Everything You Should Know About Your Pores

Most people would agree: a good pore is a pore you can’t see. Enlarged pores can mar your appearance, and clogged pores make for even bigger cosmetic problems.

But keeping pores clear and minimally visible can feel like a daunting task. How do you control this part of your skin while still letting your pores do their job?

Dr. Norman J. Pastorek and Janice Pastorek, BSN, RN, have a way. At our office on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, our team offers two different leading-edge laser treatments — Laser Genesis and Clear + Brilliant® — to address large pores.

But before we turn your pores virtually invisible, let’s take a look at how they work.

Understanding pores and the role they play

You have two different types of pores, and both play important roles for your skin, your body’s largest organ.

Sweat pores

These pores make it possible for you to sweat, regulating your body temperature. Without the ability to sweat, you would risk overheating. Plus, sweating helps your body detox, purging what you don’t need out of these pores.

Sweat pores are really tiny. If you’re worried about large or clogged pores, they probably aren’t sweat pores.

Oil pores

These pores are actually hair follicles. Oil pores outsize sweat pores by a significant margin, so when we talk about shrinking pores, we’re addressing oil pores.

These pores dilate or contract in size based on a variety of factors, from sun exposure to hormones.

But before you wish you could get rid of your oil pores entirely, know that they do two important things for your body. First, they allow hair to grow. Second, they produce the oil after which they’re named.

While you might think oily skin is a bad thing, this oil protects your skin. And since your skin serves to protect your entire body, that extra line of defense makes a big difference.

How to get smaller pores

Even though your oil pores serve an important role in your body, that doesn’t mean you necessarily want to see them.

At our office, we offer two treatments to shrink the size of your oil pores while still allowing them to do their job.

With Laser Genesis or Clear + Brilliant laser treatment, we can directly address enlarged pores. Not only do these laser treatments cause pores to contract, minimizing their visibility, but they can also deliver: