I was speaking with an esthetician friend the other day and she was echoing what Dr. Fulton says about the importance of ice in reducing inflammation. She in particular said oftentimes when she is able to get her clients to ice a developing lesion right when it starts that they can stop it in its tracks.

Has anyone had success icing lesions as spot treatment? I'm wondering if ice followed by glycolic acid is even better than glycolic acid alone...

I use ice regularly and it significantly reduces the length of existence of lesions for me. I also use glycolic acid. The combo keeps me clear. I've slacked off with my routine in the last few months so now I have two spots. Grrrr.

(My signature has the method I use most often; it's the last link in my signature).

I remember Brandy as being a big fan of icing pimples, I'm interested to see what she has to say.

From my own experience, icing pimples seems to slow progression down. If a hot compress speeds up a pimple's "lifespan"--it inflames the pimple, causing it to come to a head and pop, thus healing it more quickly--then icing it does the opposite. Whenever I've iced a pimple it seems to be preventing it from getting large, but it usually gets large anyway and just takes longer to heal. I think I'll try it a few more times in the future, though.

I thought a topic made by Dan himself would incite more discussion than this! That's what I wanted to say and this definitely isn't a bump.

Yep, I ice my lesions all the time which reduces inflammation. You have to start icing it as soon as you feel it surfacing though.

This has helped with some of the larger spots i've had for sure...

I've used ice for a long time - I find it really effective in reducing the inflammation and the duration / size of them. Only rarely though has it stopped it in it's tracks (eg stopped it from coming up/coming to a head), and those have been ones I've caught really early.

I have had some cystic breakouts and ice hasn't been so effective on those - simply because it doesn't penetrate deeply enough I think.

I've tried ice in the past, it does significantly reduce the inflammation. But I don't find it as good as topical anti-inflammatories. I'm debating whether it reduces the inflammation or just slows down the spot from developing as fast? As for the glycolic acid, ice can open the pores therefore the penetration of glycolic acid is increased. Hope this helps.

I would think that ice closes the pores? Isn't it that heat opens pores and cold closes them?

Pores don't open or close. They can be stretched out with gunk in them and sometimes they're able to return to the original size if the gunk hasn't been in them for a long time and increased the size of the pore permanently.

Aging and sun exposure will increase the laxity of the surrounding structures of the pores, making the pore opening sag and appear larger.

That's what has happened to me because of sun exposure. My skin is a lot worse on my left side than my right because of these huge pores on my cheek. I've never been particularly a sun worshipper, but you can't really help getting a lot of sun just by living in Texas like I do. I think most of my exposure on that side is because my left side was most exposed driving and in my younger years I wasn't worried about sunscreen like I am now that I'm older. I've read that retin-a could possibly help me, but I still don't have any.

Anyway, great tip about icing. It makes a lot of sense to me and I'm definitely going to try that the next one I see/feel one coming on.

I've heard that icing it and then applying a dap of a clay mask helps reduce the size and life span of a pimple...

Haven't had much success with using ice for active zits, but when I've got a scab, like after a cyst has popped I find iceing helps the skin heal a bit faster - it increases the bloodflow when the ice is removed.

I've used ice often to help reduce swelling and inflammation after a zit has popped. I think it helps speed up healing.

What I've been using ice for recently though is itching!! I just started the regimen on Monday and am having a lot of itching, especially right after applying the products in the morning and at night. I've found that the ice helps ease the itching a lot! I have one of those big ice pack things that can cover a large portion of my face at once. Works great.

Yep, I'm a fan of icing if you catch them very early on. Especially if they are painful and deep.

I like to apply an ice-cube to quickly reduce inflamed blemishes sometimes. Usually, I'll apply the ice to the pimple for 5 - 10 minutes at night right before I wash my face and go through my skincare regimen. By the next morning, the inflammation is usually significantly reduced.

I iced a spot on my nose for two weeks and I thought I had control of it, but sloooowly it just got bigger. Then I went to holiday for 2,5 weeks(without icing) and it still didn't disappear. Actually it looked almost the same before I went to holiday. I kinda think I just prolonged the entire process, when icing it, and when I got home I decided to pop it even though it only had a very tiny head, the pus came out right away. That was a good decision, as the red mark, 4 days later, is almost gone.

Hey,,if I ice the red mark left by a pimple..will it fade or lighten?

Same here, it works well for large ones. I've never really bothered to ice the little ones.

I burned my face up real bad once icing a pimple and I was left with this huge red mark on my cheek. I guess I overdid it...I know, dumb >.< It looked like a big, fat, permanent scar to me (oh joy). So I just covered it up with make-up (which didn't do much to help it, really) and hoped it would at least lighten up a bit and to my surprise, it gradually faded and eventually disappeared after like a week or so So yes, don't worry, you're not stuck with it ;]

~ROXY