The Conundrum of Skin Pores in Dermocosmetology

Abstract

‘Skin pore’ is a term used by lay people and in the field of cosmetology. It remains misleading when it is not clearly defined. Indeed, lay people use it with at least 3 different meanings. Basically, invisible pores represent the openings of the sweat gland apparatus. By contrast, the visible pores represent enlarged empty funnel-shaped or cylindrical horny impacted openings of pilosebaceous follicles. This review describes some of the current objective methods used to describe skin pores.

Expert opinion and review article: The timing of comedone extraction in the treatment of premenstrual acne – a proposed therapeutic approach

“…The follicular pore is the conspicuous, enlarged funnel-shaped opening of a sebum follicle [58], and its diameter increases with age as a consequence of a high sebum production [59] and fluctuates within the phase of the menstrual cycle [60]. Skin with enlarged pores has a poor skin barrier function [60], more immature parakeratotic corneocytes and sebum richer in unsaturated free fatty acids [49].…”

Sweat Gland Awakening on Physical Training: A Skin Capacitance Mapping Observation

“…These findings highlight the diversity in functional activity of sweat pores at the skin surface (Figure 3 a,b). This aspect could be added to a previous characterization of skin pores [14]. The patterns of sweat pore activity and SC moisture were not similar (Figure 4 a, b, c).…”

“…In normal conditions, the epidermis over a large part of the body produces a tidy Stratum Corneum (SC) composed of 15-20 layers or so of corneocytes with a total thickness of about [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] µm. This part of the epidermis is continuously renewed from the granular layer, and the outermost corneocytes gradually desquamate from the surface [1].…”

Cyanoacrylate Skin Surface/Follicular Stripping

“…It is therefore possible to assess the density of the follicles per unit of surface area and to observe the presence of follicular hyperkeratosis (ketosis), as well as comedones, Trichostasis spinulosa , intrafollicular bacteria and mites [ 4 -16 ]. The so-called skin pores corresponding to follicular or sudoral openings at the skin surface are possibly explored using CSSS [ 17 ].…”