It is not possible to physically remove pimples or heal them overnight. However, home care can reduce swelling and pain, making pimples less noticeable. In this article, we will discuss how people can treat pimples at home to reduce their appearance quickly, and more long-term options for acne treatment.
Try a spot treatment or pimple patch
You've probably seen these emergency pimple treatments at the drugstore — usually an extra-strong solution of salicylic acid, glycolic acid, or benzoyl peroxide. And yep, they can actually get rid of pimples overnight.
"It's best to let a pimple run through its life span," Rice says. Left alone, a blemish will heal itself in 3 to 7 days. Popped improperly, it can linger for weeks or lead to scarring.
“The fastest way [to get rid of a pimple] is to go to your dermatologist and get a cortisone shot,” says Dr. Friedier. Most of the time, she says, this steroid injection, which goes straight into the lesion, brings down the inflammation, swelling, and pain from a gnarly pimple within 24 hours. Dr.
An over-the-counter antibiotic ointment is your best friend. Dot a tiny amount directly on the popped pimple or scab. This will help speed up healing time. It also keeps the scab moist, so it won't look as dry, crackly, and obvious.
It is not possible to remove pimples overnight. Treatments for pimples and acne take time to work. Individual pimples may take a few days or a few weeks to completely heal. The amount of time it takes for a blemish to go away can depend on how large or severe it is, and how a person treats it.
"The most common way to address these issues is to use benzoyl peroxide, sulfur, tree oil, or salicylic acid products before you go to bed," says Dr. Patel. Benzoyl peroxide is a bleaching agent that kills microbes and dries up oil in the follicle.
Salicylic Acid
Used overnight, products containing salicylic acid can be effective at reducing the effects of blemishes by the morning. A good salicylic acid treatment will do more than just shrink a pimple, however.
If you've only got a few hours…
Grab an ice pack, or a single ice cube if your fingers can bare it, and apply it directly onto your pimple. Hold it this way for as long as you can stand it, then take a break for a few seconds, and repeat at least twice more.
Use a hydrocortisone cream as a spot treatment.
In this instance, use it as a spot treatment, and try to leave it on for around 15 minutes before rinsing it off. The longer you let it sit, the more effective it will be when you try to shrink the pimple.
It's tempting, but popping or squeezing a pimple won't necessarily get rid of the problem. Squeezing can push bacteria and pus deeper into the skin, which might cause more swelling and redness. Squeezing also can lead to scabs and might leave you with permanent pits or scars.
While waiting is never fun, it's worth it when it comes to pimple-popping. Basically, what happens if you don't pop a whitehead is that it goes away on its own, usually in 3 to 7 days. It may happen that you wake up one morning and notice the pimple is gone. Or you may notice the pimple draining.
Pimples usually last between three and seven days. Most pimples go away on their own, but it may take some time. Deep pimples (pimples under your skin with no head that may feel hard to the touch) may take a few weeks to go away, if not longer.
Your best bet for quickly calming things down and reducing the size of your breakout is to treat it with ice (FYI, cold has anti-inflammatory properties). Simply wrap an ice cube in a clean towel and hold it to your pimple on-and-off for five minutes. You can also use an ice roller or cryo balls if you have them handy.
By reducing the inflammation of your pimples, you're directly reducing the size. In theory, gradually reducing the size of your pimple with ice can eventually make it go away entirely. When used on inflammatory acne, ice also has the potential to decrease redness, thereby making your pimples less noticeable.
The best way to make a zit go away fast is to apply a dab of benzoyl peroxide, which you can buy at a drug store in cream, gel or patch form, says Shilpi Khetarpal, MD. It works by killing bacteria that clogs pores and causes inflammation.
If you're bleeding, she says to “gently blot the area with a clean tissue or cotton pad and clean the area with alcohol.” Once the blood has stopped, she advises applying a spot treatment containing benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid as mentioned above.
A sebum plug can look like a tiny bump under the surface of the skin or it may stick out through the skin like a grain of sand. When a sebum plug forms, bacteria that normally lives harmlessly on the surface of your skin can start to grow within the follicle. Inflammation follows, causing a breakout.
Popping too early won't be effective and can just cause you pain and scarring. Wash your hands thoroughly. You don't want to introduce any extra bacteria to your skin. Apply over-the-counter medication such as salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide to your blemish.
Soak a rag of cotton in tea tree oil and put it over a pimple. It has anti-bacterial properties which help fight against acne pimples. For even better results, you can also try mixing tea tree oil in aloe vera gel. You can put this mixture on your acne pimples and rinse it after 20 minutes for effective healing.