Wash your hands under running water with soap. Then wash your face with face wash and cold water. This will wash off the germs that are now teeming over your skin. Relieve pain by applying ice wrapped in cloth or an icepack over a popped pimple to help to reduce the redness and inflammation.
That can cause the pimple to become more red, inflamed, swollen and infected, and may even lead to permanent scarring. "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.
In fact, blood-filled pimples happen as a result of the picking or popping of a regular pimple. The forced trauma to that area of the skin not only pushes out puss — the white or yellow liquid bacteria — but also blood where the skin or pimple is infected or irritated.
If you have a pimple scab, it's very important to keep the area clean and dry. You can also treat it with antiseptic ointment, and cover with a bandage. These steps will help the scab heal faster and prevent infection. The steps also lower the chances of scarring.
Symptoms of an infected pimple
An infected pimple may be larger than a regular pimple because of swelling. It can also be warm and sore to the touch. There may also be more redness when a pimple becomes infected. An infected pimple is also going to be more painful and inflamed.
As a pimple heals, your body sometimes produces cells with too much melanin in them to replace the damaged skin. This results in post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, which we sometimes just call a dark spot.
Don't pop or squeeze pus-filled pimples
You can cause the bacteria to spread and the inflammation to worsen.
If bacteria living on the skin also become stuck in the follicle, this can cause inflammation and infection. White blood cells flow in to fight infection, and, as a result, dead white blood cells, bacteria, and other debris form pockets of pus. Pus filled pimples do not reflect an individual's cleanliness.
Nodules are a type of hard pimple that can be large and painful. They form when an infected skin pore or follicle is located deep below the skin surface. Cysts are found deep below the skin when a pus-filled membrane forms around the infection. They are likely to scar.
What should you do after popping a pimple to treat your skin? Dr. Zeichner recommends applying an antibiotic ointment like bacitracin to a popped pimple if it is open or raw to prevent development of an infection. After a pimple goes away, it can take several weeks for the skin to fully heal.
Pimple scabs typically occur because a person picks open or pops a pimple. They should not pick the scab open, as this can lead to scarring or infection. To prevent this, a person can take steps to prevent getting pimples and should avoid picking at or popping their pimples.
Never squeeze a blind pimple
Trying to pop a blind pimple can result in permanent scars, a more-noticeable pimple, the pimple becoming more painful, or an infection. Squeezing the blind pimple also risks pushing the contents of the pimple — a blend of oil, dead skin cells, and bacteria — deeper into the skin.
What does an infected pimple look like? Because of the infection, the pimple swells up and appears more prominent than usual. It can appear red, and inflamed, have pus and be painful to touch.
Do not try to drain, pop or squeeze any boils, pimples or other pus-filled skin infections. Early treatment can help keep the infection from getting worse. Depending on how serious the infection is, your doctor may drain the fluid and send a sample for laboratory testing.
Another drainage option to combat sebaceous cysts include fine-needle aspiration. A thin needle is inserted into the cyst to drain the liquid. This method is often used for cysts on the breast. While these are both a quick and painless fix, the cysts are likely to continue to occur unless complete removal is performed.
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.
Blind pimples are firm swellings below the skin's surface that are often inflamed, painful, and sometimes get infected. Here's what you need to know about the causes, treatment, and prevention of blind pimples.
When a sebaceous cyst ruptures under the skin, it's not usually infected. In most cases, it needs to be drained by a doctor who can lance the cyst. Some physicians prescribe antibiotics to settle the red, painful area of inflammation.
Using a cotton ball or gauze strip, drain your pimple. Instead of trying to push the bacteria and pus out of it, hold your skin taut so that the other layers of skin drain the pimple for you. This can keep you from pushing bacteria back down into your skin.
Although it might feel good to pop a pimple, dermatologists advise against it. Popping a pimple can cause infection and scarring, and it may make the pimple more inflamed and noticeable. It also delays the natural healing process. Due to this, it is usually best to leave pimples alone.