the pores will be smaller but if the oil secreted by the glands is more there is a possibility of enlarged pores on the face. Large open pores are painless and harmless, but they can make you feel embarrassed if they appear on the face.

Why pores get enlarged?
Various sebaceous glands behind our skin surface continuously generate sebum or oil and this sebum is transferred through skin pores to the skin surface for keeping your skin healthy and moisturized. If excess oil is generated by the glands, blocking of pores can take place. Once the pores are blocked, bacteria get trapped in it and form the pus. This increases the pressure inside the pores, and it can lead to enlargement of the facial pores. One of the major reasons behind enlargement of pores is the oily skin which mainly occurs with the teenage group. Other reasons can be periods, pregnancy medication and pills for pregnancy, allergies, environmental factors, aging, excessive sweating, genetics, poor quality makeup, blackheads and unhygienic habits and skin care products. Oily skin is observed more in a humid and hot environment.

What are elongated pores?
Elongated pores can appear as a result of aging. Skin sagging is commonly observed with increasing age; once skin loses its firmness due to the degeneration in the dermis, pores become opened and virtually elongated and more visible.

What are clogged pores?
Clogged pores are resulted due to an excess sebum secretion. This excess secretion can be a result of a hormone imbalance or inadequate precautions of the skin causing more impurities. Clogged pores are observed more with males. The reason is that sebum secretion and thickening is enhanced due to stratum corneum. Inadequate sleep also imbalances the male hormone secretion. In this way, if sebum secretion increases, the openings of the pores get narrowed and it leads to clogged pores.

To overcome clogged pores:

• It is very important to wash your face gently and regularly.
• Control your diet by denying fatty, oily and sweet foodstuff.
• Try some techniques for stress management.
• Take adequate and sufficient sleep.

How to get rid of open pores?
Open enlarged pores can make you lose your confidence if they are present on your face. Especially T-zone, nose, chin are the typical areas where enlarged open pores appear. Hot or warm water is helpful to pull out dirt and debris from the pores whereas cold water works by removing excess oil present at pores. Anyhow it is very important to wash your face regularly. You can use circular motion using cotton pads to rub the pores area on the skin.