Popping pimples can be bad for your skin, leading to inflammation, infection, discoloration, more breakouts, and scarring. It can damage the underlying tissue of your skin and leave your complexion looking worse.
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. A person should only try to pop certain types of pimples in a particular way.
It's best to leave pimples alone to heal. Attempting to pop one may prolong your breakout and lead to scarring and infection. If you are going to go ahead and pop a pimple, take steps to minimize the risk of skin damage and a worsened infection.
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.
Don't Pick the Pimple
Don't pick at the scab. Let your skin start the healing process without being interrupted.
Potential benefits of an acne peel include smoothing the skin's texture, drying up acne bumps, and fading hyperpigmentation.
So how should you dry out a pimple? Be careful, as some home remedies (looking at you, toothpaste) can be too drying and irritating to the skin. Also, drying out your skin with too many astringents can actually cause more breakouts to form, so it's important to be mindful of what to put on pimples.
When you leave a pimple alone, it typically clears up within a few days. A whitehead is close to the surface and may pop and drain on its own. A deeper pimple will eventually dissolve naturally.
Both zit and pimple refer to the same thing: a small, red, swollen spot (or “inflamed elevation,” if you're fancy) on the skin. Zit is generally considered an informal or slangy synonym of pimple, which itself is less formal, medically speaking, than either papule or pustule.
By trying to pick away or pop your acne, you risk permanent damage that may take many trips to the dermatologist to improve. The better choice is to see a dermatologist as soon as you're troubled by acne.
Pustules: These are pus-filled pimples that look like whiteheads surrounded by discolored rings. Picking or scratching your pustules can cause scarring. Cysts: These are pimples filled with a thick, yellow or white fluid composed of dead white blood cells, small pieces of tissue and bacteria (pus).
Avoid picking or squeezing the popped breakout to let your skin heal naturally. If you notice any signs of potential infection like redness, increased pain, pus, or inflammation surrounding the blemish, contact a healthcare professional immediately.
Can I pop a blind pimple? Never try to pop or squeeze a blind pimple. Doing so pushes the oil and bacteria deeper, causing more inflammation and increasing the risk of infection.
The answer is isn't all that simple. Ice doesn't necessarily help clear up acne or pimples — particularly if you're suffering from cystic and nodular acne — but it can help inflammation. This works because acne is an inflammatory condition meaning that it causes flare-ups that contribute to swelling and redness.
Acne extraction is recommended only for comedones. Doing it to other pimple types risks spreading inflammation and scarring. However, acne surgery is not the first-line remedy for blackheads and whiteheads. Patients should consider the procedure only after failing topical regimens or as part of combination therapy.
An infected pimple happens when bacteria enter your skin, causing pain, redness and swelling. Popping, squeezing or picking at a pimple can lead to infection. You can treat mild infections at home with warm compresses and acne-fighting creams.
The redness, swelling, and inflammation cause the pain. The body knows that the dead skin, oil, and bacteria are supposed to be in the hair follicle (which is outside the skin). So, as your body tries to push it out, you end up with more sensitivity in the area.
Using a cloth or tissue, keep pressure on the blemish. After one to two minutes, the bleeding should stop. Try not to touch the open wound with your bare fingers. Body oils and dirt might make matters worse and prevent the pimple from going away as quickly as it should.
Contrary to what pimple popping videos may show, squeezing your skin to extract the contents of a pimple — a mixture of oil, dead skin and bacteria — can cause scarring and infection. It can also worsen inflammation, making the pimple larger, more red and more painful.
According to our dermatology providers, using toothpaste as an acne spot treatment can cause dryness and irritation and might even worsen breakouts. So, if you're wondering, “how long should I leave toothpaste on my pimple?”—don't!
Pustules are a type of pimple that contains yellowish pus. They are larger than whiteheads and blackheads. Home remedies and over-the-counter creams may help treat pustules. Pustules appear either as red bumps with white centers or as white bumps that are hard and often tender to the touch.
Stress acne typically presents as an array of small, red or pink pimples that can be scattered across various areas of the face. These facial acne pimples often take the form of whiteheads or blackheads and can progress into pustules, which are red, pus-filled bumps, or papules, which are small, raised bumps.