If You Can't Help But Pop Your Pimples, You Need to Watch This Video
The clip starts with women guzzling Fireball shots poolside - innocent enough.
But then we learn that one of the ladies has a massive, angry red boil the size of a golf ball on her side.
Naturally, her friends decide they’re going to pop the sucker for her. When they do, an unbroken stream of yellow pus geysers out of the blemish for a good 3 seconds.
It might have been longer, but we turned away to dry heave.
(We warned you.)
Gross-out factors aside, there’s a lot to appreciate here. The fact that this poor pimpled woman is main-lining Fireball like she’s a Civil War soldier about to have a leg amputated is pretty damn funny.
Also, props to her friend who did the popping. She had the presence of mind to perform the procedure with her hands wrapped in tissue. (Hygiene first.)
Of course, you know you’re not supposed to pop your skin lumps.
Whether you have a blackhead, an acne pimple, or any other bulbous blemish, experts say popping can lead to scarring or - in most cases - just a bigger bump.
Plus, when you pop a blemish, some of its bacteria can be forced deeper into your skin where it can cause even more problems, like an infection.
So we asked Dr. Adnan Nasir, director of dermatology at Wake Research Associates and the dermatology advisor for Men's Health, for the best way to get rid of a zit.
Here’s his advice:
1. Soak a washcloth in the hottest water your faucet can generate, and apply pressure to the spot for 1 minute before you go to bed. The moist heat should melt the oily sebum that’s plugging your pores.
2. Then apply 10 per cent benzoyl peroxide cream, available over the counter, to kill bacteria and help dry out the site. Dr. Nasir recommends PanOxyl products.
3. Cover your pimple with a spot bandage or Band-Aid. This ensures that the benzoyl peroxide works all night.
When you wake up, your blemish will be 50 to 75 percent healed if it’s not gone altogether, says Dr. Nasir. You can repeat for several nights if necessary.
