One more reason to never, ever pop your pimples with foreign objects — you could develop a blood-crusted, oozy lesion that most accurately resembles a mutilated third lip. At least, that’s what happened to one 23-year-old man when he tried to drain a pimple with his woodworking knife and subsequently developed a rare fungal infection.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, people typically get blastomycosis by “breathing in the microscopic fungal spores from the air.” This particular case is one of reportedly only 50 medically-reported cases of the infection being spread via “cutaneous inoculation,” or through contact with traumatized skin.
Lesson learned— there’s a right way to pop your pimples, and there’s a very, very wrong way. Although it’s rare for this particular disease to happen, other long-term effects of unnecessary pimple-popping can lead to acne scars and make your skin susceptible to other infections. In short, it’s just not worth the squeeze.
Love a bit of gore? Watch Dr Pimple Popper burst a Unicorn Cyst.
This article was originally published by Men’s Health.
