29 replies to this topic

[Acne Security]

Disclaimer: please read my edit at the bottom before you consider anything discussed in this thread. This isn't for everyone, and I may just be lucky I don't scar easy. Please don't do anything that would cause you more pain than good - if you know popping makes your life worse, don't try it. Thank you (:

You know the type of pimple thats under the skin, red, hurts and has no head. Most tell you not to pop them, have a dermo give you a cortisone shot etc. Well the truth is you are able to pop them, its just not always worth it. I would like to talk with other more knowledgeable people who have experience EFFECTIVELY dealing with these.

Here's how It works for me. Sometimes I get white heads, and that's great, easy to pop, once popped go away fast no problem. Usually I get the ones with no head, and if you leave them alone, and simply wash your face, and apply your medication like normal they WON'T go away. I pop them, it takes seriously hard squeezing, and a good pain tolerance, sometimes your pushing so hard it literally explodes out, you have to do it just right though. And when I do it, and the white stuff comes out, even if a lot of it does, sometimes i have to still continue pushing, and wayyyy deep down some more will come out - below layers of the clear liquid - and sometimes the deepest pocket of the pus is even attached - if I don't get ALL of it out, the pimple comes back even worse than before. after that I wash my face, and put on my product. I have been doing this or two years, and I have ZERO scars. believe it or not getting the cystic acne out actually stops a scar from being possible - the negative is that your pushing so hard, if you have an error, or use your nail, you can create a nasty scab on your face, these are surface scabs - thin - and do not leave scars - generally take about 3-5 days to heal - but still they are not aesthetically appealing. The occasional scabs are worth it to me because when you get rid of the cystic acne in this way (removing all of the pus) the pimple itself goes away in usually about 2-3 days, and stops hurting almost instantly - so if you pull it off without making an error and mangling the skin its a very relieving feeling, and it makes the pimple go away as well as leaves no scar. Anyone else with similar experiences like mine lets share advice, and get to the bottom of this


Thank you everyone.

EDIT: in regards to scaring, despite my success at not scaring I'm not sure If i should be used as a comparison for everyone, because someone with worse acne than me could possibly scar using such a method. I know this is posted in the severe acne section, but I'm not sure if i qualify for severe - I feel like if I didn't practice good skin care, and didn't use acne products I would be covered in acne, but as long as I do practice good skin care and stick to a consistent and effective regimen at times I have perfectly clear skin, and at others I have 1-4 cystic blemishes on my face (I don't get them in large numbers, but when I get them they are severe, cystic and under the skin in nature). So I wouldn't say my "case" is severe, but the individual blemish I typically get is a severe form. So please do not attempt to pop 10+ cystic pimples, I'm not sure how your skin/acne would react or if it would scar in that situation. Thank you.

Edited by hockeymc16, 12 April 2011 - 06:22 PM.

[Acne Security]

lmao, there has been only one time for me where a pimple of mine popped. And it wasent even my fault. Some fucker during basketball hit his hand on my pimpl eon my forehead, and it left a scar.

I am wayyy too fucking scared to do that. Hell, i am scared that rubbing my face will cause the pimples to scar.

Are you sure you have ZERO scars from doing this? have you checked all possible lightings/angles?

That is fking crazy man. I would not do that...

Yeah, It's not something I would even suggest getting into, do whatever works best for you, I'm just trying to here from others who do. yeah I have zero scars, if you research what actually causes the typical acne scaring you'd be surprised - normally allowing cystic acne (a sort of pus pocket) to grow underneath the skin expands the poor, and when it finally goes away it leaves that creator form where a pimple use to be - so when you remove the pus - you remove the chance of it expanding your poor & giving you a scar etc. Creating a scab from popping doesn't give you an acne scar - normally it takes the worst sort of cut - cash to leave only a skin color difference. A scab from acne could never leave a creator. attemping to pop it - not getting all of it and allowing it to come back x1000 worse, probably could and I'm sure has fueled much of the popping myth

[bumble_B]

For me, whenever I get those, I just wait it out before I pop them. Usually in the beginning, the pimple would be pink/red and swollen. I'd just go on with my regular routine until the pimple kind of shrinks and is less swollen. This usually takes about a week. Then if I wait another week, the stuff inside actually hardens a bit and I just squeeze it out. To avoid any mishaps with my nails, I wrap fingers with tissue to create like a finger glove and I squeeze the sucker out. Usually, it comes out pretty clean. If I get all if it, the spot heals up after a few days. There is sometimes a mark, but it is usually light and it fades away soon. If I don't get it all, I have a chance to just get the rest of it later on. I don't like to keep pinching because from experience, that leads to bruising which takes a really long time to heal.

