42 replies to this topic

[(eLLe)]

i hope this isn't a stupid question.

i breakout in the form of these sebum plugs. they're colourless and tiny bumps. after some time, they harden. if i lightly scratch it with my nails or lift the plug up with a tweezer, a little plug comes off. it's a hard solid or semi-solid sometimes and the colour ranges from transparent to a light milky yellow. most are <1mm in length but i do get the occasional ones that are fat and long. i THINK they're hormonal because a lot of them pop up almost overnight 1-2 weeks before my period.

most of them, about 80%, are gone after the plug falls off. but sometimes, i go too far and they get inflamed and turn into pus-filled pimples.

ok, sorry for the long and disgusting description. but i really would like to know how i can prevent them from coming back.

[flipside]

i hope this isn't a stupid question.

i breakout in the form of these sebum plugs. they're colourless and tiny bumps. after some time, they harden. if i lightly scratch it with my nails or lift the plug up with a tweezer, a little plug comes off. it's a hard solid or semi-solid sometimes and the colour ranges from transparent to a light milky yellow. most are <1mm in length but i do get the occasional ones that are fat and long. i THINK they're hormonal because a lot of them pop up almost overnight 1-2 weeks before my period.

most of them, about 80%, are gone after the plug falls off. but sometimes, i go too far and they get inflamed and turn into pus-filled pimples.

ok, sorry for the long and disgusting description. but i really would like to know how i can prevent them from coming back.

i get those same plugs. they are basically blackheads that havent had time to darken at the surface (becuase you're producing so much oil).

the exact cause(s) is still somewhat a mystery to me and ive read all the scientific descriptions about it.

i could regurgitate everything ive read but it wouldnt answer your question in any sound fashion.

try reading this article... see the part on ductal hypercornification on page 2/3:

http://www.homoeopathyclinic.com/articles/Acne_Vulgaris.pdf

[LabGirl81]

i hope this isn't a stupid question.

i breakout in the form of these sebum plugs. they're colourless and tiny bumps. after some time, they harden. if i lightly scratch it with my nails or lift the plug up with a tweezer, a little plug comes off. it's a hard solid or semi-solid sometimes and the colour ranges from transparent to a light milky yellow. most are <1mm in length but i do get the occasional ones that are fat and long. i THINK they're hormonal because a lot of them pop up almost overnight 1-2 weeks before my period.

most of them, about 80%, are gone after the plug falls off. but sometimes, i go too far and they get inflamed and turn into pus-filled pimples.

ok, sorry for the long and disgusting description. but i really would like to know how i can prevent them from coming back.

i get those same plugs. they are basically blackheads that havent had time to darken at the surface (becuase you're producing so much oil).

the exact cause(s) is still somewhat a mystery to me and ive read all the scientific descriptions about it.

i could regurgitate everything ive read but it wouldnt answer your question in any sound fashion.

try reading this article... see the part on ductal hypercornification on page 2/3:

http://www.homoeopathyclinic.com/articles/Acne_Vulgaris.pdf

Bryan pointed out that in the opriginal Kligman / Shelley study that they actually found this in some of the prisoners (I hope psycho boy stalker is being experimented on in jail as I type this) had these little worm like plugs in their pores. I saw the picture and that's exactly what mine look like.

They found that they were not sebum or cellular debris, but actually huge masses composed entirely of p.acnes bacteria. They didn't say if it was live or dead, but I'd like to see more studies done on what this stuff actually is......I figured if it was live bacteria BP would kill it since p. acnes is anerobic. But I still get them (as well as true blackheads) no matter how much BP I use.....which makes me thing they may be like little bacterial graveyards.....Oh man that's gross......

[Brandy]

little bacterial graveyards? That is and at the same time.

[Jess]

yuck, I used to have those solid plugs all over my face, but the worst place was on my nose-I could squeeze out little solid plugs and strings 24/7 back then.. I'm glad synthetic brush exfoliation removes all those p.acnes graveyard plugs so that I don't break out anymore. my skin would still be covered in them as well as blackheads. yeesh

[peace of mind]

i'm confused between those and scarred pores. Don't scarred pores have the plug you're all talking about?

[Jess]

I get the plugs in my areas that I have an enlarged pore or an ice pick scar from a past breakout. Then there are places on my nose that would fill up with the plugs unless I exfoliated there as well. I know some people never seem to get them but for skin like my type, I have to exfoliate every day to keep em away..

[flipside]

Bryan pointed out that in the opriginal Kligman / Shelley study that they actually found this in some of the prisoners (I hope psycho boy stalker is being experimented on in jail as I type this) had these little worm like plugs in their pores. I saw the picture and that's exactly what mine look like.

They found that they were not sebum or cellular debris, but actually huge masses composed entirely of p.acnes bacteria. They didn't say if it was live or dead, but I'd like to see more studies done on what this stuff actually is......I figured if it was live bacteria BP would kill it since p. acnes is anerobic. But I still get them (as well as true blackheads) no matter how much BP I use.....which makes me thing they may be like little bacterial graveyards.....Oh man that's gross......

aahhhhhhhhhhhh maaaaaaaaannnnnnnnn.... thats nasty!

where can i find this study?

[LionQueen]

That's what I had. After 3 months of my Green Cream/jessfoliation regimen (see signature) I'm pretty much free of them now.

