Pores are essential for the skin all over our body, since it provides oil excreted by sebaceous glands—the sebum—to keep the skin hydrated. This includes the scalp pores. Healthy scalp pores is essential for hair health, which influences our appearance as well. It is not surprising, therefore, that clogged scalp pores might cause some problems with the hair and the scalp itself. Hence, discovering what clog pores on scalp and what clogged scalp pores might influence is essential for determining possible treatments.

Scalp and Sebum

Sebaceous glands beneath the skin produces and excretes sebum, which we refer as skin oil. Sebum coats the hair follicles and travels through these follicles to reach the surface of the skin and keep it moist and hydrated. When the hair follicles are clogged with sebum, it triggers acne and pimples which are going to occur in certain areas of the skin. Clogged skin pores, however, do not merely occur on the body skin, as the scalp can also be influenced. When the scalp pores are clogged, some problems with the hair and the condition of the scalp itself may occur.

What causes clogged scalp pores?

As illustrated, sebum is the main cause of clogged scalp pores. Sebum leaves coat around the hair follicles before travelling through these follicles pores. It then eventually reaches the outer surface of the skin and encounters sweat. Because of this, an acid mantle—a resulted fine coat—occurs and may clog the hair follicles. When someone’s sebaceous glands overproduce sebum, there might be more pores which are clogged with the oil, causing unpleasant effects on the hair and scalp itself.

Regarding hair follicles which are blocked by excreted sebum, some risk factors have been appointed the culprits.

• Stress

Stress has a significant role in triggering clogged scalp pores. When you are under severe stress, your body tends to produce more male hormones, which holds the role of sebum overproduction. Thus, triggered by this hormone, the sebaceous glands beneath the scalp excrete higher level of sebum, which means higher level of the possibility of clogged scalp pores simultaneously. Besides stress, higher level of male hormone is excreted during puberty and when someone is lack of sleep.

• Age

Aging has a role of causing clogged pores in the face and body and thus, it also influences clogged scalp pores. When you are getting older, your skin loses its firmness, which causes pores to open up. This includes the pores located on your scalp. Opened-up pores are clogged more easily by sebum excreted by the sebaceous glands.

• Genetics

Large pores on scalp are somehow genetically inherited. Hence, people with family history of clogged scalp pores might have a higher risk of getting the skin pores on the scalp clogged, because larger pores can be easily blocked by overproduced sebum on the scalp.

• Products build ups

Some hair products you are using for maintaining the hair health may be greasy and thus, contribute to the greasiness of the scalp. When you fail to rinse any applied products thoroughly, they can trigger build ups on the scalp. Eventually, these leftover may clog the pores, which may lead to folliculitis—acne and pimples on the scalp. Therefore, some hair products are not advised to be applied directly on the scalp. Rather, it should be applied only to the hair strands in considerable amount. This is important so that build ups can be minimized.

Preventing clogged pores on the scalp

Clogged pores on scalp may lead to folliculitis, which may contributes to hair thinning and eventually, hair loss. Hence, it is important to prevent these pores to be clogged at all. Some methods are essential in maintaining the pores health, such as:

• Keep your hair products gentle and rinse it well every time. Avoid rubbing the scalp vigorously when applying the products.
• Keep your stress level low and make sure you get enough sleep every night, as these two risk factors may lead to sebum overproduction when neglected.
• Keep your diet balanced. Consume vitamins and minerals which are essential for the body, so that the oil glands will work properly, without overproducing or under-producing the sebum.