There are certain times when I have a cystic acne that would literally rupture on my face. Like, I would do absolutely nothing to it and the skin would just rip open, exposing inflamed flesh and blood. I would see like a little white head sticking out from under the blood, but I won't be able to pop it out. In this case, I dip a cotton swab in tea tree oil and massage it into the exposed flesh every night before bed. This actually helps with the infection and after a few days, the exposed flesh dries up and forms a scab. Then, I just wait for the scab to fall off and I never touch it while I wait it to fall off.

[Acne Security]

Yeah, I keep hearing good things about tea tree oil, I think I'm gonna try it as a spot treatment before I go to bed, and see if it works. My problem is, a week is just unbearable, waiting that long and knowing all that shit is in my skin, not to mention if you ever stretch your face muscles you can feel it, just drives me nuts. When I do it my way, it like gives you bad looking scabs for a couple days, but at least its over with and their gone in 3ish days. I'm going to try not popping for a couple weeks i think and see how it works out - It's gonna be hard though haha. Like usually i get to a point where my skin is clear, and then 3 bad ones will come under the skin... if I pop them asap and do apply my product I know I'm right back on my way to clear skin again because the scabs go away so fast - but if I don't pop them it could take weeks, and at that point more breakouts could happen etc it sounds like a nightmare to me but I'll try it.

[vapor1]

I don't have cysts, but I pop all my whiteheads and I don't have any scars either. However, I don't have any acne on my cheeks (I think the only scarring-prone area on face).

[bumble_B]

Tea tree oil is fantastic. Although, from experience, I feel like tea tree oil by itself isn't an effective spot treatment for acne. I find that it's good for open wounds caused by acne since it's a really strong antiseptic. It just cuts down the inflammation process, making scabs form easier. Because before I discovered tea tree oil, my cystic acne took a long time to heal. I'm sure you know what I mean: you know how if you sometimes don't pop everything out of the pore, and the skin tries to form a scab, but it can't do it properly because there is still stuff underneath? Well, tea tree oil is good for that because it cuts down the infection. Plus, tea tree oil is so strong that it can actually dry up the spot, allowing a scab to form.

As a spot treatment for a spot that isn't ruptured or popped, I usually use a sulfur spot treatment. Right now, I'm using Murad's Acne Spot Treatment with 3.0% sulfur. It's kind helps with the redness a little bit and helps with drying the spot out through the week. Also, I think it helps to suck the sucker to the surface so I can pop it later. I'm not sure about other sulfur spot treatments, so I can't really recommend anything else. Though, if you are interested in trying but not sure about investing in it, you can try going to a Sephora and asking for a sample of the product. The representatives there are very nice.

The reason why I don't pop the spot as soon as possible is because they are usually really deep. I'm not afraid of scarring because lord knows, I've had worse stuff. It's just that I just can't bear with the idea of having a large bumpy scab on a face. I figure, at least, if I don't pop it for the time being, I can cover it up with a bit of makeup. And by the time I pop it out later on, the scab that forms is really, really tiny.

Edited by bumble_B, 10 April 2011 - 10:39 AM.

[Acne Security]

Yeah I'm going to buy the Tea Tree oil today. I'm going to get the 100% stuff and use it as a spot treatment. Also I read that you can take like 1 part tto and like 7 parts water to make a toner and put it on wit a cotton ball all over your face. Do you know any other ways to apply it? I'm changing my regime. I use nuetrogina oil free acne wash, and I'm going to get rid of that and try either purpose cleanser, or cetaphil because it seems unanimous that those two are the best I'm just not sure which one to pick yet. So my regimine for the day will be cleanse with purpose/cetaphil cleanser, use tea tree oil as a toner, wait 15 minutes and then apply my clindamyicn 1% gel to my entire face. At night I'll repeat those steps but also put 100% tea tree oil on as a spot treatment. I'll let the board know how it works.

