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GO AHEAD, POP THAT PIMPLE!
The word is out - never squeeze a pimple. What? Leave that red, swollen, white, raised bump on your face? Like anybody is going to leave that sitting on their face all day. Think about it: doctors let patients administer their own insulin shots, we take our own antibiotics, bandage wounds, irrigate stuffed sinuses, give ourselves serious laxatives for our colonoscopy, so I will trust you to deflate a pimple.
Go ahead and pop that thing; just be really, really careful how you do it. And start with getting the notion of “popping” out of your head. I just said that to get your attention. Let me rephrase it: Go ahead, EASE OUT the white stuff, but do it right and know what NOT to do.
WHAT YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NEVER DO!
Never ever burst open, scratch, pick at, over-scrub, or attack your blemishes. That will just make an unpleasant situation even uglier. Think scabs, blood spots, long term scars, hyperpigmented brown spots. Best NOT to be that zealous.
And best NOT to SQUEEZE certain ones. Deep red swollen bumps that have no white head showing can be very problematic to squeeze. You most likely won’t get anything out anyway as the real problem is very deep. You may need concealer for those. Do use a warm compress off and on. The purpose is to get heat on the spot to stimulate circulation which can then diminish the inflammation. Spot treatments help, too, such as clay based masques or something with benzoyl peroxide in it—2.5% or 5%. The reason for that is to diminish oiliness which the excess thereof is probably what caused the cyst in the first place. That and a surge of testosterone causing the sebaceous gland to engorge.
If you get one of these and have a special occasion, try to get into your skin care therapist. Or your dermatologist may inject the swelling with a cortisone shot for immediate relief.
HERE’S WHAT TO DO
1. Be gentle. The goal is to remove the pus or the comedone (term for a clogged pore).
2. Cleanse your face using a pre-cleanser or make-up remover, then your regular cleanser. Use warm water and a soft washcloth. Lightly massage as you cleanse to ensure dead skin cells are removed.
3. Dry your skin gently.
4. If you have a comedone extractor, center the opening ring over the pimple. Gently and with very little pressure push the comedone extractor down on the whitehead. Gently roll the opening around the tissue of the pore to nudge the comedone out of the pore.
5. If you don’t have an extractor, put tissue or gauze around your fingertips to create as sterile an environment as possible. Gently nudge the tissue around the problem area to release the contents. Push down and in gently.
6. Repeat only one or two more times, but no more than that. Give it a rest. Remember, if you overdo it you risk making it worse and possibly creating scaring.
IMPORTANT: THE FINAL STEPS
You must follow up with a post-extraction, anti-bacterial product like the 2.5% or 5% benzoyl peroxide and/or a 1% or 2% salicylic acid. This will not only help reduce inflammation it will also help prevent further breakouts. There you go. I suspect most of us are doing some version of this anyway, just be gentle. And go to your skin care therapist to help you set up a customized skin care routine to promote healthy skin and prevent future breakouts when possible.
By Sharyn Madison, Licensed Aesthetician and Skin Care Therapist
