Why Does My Skin Have Large Pores?

Having large pores in your skin is a very common skin problem. Pores are small openings on your skin which are responsible for releasing sweat and oil.

Pore size varies from person to person, as they are an inherent trait. If you have enlarged pores on the face, then you certainly can’t change their size.

However, you can minimize their visibility and appearance by taking suitable steps.

Apart from having naturally large skin pores, sometimes, these pores start appearing larger than they are because they have not been cleaned properly. The oil in the pores gets stuck with makeup or dirt and makes the skin around it stretched, which makes these pores look larger.

If these pores remain clogged for a long time, they turn into a breeding ground for acne bacteria, and then pimples start to appear, which is another common skin problem.

First let us see what causes large pores on your skin. Note that, in any person, the presence of large pores on skin could be due to one or multiple of these reasons.

Table Of Contents

What Causes Large Pores On Face?

1. Heredity

It means this feature is a genetic trait. If your forefathers had it, you would likely have it too. And there is precious little you can do about it.

It is seen that people who have their origins in hot and humid climes tend to have large pores. That is why, people living along the equator like the Africans, South Indians, etc. have huge facial pores.

This is because the skin of the people of these ethnicities has evolved to have extremely large pores. This trait now resides in the genes of these people, and it cannot be undone by any beauty treatment available today.

2. Excessive Sebum Because Of Oily Skin

In people with oily skin, the excess sebum sits in the pores of the skin (as it is supposed to), but since it is in excess amounts, it stretches the walls of the pores to make the pore look bigger.

The oil in the pores gets stuck with makeup or dirt and makes the skin around it stretched, which makes these pores look larger. This dirt, if not cleaned in a timely manner, is what causes clogged pores.

The clogged pores do not allow the skin to breathe and act as a breeding ground for acne-causing bacteria. The skin becomes generally unhealthy.

3. Reduced Elasticity Of Skin Cells Because Of Aging

If a pore is clogged with sebum like we just saw, it can be cleaned by using a suitable cleanser. Once the dirt is gone from the pore, it should return to its normal size. This is made possible by a protein called elastin in our skin.

The thing is if you are young – the pore does return to its normal size because the skin is very elastic and healthy at a young age.

But as you age, the skin loses its elasticity, as the elastin production by our body understandably decreases, and the skin can no longer easily spring back to its normal size when it is unclogged from dirt and oil.

Also, as we age, the collagen production by our skin reduces. Collagen is a common protein found in our skin, it binds together the tissues, and is responsible for the youthful appearance of skin. Collagen production in our skin decreases by about 1 percent per year.

4. Hormones

Sometimes hormones can mess with the pores too. For example, when you have just attained puberty, or you are pregnant, or you are crossing menopause – the hormones fluctuate wildly.

Then again, if you are a boy, the hormone levels undergo a change during teenage, old age, etc.

So, hormones are another reason for those large open pores.

5. Environmental Conditions

If you live in a hot and humid climate, chances are you would have large open pores. This is because our sebaceous glands pour out more oil in these conditions. And more oil can lead to large pores as saw in point one above.

Also, if you face long hours of exposure to the sun, it dries up elastin from your skin. Decrease in elastin causes the elasticity of the skin to decrease, and that can do what we just saw in point number 3 above.

Long exposure to the sun also reduces the collagen content of the skin. Collagen, as we know, keeps the skin firm and youthful-looking. If there is no collagen, the skin would start drooping and wrinkles would appear. This is also what causes open pores on your skin.

If you live in a polluted environment, the dirt and smoke clog the pores of your skin. Clogged pores can cause what we saw in point number 2 above.

Conclusion

You cannot avoid most of these causes of large pores. Hormonal changes at various stages of life are inevitable. Exposure to the sun cannot be avoided because you have to step out of your house for work. You have inherited in genes what you have inherited – no one on earth can change that.

You obviously cannot stop or reverse aging. The climatic conditions of your area are beyond your control. But, the good news is there are ways available to reduce the appearance of large pores.

Most common, of course, are specific cleansers made for this purpose. Some of these cleansers can be quite helpful in combating this problem of large open pores. I have done the research and come up with a list of 15 best cleansers for oily skin and large pores.

That is it. Thanks for your attention. I hope you understood a little about large pores, and how/why do they occur, their ill effects, etc. Do comment below if you have something to add to it. If you liked the article, please share it with your friends 🙂