Also as far as topical solutions go from my research it seems that Retin-A is pretty much the strongest and most effective - but it has the most damaging/drying effects on your skin. If I'm not satisfied with this regimen that's probably my next stop.

[Lewis.]

That's what i do on the occasion that i do get a big pimple.

But yeah, you really need to make sure you get all the crap out and totally clean it or else it will just come back worse and could scar.

I have no scars as well.

[bumble_B]

Yeah I'm going to buy the Tea Tree oil today. I'm going to get the 100% stuff and use it as a spot treatment. Also I read that you can take like 1 part tto and like 7 parts water to make a toner and put it on wit a cotton ball all over your face. Do you know any other ways to apply it? I'm changing my regime. I use nuetrogina oil free acne wash, and I'm going to get rid of that and try either purpose cleanser, or cetaphil because it seems unanimous that those two are the best I'm just not sure which one to pick yet. So my regimine for the day will be cleanse with purpose/cetaphil cleanser, use tea tree oil as a toner, wait 15 minutes and then apply my clindamyicn 1% gel to my entire face. At night I'll repeat those steps but also put 100% tea tree oil on as a spot treatment. I'll let the board know how it works.

Also as far as topical solutions go from my research it seems that Retin-A is pretty much the strongest and most effective - but it has the most damaging/drying effects on your skin. If I'm not satisfied with this regimen that's probably my next stop.

I've tried the toner idea but the thing is, tea tree oil is still oil and oil doesn't mix with water very well. So here's how I do it: I usually buy the Desert Essence brand, 100% Pure Australian Tea Tree Oil. I put my cotton pad over the opening and do a quick "turn the bottle over and back" to get a small amount on the cotton pad. Then I put my toner (usually something like Witch Hazel) on the cotton pad and I apply it to my face. It's a really cooling and tingly sensation! Can be kind of irritating at some points, but the sensation goes away after a while. Also, just to warn you, tea tree oil has a very strong woodsy smell that lingers on for a bit. I don't recommend applying it on during the day if you're worried that the smell might bother you or other people.

[Ella27]

lmao, there has been only one time for me where a pimple of mine popped. And it wasent even my fault. Some fucker during basketball hit his hand on my pimpl eon my forehead, and it left a scar.

I am wayyy too fucking scared to do that. Hell, i am scared that rubbing my face will cause the pimples to scar.

Are you sure you have ZERO scars from doing this? have you checked all possible lightings/angles?

That is fking crazy man. I would not do that...

I actually have been doing the same thing for many years (but that was before I knew popping them was bad) Luckily I never have had scarring. The only think I am left with is a scab that eventually leaves a small red dot that fades over time so I guess that might count... but I from what I have seen I never had severe scarring either.

[Acne Security]

So I've been at it for a couple days now, and I'm yet to get any new pimples, but it still hasn't been long enough to tell. My regemie: wash face with Cetaphil (for oily skin) > soak cotton ball in water and add 3 drops of TTO & apply as a toner (I know the water is good at mixing with it but it helps spread the 3 drops across your entire face) > wait 5 minutes > apply my active ingredient heavy hitter (It really doesn't matter which one you use, they all essentially do the same thing but I use Clindamycin gel because it applies super easy, and leaves no residue/also doesn't dry your face, which is good because I'm using TTO). Then at night I'll do the same thing but put 100% TTO on a q-tip and use it as a spot treatment for any current blemishes. Also I started using GNC aloe Vera skin gel - it really brings down the redness and swelling of a pimple, and also it a naturally pain killer so it gets rid of the throbbing pain. I also noticed that the TTO as a spot treatment is really good at drying out the pimple, and bringing it to a head.

As for popping, I wasn't able to completely stop, but with the TTO bringing any of my cysts to a head, I can pop the "safe way" no nails, not to much preasure, very gently etc.
If anyone ones interested in seeing the results of this regime, let me know and I can post a personal regimen log with pictures and updates etc..

