If a person squeezes, or “extracts,” a sebaceous filament, a white or yellow worm-like structure may ooze out. Or, the filament may not produce anything. Trying to extract sebaceous filaments can injure the skin and cause scarring. It can also damage and stretch the pore, making it appear bigger.
No, blackheads aren't made of worms, but the congealed dead skin cells and sebum that actually are found in the plugged follicles certainly resembles the creatures.
Pustules are a type of pimple that contains yellowish pus. They are larger than whiteheads and blackheads. Pustules appear either as red bumps with white centers or as white bumps that are hard and often tender to the touch. In many cases, the skin around the pustules is red or inflamed.
The short answer is that you technically can squeeze them, but you really shouldn't. Dr. Purvisha Patel, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of Visha Skincare, says that while squeezing a sebaceous filament can make a “stringy, wormlike structure come out of the pores,” it's best to leave them alone.
Sebaceous filaments help move oil from your sebaceous glands to the surface of your skin. They sometimes look large and can be confused for blackheads, but they help keep your skin hydrated. Age, skin care and the thickness of hair follicles determine how noticeable they are.
Those tiny white or yellow bumps under the skin are not worrisome, but they might get frustrating. Milia develop under the skin when bits of dead skin cells, made up of proteins called keratin become trapped and create really hard, little white balls. Milia are essentially harmless and usually don't need treated.
“Sebaceous filaments are tube-like structures in the walls of your pores,” says Dr. Engelman. “You might recognize them as tiny, dark dots on your face.” Despite what Reddit and TikTok users may have you thinking, you don't have to go to great lengths to evict them from your face.
Salicylic acid, also known as beta hydroxy acid, is an ingredient in many facial cleansers and acne creams. These products may contain 0.5% to 2.0% percent salicylic acid. This type of acid may help reduce the amount of oil on the skin and the size of sebaceous filaments.
“AHAs, such as glycolic and lactic acid, exfoliate the skin by removing dead skin cells,” explains Dr. Camp. “Beta-hydroxy acids (BHAs), like salicylic acid, are lipophilic, allowing them to mingle with oil deep within the pore and break up oil plugs.” This combination is a sebaceous filament-killer.
Milia look like small white bumps on the cheeks, chin, or nose. They can also be on the body, especially the trunk and limbs. A similar condition called Epstein pearls is marked by milia on your gums or the roof of the mouth. Epstein pearls are very common in newborns.
Nodules are a type of hard pimple that can be large and painful. They form when an infected skin pore or follicle is located deep below the skin surface. Cysts are found deep below the skin when a pus-filled membrane forms around the infection. They are likely to scar.
What is cysticercosis? Cysticercosis is an infection caused by the larvae of the parasite Taenia solium. This infection occurs after a person swallows tapeworm eggs. The larvae get into tissues such as muscle and brain, and form cysts there (these are called cysticerci).
People with loiasis can have itching all over the body (even when they do not have Calabar swellings), hives, muscle pains, joint pains, and tiredness. Sometimes adult worms can be seen moving under the skin.
Threadworms are a common type of worm infection in the UK, particularly in children under the age of 10. The worms are white and look like small pieces of thread.
Keep your body and your skin properly hydrated.
Hydrated skin is softer and causes the follicles to expand, and naturally expel whatever's in them. Drinking enough water also helps the skin maintain a healthy cell turnover rate, which prevents the buildup of dead cells and debris.
You can mistake them for blackheads but they are not, but these are sebaceous filaments. On closer inspection, these dots may be clear or slightly yellow in color. If you squeeze the skin around the pore, it will secrete as a yellowish-white sebum.
It is too big. The enlarged pore, once emptied of its unsightly contents, will only fill back up again. Repeated squeezing and/or extraction can lead to an infection or cause hyperpigmentation in the surrounding skin cells. Removing a dilated pore of Winer permanently is a job for a dermatologist.
Truth be told, you can never completely get rid of sebaceous filaments. You can extract them, but they'll come back shortly thereafter, usually around 30 days or less for those with very oily skin. They're something everyone has, and most people won't notice them anyway.
If you have typically oily skin, this means that there is an overproduction of sebum, a natural oily substance that is intended to lubricate the skin. Whenever this overproduction of sebum occurs, the sebaceous filaments can fill up and resemble very enlarged pores.
Blackheads, whiteheads, and sebaceous filaments all look relatively similar and form due to similar causes. However, there are a few key differences between the three. While blackheads and whiteheads are a form of congestion typically seen on the t-zone, sebaceous filaments are actually part of your skin.
Milia are small, bump-like cysts found under the skin. They are usually 1 to 2 millimeters (mm) in size. They form when skin flakes or keratin, a protein, become trapped under the skin. Milia most often appear on the face, commonly around the eyelids and cheeks, though they can occur anywhere.
And truly, the gunk inside the blackheads does look remarkably like small grains of rice. A blackhead is a single pore filled with dead skin and oil, which forms a black “head” when exposed to air.