Salicylic Acid is supposed to be a good product for getting rid of blackheads. I use Neutrogena's "Oil-Free Acne Stress Control 3-in-1 Hydrating Acne Treatment" and have good luck with it (when I use it nightly) without over-drying my skin. I also exfoliate a few times per week. This has significantly reduced my blackheads, but I still have some. I'm not sure if anything will completely clear them. =(

i was told that there's no product in the market that can completely eliminate blackheads. but it helps if you have a good skin regimen. and salicylic acid is supposed to be a great aid in getting rid of these blackheads. but i haven't tried it long enough to say that it works or it doesn't. but i notice that i have less blackheads when I follow my routine religously:

washing
toning
moisturizing

and they go back when i become lazy. hope this helps =)

Ah, my forte

From your description it sounds like grade 1 acne.

Unfortunately there is no treatment which will permanently clear you. But, there are things which will clear you and then help to maintain a clear skin.

First the key to having clear skin is knowledge. You have to understand this condition and the products which are used. Very few people do. (like the root cause of the problem is called Retention Hyperkeratosis.

A good book to get and read is Acne Rx by Dr. James Fulton. It will expalin what is happening internally to cause these.

The next step is to develop a plan to clear the skin. One of the fastest is extraction. Where many people go wrong is that they attempt to extract them without first preparing them. This means to soften the substances which is gluing the blackheads into the pore lining. Once products which contain salicylic and glycolic acidis begin to loosen these impactions, extraction will be much easier. There are also extraction tools which can make this much easier and faster.

Once these pores are clear you will have to maintain to keep them clear.

If your skin only shows signs of blackheads, thank your parents. What I mean is every one of those blackheads could have been much worse lesions like cysts. The fact that the pore remains intact and does not rupture is genetically based. Those who have weak linings are prone to pimples, cysts and nodules.


To crystal,

What you are talking about is a salt scrub. Unfortunately the salt has no effect on bacteria. It only acts as a mild abrasive scrub to help remove impacted cells on the surface.


Hope this helps

Jeff

Topical prescription options that might help are Retin-A or Differin. Also, from what I know about the oral medication Accutane, it shrinks your oil glands so that they produce way less oil, and that may stop the blackheads, even cure them, and also put an end to pimples and oily skin. Anyway, if the over the counter treatments suggested by the previous posters don't help, consider seeing a dermatologist.

I read a month or so back there's a laser that's suppose to shrink the oil glands thereby reducing acne. I thought about pressuring my dermatologist to do this on me since antibiotics only work for me for about 3 months then stop no matter how faithful I am. (Plus a lot of them make me sick to my stomach when I take them.) Though I do hesitate because the laser for hair removal never worked on my facial hair and I still have to wax weekly and tweeze daily. (LOTS of ingrown hairs. All black and wire-like.) Though it did work pretty well on the top of my feet, there's only a few hairs left there. Still, I can't help but think, in the laser for hair removal didn't work, then will I be wasting money on this laser for my acne?