HydraFacial
Skin & laser
A device-led facial that cleanses, exfoliates, extracts with suction and infuses serums in one pass, with no recovery period afterwards.
from $229 About HydraFacial →
Concern · Face & skin
Enlarged PoresWhat it is, and what we can do about it.
Enlarged Pores are follicle openings that appear larger than average because of high sebum production, accumulated debris within the follicle, or loss of the collagen that holds the pore wall open; their appearance can be significantly reduced but their underlying size, which is largely genetically determined, cannot be permanently changed.
- Nurse-practitioner-led
- Plan before treatment
- 444 Holland St W, Bradford
Alex Dinovich, FNP-PHC Nurse Practitioner & Medical Director · Licence #13564840
02 · The honest version
The honest version
of enlarged pores.
Visibly large pores across the nose, cheeks and forehead, what genuinely changes how they look, and what no treatment can do.
- -Visible pores across the nose, inner cheeks and forehead
- -Pores that look like small dents or craters in certain light
- -Foundation settling into and emphasising individual pores
- -Skin texture that looks uneven in photographs
- -Pores that appear more open on one side of the face
- -Oval or teardrop-shaped pores on the cheeks
Every face is different. This page is the general picture. What is actually happening on your skin is something a nurse should look at up close, in clinic light, before anyone recommends a treatment.
Does it get worse? That depends on the concern and on you. It is a reason to start early, not a reason to panic - and we will tell you plainly where you are rather than where a treatment plan would be easiest to sell.
Start with what a pore is
A pore is simply the visible opening of a hair follicle at the skin surface. Attached to that follicle is a sebaceous gland producing oil, which travels up and out through the same opening.
That is the whole structure, and it has an important consequence: a pore is a fixed anatomical feature, not something that opens and closes. Its baseline size is determined largely by genetics and by the size of the oil gland attached to it. People with naturally oily skin have larger sebaceous glands and correspondingly larger follicles, and no product or treatment changes that fundamental architecture.
This is why we would rather talk about pore appearance than pore size. Appearance is genuinely improvable. Size is not.
Why a pore looks larger than it is
Three mechanisms account for most of what people see.
Content. A follicle filled with a plug of oil and keratin is physically stretched open by that plug. Empty it and the opening narrows. This is the most immediately reversible cause and the reason a good deep-cleansing treatment produces a visible difference quickly.
Loss of support. The pore opening is held in shape by the collagen and elastin in the surrounding dermis. As those degrade, mostly from cumulative ultraviolet exposure and ageing, the tissue around the pore slackens and the opening gapes. Pores that have become teardrop or oval-shaped, particularly on the cheeks, are usually showing this. It is a structural problem and it needs a structural solution.
Surface quality. Dehydrated, dull skin exaggerates every irregularity because it reflects light poorly and sits flatter. Well-hydrated, plump skin makes the same pores considerably less noticeable.
The distinction from clogged pores
This page and our page on clogged pores overlap, and it is worth being clear about where they differ.
Clogged pores are a problem of content: blackheads, whiteheads and congestion inside the follicle. Enlarged pores are a problem of appearance: the opening reads as large and shadowed even when nothing is obviously blocking it.
They very often occur together, and clearing congestion is usually the first step. But someone can have completely clear skin with visible pores, and that person needs collagen and skin-quality work rather than more extraction.
What does not work
Cold water and ice do not close pores. Pores are not muscular and do not contract on command. Cooling the skin causes brief tissue constriction that looks marginally tighter for a few minutes and then reverses.
Steam does not open pores either, though it does soften the contents of a blocked follicle, which is why it is used before extraction.
Products promising to erase or permanently shrink pores are overpromising, even when the ingredients inside them are genuinely useful. Niacinamide, retinoids and salicylic acid all have a real role in pore appearance. None of them changes the anatomy.
What we do
HydraFacial cleanses, exfoliates and extracts follicle contents in a controlled way, then infuses hydrating serums. Where content is the main driver, this is often the fastest visible improvement available.
Medical-grade peels regulate cell turnover so the follicle lining sheds properly, and salicylic acid peels in particular work inside the follicle rather than only on the surface.
Microneedling stimulates collagen in the dermis around the pore, tightening the supporting tissue and refining texture over a course of treatments. Where structural laxity is the cause, this is the treatment that actually addresses it.
Morpheus8 delivers radiofrequency energy beneath the skin to remodel collagen at depth, and it is the more powerful option where pore appearance is part of a broader loss of skin firmness.
Hollywood Carbon Peel lifts congestion from the follicles and reduces surface oil, which suits oily skin with prominent central-face pores.
An honest closing note
Pores are a normal part of skin. Every filtered image you have seen of poreless skin is either heavily edited or lit to hide texture, and comparing your face at magnification to that standard is a losing game.
Real, worthwhile improvement is achievable, and we are happy to work on it with you. What we will not do is tell you your pores can be made to disappear.
04 · What we actually offer
Five things, and
what each one does.
These are the ones we use for enlarged pores. Not every face needs all of them, and we will say so. The goal in every case is the same: treat the cause, not the photograph.
Medical-grade peels
Skin & laser
Chemical solutions applied at a controlled strength and depth to shed damaged skin, chosen for your concern rather than sold as a single signature peel.
from $99 About Medical-grade peels →
Microneedling
Skin & laser
Sterile needles creating thousands of controlled micro-channels so the skin repairs itself with new collagen, at a depth chosen for your concern.
from $349 About Microneedling →
Morpheus8
Skin & laser
Microneedling combined with radiofrequency energy delivered at depth, aimed at laxity and contour rather than at the skin surface.
from $499 About Morpheus8 →
Carbon laser peel
Skin & laser
A layer of carbon lotion applied to the skin then targeted with laser, lifting oil and debris out of the pores and refining the surface.
from $399 About Carbon laser peel →
Every plan is personalised. Which of these you need, in what order and how often, is decided after a nurse has looked at your skin - not before. We will also tell you when a treatment is wrong for you, and we say it before you book.
