Dr. Bonnie Marting

Do your pores appear to get larger every year?Or is it just your imagination?

First, the Bad news- Yes, pores do enlarge as we get older. It happens for the same reasons we develop wrinkles. Our skin has thinned out, lost collagen, and lost its former elasticity. Those things combined means our skin is less competent at closing our pores. So, that’s why you’re noticing them more as you’ve aged.

Now, the Good news! There is something that can be done. Though there is no magic cream you can buy at your local drug store, you can find help.Let me show you the light!

Pores can be shrunk with light sources and lasers. You may have heard me talking about IPL treatments before. It stands for Intense Pulsed Light and it helps minimize pores by pulsing infrared frequency to your skin. This procedure penetrates a bit deeper than lasers, but it does so to cause a contraction (yes- a shrinking effect). It then spurs on collagen re-growth in the pores. IPL’s may cause a slight discomfort during treatment, but it’s over quickly. The other option you can use to reduce pores is by using a Laser. Cutera’s Laser Genesis is an Nd:YAG laser which promotes collagen re-growth, treats oily skin, and …wait for it…it is painless! So if you’re tired of looking at pores you feel are too large, don’t wait any longer. Stop being a “poor loser and just accepting it as part of the aging process.” You can fight them, and win the battle against large pores.