Edited by hockeymc16, 10 April 2011 - 11:48 PM.

[Sima]

I second the tea tree oil. I have pure, 100% tea tree oil from Whole Foods that I use as a spot treatment. I lightly dip the q-tip in the jar and lightly dot it on the pimple. I do this in the morning and at night for about 2 nights and the pimple is completely gone. TTO is a natural antiseptic and works really well when it comes to killing the bacteria that inflames the pimple.

[Acne Security]

I second the tea tree oil. I have pure, 100% tea tree oil from Whole Foods that I use as a spot treatment. I lightly dip the q-tip in the jar and lightly dot it on the pimple. I do this in the morning and at night for about 2 nights and the pimple is completely gone. TTO is a natural antiseptic and works really well when it comes to killing the bacteria that inflames the pimple.

ah I didn't know whole foods sold it, I love whole foods! I got mine at walgreens but I'll try theirs next time

[UKLady]

I had surgical extractions done by a doctor (a plastic surgeon who was doing laser etc. privately).

Have to say, it was awful! First the nurse put iodine all over my face, then he made tiny incisions into the lesions with a scalpel and then he basically squeezed all the gunk out.

I had a few big, red, closed cyst type ones done and it was soooooo painful I was crying! He did not squeeze around the lesion, but rather squeezed my face at points further away to create the pressure. And I mean squishing my face with what seemed like all his might

My whole face was red and swollen afterwards. It was honestly really horrible. But I was also given antiseptic stuff to put on all over my face for 3-4 days afterwards....the main issue would be cross-infection.

But...all those lesions he extracted did heal up fine and with no scars.

However, I tried to do a few of those nasty ones myself and one I extracted has left me with an icepick scar.

I get what you're saying about the infected tissue causing the scarring but it is kind of like doing a type of 'home-surgery' (if we're talking cysts here) and DIY won't be done as well as by a professional and probably not with the same attention to risk of cross infection.

Edited by UKLady, 11 April 2011 - 05:07 PM.

[Lakestone Park]

*MOD EDIT* Please be supportive and if you do not agree with a poster, express it kindly. This is a support forum.

Edited by Lakestone Park, 12 April 2011 - 12:50 AM.

[Maximus Decimus Merideous]

I needed to give my 2 cents here, while this method may work for Hockey, it definitely doesn't work for me.

A few times I have tried this, and I ALWAYS turn a not so apparent red bump into a monster sized inflamed mound. The past 2 cortisone shots I have gotten were because I tried to pop under the skin pimples, I am not making that up.

its great that this works for the OP, i wish It worked for my skin. But just keep mind that it really doesnt work for every1 (maybe try once and if it messes up your face don't do it again?)

[Acne Security]

I needed to give my 2 cents here, while this method may work for Hockey, it definitely doesn't work for me.

A few times I have tried this, and I ALWAYS turn a not so apparent red bump into a monster sized inflamed mound. The past 2 cortisone shots I have gotten were because I tried to pop under the skin pimples, I am not making that up.

its great that this works for the OP, i wish It worked for my skin. But just keep mind that it really doesnt work for every1 (maybe try once and if it messes up your face don't do it again?)

Yeah I feel your pain, its just not worth it. I'm lucky enough not to scar, but having a random scab on my face can be pretty annoying. so far with my new routine I haven't gotten any new cystic blemishes yet, I had two when I started, and the TTO was able to bring them to a head super quick. So that's pretty much my deal with myself no popping unless its to a clear head, and can be gently dealt with. Yeah thats great the cortisone's help you, it makes me sleep better at night knowing people have at least that to turn to for as sure thing. Just try to get the shot sooner than later, the longer that cyst sits in there - especially if you try to pop it - the more likely it will mangle that pore.

[Scar_Tissue]

haha the beginning was painful to read cuz i was kinda grossed out. I just try to get in and get out quick cuz its gross to me...and cool at the same time, but no i don't ever dig around there lol. you sound like your mining for pockets of pus within the flesh that is your face hehe

[Acne Security]

hahahaha I know, I'm impressed you were able to read it.
Thankfully since I started my new routine I haven't gotten anymore cystic blemishes.
life is good