05 · What actually happens
Come in as you are.
Nobody here will
react to your skin.
If you have been putting this off, this section is for you. A consultation costs you nothing and commits you to nothing - you are allowed to walk out having booked absolutely nothing.
- Sheli greets you at the front desk
She is the one who answers the phone and the texts, so you will already have spoken to her. No clipboard interrogation in the waiting room.
- A nurse looks at your skin properly
In clinic light, up close, with your makeup off if you are wearing any. This is the part people dread and it takes about a minute.
- We ask about the history, not just the face
When it happens, what you had noticed before it happened, what you have already tried and what made it worse. Bring your current products if it is easy.
- You get a written plan and a real price
What we would do, in what order, and what it costs - including the option of doing nothing yet. If a treatment is wrong for you, we say so here, not after.
- You decide in your own time
Nothing is booked in the room unless you want it booked. No deposit, no pressure, no offer that expires on Friday.
Always so kind and personal. Took the extra time to make sure I was comfortable.
06 · Straight answers
Enlarged Pores, asked
and answered.
The questions people actually ask us on the phone, answered the way we answer them on the phone.
Can pores be permanently shrunk?
No. A pore is the opening of a hair follicle, and it is a fixed anatomical structure whose baseline size is determined largely by your genetics and by how much oil the attached gland produces. What can be changed is how large the pore appears, by emptying it, by reducing oil output and by improving the collagen support around it. Any product or treatment claiming to permanently shrink pores is not describing something that is anatomically possible.
Why do my pores look bigger than they used to?
Usually one of three things. The pore may be filled with a plug of oil and dead skin, which physically stretches the opening. Sun exposure and ageing may have degraded the collagen and elastin that hold the surrounding skin taut, so the pore edge slackens and the opening gapes. Or the skin may be dehydrated and less plump, which makes every surface irregularity more obvious. Often it is a combination.
What is the difference between enlarged pores and clogged pores?
Clogged pores are about content: a plug of oil and dead skin forming blackheads and whiteheads inside the follicle. Enlarged pores are about appearance and structure: the opening looks wide even when it is not obviously blocked. They frequently occur together, and clearing congestion is often the first step in improving pore appearance, but a pore can be perfectly clear and still be visible.
Do cold water and ice make pores smaller?
Not in any lasting way. Cold causes temporary constriction of the tissue around the pore, which can make it look marginally tighter for a few minutes, and then it returns to normal. Pores do not open and close in response to temperature the way people describe, because they are not muscular structures. Steam does soften the contents of a pore, which makes extraction easier, but it does not open the pore itself.
Which treatment actually reduces pore appearance?
There is no single answer, because it depends on why yours look large. If congestion is the cause, HydraFacial and peels that clear the follicle produce visible change quickly. If loss of collagen around the pore is the cause, treatments that rebuild collagen, such as microneedling and Morpheus8, are the ones that make a lasting difference. If oil production is the driver, controlling sebum matters most. The assessment decides which.
Do pore-minimising products work?
Some ingredients genuinely help. Niacinamide has reasonable evidence for improving pore appearance, retinoids normalise how the follicle lining sheds and improve collagen over time, and salicylic acid is oil-soluble so it can clear the follicle from within. What none of them do is change the anatomical size of the pore, so a product promising to erase pores is overpromising even when its ingredients are sound.
Why are my pores worse on my nose and cheeks?
Because sebaceous gland density is highest in the central face. The nose, inner cheeks, chin and forehead have more and larger oil glands than the outer face, which means larger follicles and more oil to fill them. Pore visibility is not evenly distributed on anyone, and the pattern you are seeing is normal anatomy rather than something going wrong.
Is Morpheus8 worth it for pores?
It can be where the underlying issue is collagen laxity around the pore rather than congestion, because radiofrequency microneedling remodels the dermis and firms the tissue that holds the pore edge. It is a more significant treatment than a peel or a facial and it costs accordingly, so we will be honest with you about whether your pore appearance is likely to justify it or whether a simpler route would achieve most of the benefit.
Where this comes from
Check it yourself.
We would rather you did not take our word for any of this. These are the sources behind what is written above, and none of them are ours.
07 · Often confused, often alongside
Not sure it's
enlarged pores?
Concerns are regularly mistaken for one another - and they rarely turn up entirely alone. These are the ones that sit closest to it.
08 · The next step is small
Let a nurse look
at it properly.
A enlarged pores consultation costs you nothing and commits you to nothing. You will leave knowing what your skin is doing, what we would do about it, and what it would cost - whether or not you book anything.
- Address444 Holland St W, Unit #2
Bradford, ON L3Z 0G1 - Phone647-333-6805
- Emailinfo@bradfordskinclinic.com
- HoursMon, Tue, Thu 9am-7pm
Wed 9am-5pm
Fri, Sat 9am-4pm
Sun Closed
Bring three things. Whatever you are currently putting on your face, a rough idea of when it is at its worst, and any questions you have written down. That is genuinely all the preparation we need.
Makeup is fine either way. If it is easier to arrive with it on, arrive with it on - there is a mirror and a cleanser in the room.
4.9 · 460 Google reviews