6 days ago I had a red spot the size of a pencil eraser on my forehead. Over the last week the red spot has raised and become the size of a dime. I put tea tree oil on it immediately and Wednesday it started coming to a head. Since then I switched over to aloe vera gel. All along the way I have kept it moisturized w/ moisturizer.
Now it still has a dime sized red area but with a HUGE whitehead on top the size of a pencil eraser.
There's no way I'm popping it (been in this game too long). I've been here countless times before and always put some "drying agent" (tea tree, BP, etc) on it and the whitehead gets to be so big it eventually covers the entire red area (SO gross). It then inevitably pops on its own (usually while washing my face) and I am left with a MASSIVE crater in my face. Literally, a dime sized volcano with an eraser sized crater. This is no joke my forehead is covered in scars and red spots from these damn things.
There has to be a better way to deal with these things.
Thoughts?
(The angle of the camera makes it look smaller than it really is and the lighting makes my scars look worse)
I feel your pain man! I get those on my cheeks which hurt like hell! What I usually do is take some ibuprofen (for the inflammation and pain), steam my face with a clean hot towel for about 5 minutes and then make a tiny poke into the white head to release the pressure and bacteria with a sanitized needle. I usually use toilet paper and wrap it around my fingers and gently squeeze until pus is removed and then wash my face and put a dab of white colored benzoyl peroxide on it and rub it in and wait... That's what I do in extreme cases... Otherwise just wait it out and maybe take 2x 200mg ibuprofen and just don't disturb it. Let me know how it goes. Good luck man! 
try puting some drying cream like salicylic acid on the blemishes that are coming in to stop them in their tracks. Also....I suggest drinking lots of water, cut out sugar as best as you can and start eating healthier food. I know that's easier said than done but depending on how old you are...your horomones are probably the root cause of your acne. I assume you wash your face and keep it moisterized with oil free moisterizer at night? If your skin is oily throughout the day, put milk of magnesia on your face after you wash it in the morning. you will only need a thin layer and you will be oil free through-out the whole day. Plus the magnesia will calm your skin and not be so inflamed. Also try taking a multi vitamin. Drink lots and lots of water too. any/all of these will help. get back to me in a couple days and let me know how its going! As far as that big white head...poke it with a sanitized needle and drain it gently and flush it out and put some benzoyl peroxide to kill the bacteria in there. good luck bro! - jake
Hey guys,
The thing popped on its own about an hour ago. My plan is to keep covering the "wound" with aloe vera to try and get the redness down. Not going to go with the Duoderm thing either. Weekend is here so 48 hours of not seeing people =)
I did a little icing on the other guy and hopefully that can slow it down/not let it get as inflamed. I'll probably do more later.
@MN
I'm actually one of those freaks who doesn't wash their face haha. I rinse it with water after I exercise and then cover it in moisturizer because just rinsing makes my skin super dry. I then spot treat pimples as they pop up. My cheeks, nose and chin are pimple free but my forehead gets 1-2 of these monster pustules every couple of weeks and then they take forever to heal. I'm 24.5 and eat real healthy. My skin would be really good if it wasn't for these huge forehead pustules.
Just a quick update.
Here's a picture showing the zit about 30 mins after "draining it". The white head was starting to push through the skin so I took a Q-tip dipped it in apple cider vinegar then slowly pulled off the yellow "core". It came out pretty easily (the skin already had broken) and it never really bled but there was some blood in the hole. Held a Q-tip onto the wound for 15-20 seconds then put some aloe vera in the hole with a Q-tip then pushed some of the broken skin back over the hole.
You can see the crater in the center where the core came out of. There is also considerable growth on the "left" pimple which I think is going to turn into a similar whitehead. Since earlier this afternoon it also looks like another pimple is coming in at the bottom right.
First time using pictures to document the situation. Sorry if it is gross. I used close to 10 Q-tips for the entire operation. Braggs ACV and Fruit of the Earth 100% aloe vera gel.
Nothing wrong with leaving the zit alone and letting it do its thing but I agree with the above poster on popping and his method of doing so as popping when done correctly can bring about faster healing. Zit looks much flatter and already scabbed over so looking much better already!
I post a pic tomorrow morning so we can see how it looks after giving the inflammation a chance to calm down. But Hopefully it can heal from here!
@MN
Deciding to stop washing my face was a huge decision and it was extremely hard for me to do. I tried tons of different products and gave them real long runs (usually 6months). It's hard but it can be done.
Anyway time to find a funny movie on netflix. Hope everyone has a good night! I'll update tomorrow
Just a quick photo update.