[bryan]

Bryan pointed out that in the opriginal Kligman / Shelley study that they actually found this in some of the prisoners (I hope psycho boy stalker is being experimented on in jail as I type this) had these little worm like plugs in their pores. I saw the picture and that's exactly what mine look like.

They found that they were not sebum or cellular debris, but actually huge masses composed entirely of p.acnes bacteria. They didn't say if it was live or dead, but I'd like to see more studies done on what this stuff actually is......I figured if it was live bacteria BP would kill it since p. acnes is anerobic. But I still get them (as well as true blackheads) no matter how much BP I use.....which makes me thing they may be like little bacterial graveyards.....Oh man that's gross......

aahhhhhhhhhhhh maaaaaaaaannnnnnnnn.... thats nasty!

where can i find this study?

That was in the study which first examined the "feedback theory", which you'll have to find at a medical library: "An Investigation of the Biology of the Human Sebaceous Gland", A. M. Kligman and W. B. Shelley, J Invest Dermatol 30:99-124, 1958.

I'm going to try scanning the photo they have of those "wormy" plugs, but it's just an old black-and-white picture and it's kinda faded, so it's pretty hard to make out the details. But if it's useable at all, I'll post it here.

Bryan

[(eLLe)]

oh yuck!!!!!!! bacteria debris!!!!! then how did the bacteria get onto my skin in the first place?

[flipside]

That was in the study which first examined the "feedback theory", which you'll have to find at a medical library: "An Investigation of the Biology of the Human Sebaceous Gland", A. M. Kligman and W. B. Shelley, J Invest Dermatol 30:99-124, 1958.

I'm going to try scanning the photo they have of those "wormy" plugs, but it's just an old black-and-white picture and it's kinda faded, so it's pretty hard to make out the details. But if it's useable at all, I'll post it here.

Bryan

Thanks Bryan, I would verymuch like to see the picture if thats manageable. I check my school library too, if they dont have it they can probably have it sent to me.

oh yuck!!!!!!! bacteria debris!!!!! then how did the bacteria get onto my skin in the first place?

hmmm good question, do infants and children have any p. acnes even though they arent providing much sebum for them to munch on? or does the p. acnes just land on your face somehow.

i know there are bacteria and fungi cells landing on our skin at every moment of the day.

i took a microbiology class once and we took a couple of pitri dishes home, and let them sit uncovered in a room for just 30 minutes. a few days later we had all kinds of stuff growing in the pitri dishes... it was gross. we are under constant attack and our skin is our first line of defense... so we shouldnt screw it up with BP and other damaging chemicals...

[bryan]

I'm going to try scanning the photo they have of those "wormy" plugs, but it's just an old black-and-white picture and it's kinda faded, so it's pretty hard to make out the details. But if it's useable at all, I'll post it here.

Bryan

Thanks Bryan, I would verymuch like to see the picture if thats manageable. I check my school library too, if they dont have it they can probably have it sent to me.

Ok, here's a scan of that picture:

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/9108/worm51ox.jpg

Again, I'm sorry for the overall quality of that; it's just a scan of a PHOTOCOPY of a nearly 50 year-old black-and-white photo in a medical journal, so it leaves something to be desired! You'll probably want to save that image and then view it separately with some image software, so that you can zoom-in on it a little.

It shows the forehead area of a black guy; the "worm-like extrusions" are a pale yellow, according to Kligman, so they probably show up against his dark skin better than if he were a white guy. Notice the rows of marks on the left and right sides that look sort of like tire tracks...those are the marks that were made on his skin by the tight compression of the hemostats. There are some light markings in the lower left corner which I have no idea what they are; they may just be glare off the guys skin, I dunno. The "worms" that we're talking about are those things around the very center of the photo; in particular, notice that curly one that's closer to the top! Yuck...

Bryan

[(eLLe)]

gross picture!

the description said these worms have the consistency of yellow petrolatum. so this is soft right? mine are completely hard, so is mine still bacteria debris or something else? yuck.

[flipside]

Bryan, thanks for posting that picture.

Do you know how Kligman determined the extrusions to be predominantly P. acnes cells?

I always imagined they were a mixture of P. acnes, various white blood cells, keratinocytes, sebocyte debri, lipids and other extracellular junk. I'd be nice to know the percentages of all these things. If its like 90% P. acnes, then well... thats disgusting.

[Jess]

It noted that the plugs don't seem to block the flow of sebum to the surface. hmmm

Are these p.acnes plugs more abundant in people that have acne and clogged pores? I have a hard time believing that they consist 100% of p.acnes bacteria. The consistency makes me think of dried oil and dead skin cells, so I wonder if the bacteria literally consumes this matter and then populates those areas to become the 'plugs.'

[LionQueen]

I had zillions of little plugs but they were all hard. Never saw the "yellow petrolatum".

[bryan]

Do you know how Kligman determined the extrusions to be predominantly P. acnes cells?

He doesn't go into that anywhere in the text, but I'm assuming that he simply smeared some of those things across a glass side and then studied them carefully under a microscope, then estimated their bulk as a percentage of the whole.

Bryan

[walien]

I had quite the set of these on my nose prior to Accutane, but that gone away since I have started Accutane. I just spent a minute or two pushing them out and they never really came back.

[ShadowFade]

i have these on my nose i might have rosescea