Is It Ever Okey To Pick?

[Cherryx 10]

Is it ever okey to pick? What if I have a whitehead that's about to burst (I know that sounds extremely nasty). But I'm just wondering. I know you should never pick a blemish that is red.

What do you think?

[the uphill battle 62]

I'm sure people will disagree.. but for me, personally, it is not realistic for me to walk around with a whitehead. I will not do it! I refuse.

[borie88 27]

I won't do it either, plus if I leave it be, most of them turn into a huge bruise covered pimple that looks worse and lasts longer than what it would be if I did pick it out.

[Cherryx 10]

I agree with the post above ^

[myhorriblehabit 9]

ugggg thats a toughie.. those little guys can be a pain in the ass. i guess the main thing is just know when to walk away. if you try to pop it and dont feel like you got it all dont continue to squeeze and make it worse. walk away and wait. im the most impatient person ever so if i feel like theres a pimple that needs squeezing i go for it. and i always end up effing up my face :/ so be careful!

[Gutterflower 214]

I think it's alright, as long as you only squeeze the ones that are absolutely ready to be squeezed. Don't use your fingernails. Don't pinch the skin around it. I use a sterilized pin, prick a hole in the top and gently apply pressure until nothing will come out willingly anymore, then clean it and apply antibiotic gel with a q-tip. As long as you're not brutalizing the skin around it, it should be alright.

[PaulH85 581]

In the few days since I stopped attacking everything and anything even if it was nowhere near to forming a whitehead, my skin's cleared up so well. It's because I'm not spreading the bacteria and pushing it under the skin. I had a pimple which was forming right on my lower lip line and that was really sore. Normally the soreness would have freaked me out and I'd have picked it to death and would have ended up with essentially what would qualify as an open wound. But I left it, applied Isotretinoin gel and, three days later, it's gone. By leaving it alone, I totally broke the development cycle of the pimple. I've done it with three other pimples this week and they haven't even formed, they've just gone away.

I learned how to do things right the hard way - by doing it so very wrong for so many years and essentially becoming the reason why my skin was breaking out non-stop for about thirteen years. Still, better late than never I suppose. I've always said that it gave a false sence of control - like I was dictating the overall state of the pimples of something - but I'm now finding that the true sense of control and a much better feeling can be found in knowing how to do things properly so that the pimples look better, heal faster and improve the overall condition of my skin.

I guess we all have our little ways of doing things, but the definition of "properly" is essentially what Elle suggested. The key think in all that is knowing when to step away and leave them alone until the time is right.

[cln 2]

Only if it's visible on the surface. Use a comedone extractor to prick the top layer of skin and use the round loop on the other side to bring the infection to the surface. Dab with an antibacterial toner (if it's real bad use a little alcohol to dab the pimple only). Make sure you clean your extractors well. Hot water, soap and then alcohol. This way you will not spread infection. Do not use your fingernails whatsoever.

[SuperMachii 121]

as long as you don't pick it beyond repair, ie exposure to infection, physical obtrusion, improper blood clot, damaged inside valves of pores. These all apply for inflamed pimples, a whitehead has very very tiny chance of getting infected, because by my definition of whitehead, is that its not red, and there is no redness around it or under it, infection happens with blood.

one clear rule of thumb: if you see a red pimple, or red anywhere near the pimple, don't pick, not even surgically.. don't be naive enough to think you can do that with alcohol and surgical tools.

if you pick a pimple and it clots normally without inflammation and redness present besides the reddish blood clot... and if a day later you take off this scabbed blood clot, you will have exposed your unhealed and picked pimple easily, and thus get a red mark. Else if you leave the scab alone, it will shrink and shrink and dissappear as long as you don't dry it out unnecessarily by overwashing and in rare cases, underwash it and clog with with excess sebum in which case it will form into another pimple. That scab will be best protection you will have from infection, and it will be the right way to continue the healing process.

if a pimple gets damaged from under, it will make up more tissue or less tissue, and thus u have a keloid/ raised, or pitted scar. I'm guessing these scarring depends on bacteria damaging the inner structure and altering the inner healing process.

Edited November 18, 2011 by Wangod

[MJRI94 55]

For me it depends how bad it looks/how much it is bothering me, and if I do pick i make sure I do it cleanly + apply some BP on it straight away afterwards. I try to do it as quickly as possible as I find one of the biggest factors for me preventing acne is not touching my skin to stop spots appearing in the first place, as soon as I head out of the door of my house in the morning I think to myself 'no more touching your skin!' and it helps a lot

So I would say if it really is bothering you, pick away but otherwise try your best not to pick at every single little thing

Edited November 18, 2011 by MJRI94

[SoulUnderSkin 4]

That's a really tough question, but I very willingly admit that I do not walk around with whiteheads. I've made exceptions for those rare whiteheads that will not pop easily, but on the whole, I generally get rid of those as soon as I can. Sometimes that works great. Other times, inexplicably, the whitehead, which should've been fully "neutralized", reforms and creates more pus. That's the part that really sucks because it pisses me off. I got it once, so I tend to go for it again to show it who's boss. But I guess that's been my MO for a long time: showing my face who's boss. Perhaps it's time for a new MO...

[Cherryx 10]

If it's all white and gross and noticeable, I defiantly want it out of my face ASAP

[Tyga 67]

^Red and bloody is worse.

[Cherryx 10]

Actually, I think red and bloody is better. Having puss on your face is more disgusting than a bloody spot.

[lightersUP 24]

Red bloody spots catch much more attention than a whitehead. Most of the time you can't even see a whitehead unless you're up close to your face. When you have those huge whiteheads though, the ones that turn yellowish with a red base, you should prick the top with a needle and gently let out the contents. Then you should exfoliate more so you don't get more of them.

[j.star 4]

I go back and forth on this. Sometimes you have something really important that day and if you have a huge whitehead it's hard. I have found that when something is really ready to be emptied that it will do so on its own. I feel better about it happening in the shower than if I do it. I don't know if I could stop after taking care of one.