You can see the "left" zit is coming in strong but this one has started developing a whitehead earlier than the scab guy on the right so I'm hoping it won't be as bad. I'm putting diluted tea tree oil on it a couple times a day.
Lower right has much less inflammation at this point so I'm not too worried about that. Also giving it the tea tree oil.
The top right scab job looks pretty normal I guess. I think if I were to rank colors massive whitehead is the worst followed by scab job followed by raised inflammation. I'm putting aloe vera on it pretty regularly but of course I'm worried about the scab coming off too early since the whole area is highly moisturized.
I probably won't "wash" the area with water until tomorrow morning. I hope the scab can last through that rinse off but if not I just hope it has enough time to heal.
One thing I noticed when I stopped using SA, BP, etc was my face seemed to heal much faster. I think the hyperpigmentation stays around longer but the pimple wounds seem to heal faster.
Any tips would be great. If you are looking for a funny movie to cheer you up I watched In the Loop on netflix last night and thought it was pretty good.
I would suggest, never ever pop your acne. Infection can spread when acne is popped and can result to more breakouts. Washing your face twice daily using mild soap is also advisable.
I just want to share my beauty regimen. I am also prone to acne when I was a teen and even until now. Natural manuka honey helped me a lot specially on acne scars and huge acne on my face and back.
Thanks for replying. Yeah I'm not a big fan of popping either *gross* when the head starts coming through the skin I think it's best to dispose of it. I like using ACV dipped Q-tips for that operation. Haha the rest of my face (other than forehead) have been clear for a couple months now so I'm really hesitant to start a wash cycle again. Obviously the forehead is a problem.
@MN
Haha things are as good as they can be. I have an interview for a high paying job in about 2 weeks so I'm praying both of these guys will be gone.
Anyway this is what it looks like as of 10-15 mins ago. The lower right broke when I was washing my face.
Might be hard to tell by the scab top-right is hanging on for dear life. I'm pretty much using aloe vera as a glue to keep it on there.
The left guy is struggles mcgee right now I'm gonna keep hitting it with the moisturizer and tea tree hopefully it will gracefully bow out leaving no scar =) lol
Aight guys. Interview is in 10 days (20th). Aloe vera seems to really be helping with my hyper pigmentation. Honestly though I have no problem making a joke about being "stressed" as long as I don't have any huge pimples.The interview is all day including lunch and drinks after work. If it was just an hour I'd probably take a crash course in putting on make-up. lol. Just gotta try and stay loose and hope for the best. I'll post another pic of my forehead tonight when I get back home.
2Steps: I admire your sense of humor under pressure! While some truth to the clothes and face maketh the man especially at a job interview, I really think if you are meant for this job that you will get it. They'll be focusing more on your confidence, your personality, your talents, and what you can offer them...I'll bet they won't even notice the blemishes but can totally understand the pressure of wanting to set yourself apart from all the other qualified candidates vying for this position.
I can sooo get with "scab glue" lol...been there done that...I had many a "struggles McGee" in my day lol.
Keep us posted!
Haha thanks for the encouragement! I had extremely bad anxiety about my acne about 2 years ago to the point where I opted to go to grad school instead of joining the work force. I think I'm finally starting to "grow out of it" / make the right lifestyle decisions. I'm buying a new suit this weekend so I will look sharp as a tack =)
Here's an update to my situation. I thought the scab would be gone by now but it's sticking in there pretty good. Yay! Hopefully the aloe and moisturizer can really take care of it. I will put the tiniest dab of ACV on it every couple of days to encourage new skin growth.
This picture was taken right after icing my new problem (left-er of the problems). Gonna keep hitting it with the tea tree oil and I think it will probably break tomorrow. Hopefully I can get a good enough scab going that it can heal itself up before I interview!
One last thing for people who believe the diet connection. I did about a year of super low carb to the point where I didn't even eat bread and still had acne. Looking back at my diet though I was eating way too many fats to stay energized. I really don't think carbs are as bad as we all seem to have convinced ourselves. I'm still not going crazy with the carbs but I'm eating whole wheat bread again and am doing almost anything I can to get PROTEIN in my diet without oil/fats. I don't have time to look into it right now (and would def not add a milk derivative without serious research a week before my interview) BUT I think one answer might be super high quality whey protein.
Hello TwoSteps,
Popping a zit is usually not advisable since it may cause an infection on your skin and leave scars that are hard to remove. However if you still insist on popping your pesky zit, kindly visit the link provided below for more information on how to properly pop a pimple. It also comes with a video on how to do it.