Comedo extraction is a widely-used method of treatment for acne vulgaris

Acne vulgaris

Acne vulgaris is a common human skin disease, characterized by areas of skin with seborrhea , comedones , papules , pustules , Nodules and possibly scarring...

. A dermatologist or cosmetologist may extract blackhead

Blackhead

A blackhead is a yellow or blackish bump or plug on the skin. A blackhead is a type of acne vulgaris. Contrary to the common belief that it is caused by poor hygiene, blackheads are caused by excess oils that have accumulated in the sebaceous gland's duct...

s (open comedones) using gentle pressure around the pore opening, and whiteheads (closed comedones) by incision with a large needle or a blade.

If performed skillfully, this treatment may be beneficial to the patient. Possible negative effects of the procedure include incomplete extraction, refilling, scarring and tissue damage. There are few articles describing the use of comedo extraction in peer-reviewed dermatology journals. In one 1964 study of extraction of non-inflamed whiteheads on patients' foreheads (the only study of the procedure cited in a 2007 literature review

Literature review

A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge including substantive findings as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic...

), the procedure reduced the number of future inflamed lesions and the recurrence rate of comedones, but worsened patients' inflamed cystic lesions.