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Wed Nov 01, 2006 4:51 pm  |
Hello! Long time listener, first time caller  So this is something that has been plaguing me ever since I started breaking out like a prepubescent chocolate eating no face washing maniac... Which I don't understand by the way, I mean, why now? I never broke out as a teenager but ever since I broke mid twenties it's like these pimples have some kind of unfinished business with me. But anyways, I hear so many different things about what to do about pimples: pop it, squeeze it, prick it, leave it alone, put this on it, don't put anything on it, put this on it then wash it right off... I'm really at a complete loss as to what to do, and since everyone here seems to know everything  I thought I'd go straight to the source! So is it OK to pop pimples? And is there a certain way you do it? And if there is can you please please tell me your secret because leaving pimples alone only seems to anger them more and then it shrivels and turns into this dark blotch on my face that just stays there for all eternity. Thank you!!! |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 5:18 pm |
Well, I'm no expert, and I don't recommend anyone do what I do, but I have never been able to stand looking at one of them  and thank GOD, I've never had any scarring from messing with them, but I've always just had to get rid of them.
I just pop them, them dab some alcohol on them, that's it. Like I say, I guess I'm lucky, never had any problems, they always seem to go away faster that way anyhow. Never scarred. Seems if I try to leave them alone they just stay and stay. |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 5:45 pm |
| I know that all the beauty magazines in the world say to NEVER pop your blemishes, but I'm a 100% believer in popping. I've tried the ol "leave em alone" theory, and the only thing it does is lets that awful blemsish take up residence in my face for another 2 months or so. However, if I can manage to pop it cleanly, poof! Gone in one day! So, I say, pop em!! I usually hold a warm washcloth to my face first to open the pores up, then I wash my hands and squeeze! Afterwards I clean the extracted blemish with some toner, and then I top it off with some kind of acne cream or liquid. (I highly recommend Yonka's Emulsion Pure or Zenbiotic's O2--- both of these REALLY help with healing.) HTH! |
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27, sensitive/reactive/acne prone skin, dark brown hair, blue eyes, possibly the palest woman alive... |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 5:50 pm |
| manslayerliz wrote: |
| I know that all the beauty magazines in the world say to NEVER pop your blemishes, but I'm a 100% believer in popping. I've tried the ol "leave em alone" theory, and the only thing it does is lets that awful blemsish take up residence in my face for another 2 months or so. However, if I can manage to pop it cleanly, poof! Gone in one day! So, I say, pop em!! I usually hold a warm washcloth to my face first to open the pores up, then I wash my hands and squeeze! Afterwards I clean the extracted blemish with some toner, and then I top it off with some kind of acne cream or liquid. (I highly recommend Yonka's Emulsion Pure or Zenbiotic's O2--- both of these REALLY help with healing.) HTH! |
I feel EXACTLY the same way you do manslayerliz! I tried not popping and it just never goes away, especially those seed-type whiteheads. If you don't extract them it'll take a LONG time before they surface themselves and go away. And whether I pop or not it always leaves a brownish mark afterwards, popping just makes them dry up faster imo. If it's the seed-type whitehead I use my fingers, but if it's a zit that's ready then I use my tweezerman extractor. But you gotta becareful with an extractor, you don't want to slide it off too hard as your skin in that area is fragile due to the oil and dirt, you could risk sliding the piece of skin off (yes disgusting but it's true!) I almost always follow up with my Yonka Emulsion Pure - helps with the redness and healing, usually the pimple would be a lot less bumpy, takes away the inflammation of extracting. However sometimes if I'm too lazy to do the compress (since it takes 15-20min) I put some Valmont Dermatosic serum on it and it also helps with the inflammation, redness and healing.
HTH |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 6:38 pm |
Just a few years ago when I was in my last year of HS, I began to take more notice about my skin (before then it was just soap and water!!).. And my pimples would last for 1-2 months...... and take another 2-3 months to fade!!! AND being the finicky person I am I used to always search for zits to scratch off or extract.. and I really learned the hard way, only pop a zit or extract a whitehead IF it is ready to come out. And if you do decide to extract the zit, always apply something astringent and calming afterwards.
I guess I'm lucky now that my hormones have regulated and I get the occassional whitehead zit and it goes away on its own very quickly.
I am not sure if these lingering zits are to do with diet or something, but there is something wrong if zits take too long to go down on their own... |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:00 pm |
| It's good to extract zits in some cases because it takes pressure off of your skin. Just make sure you're keeping it sanitary and gentle, or more harm will be done then good. |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:03 pm |
| I also believe in popping. I always clean the area with some toner afterwards or dab some tea tree oil on it. |
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34, oily acne-prone skin, Toronto, Canada |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:09 pm |
Yonka Emulsion Pure - Ooh. Have to look into that.
I've always wanted to use the tweezerman extractor but I can't seem to figure out how to use it, so never tried. But I agree, that if you see any pimple (that's ready to be squeezed or popped) than get to it. People always say don't pop it, you'll make it worse. But it's worst just leaving it there, builds up underneath the skin than sometimes I swear it turns into a mole. Maybe I'm wrong but I think they do. |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 10:14 pm |
I'm a popper, too. (Wait, shouldn't that be "I'm a Pepper?")
Anyhoo, my Mom never wanted my sister and I to have bad skin, so at the first sign of a zit, she'd drag us off to the dermatologist. He used a lancet to do extractions and he was NOT gentle! Hurt like hell! So, I figured if he was doing painful extractions, I could do them better and more gently.
I got a couple of those lancets and later when a zit came up, after holding a very warm, wet washcloth to the area for a while to prep, I'd gently pierce the skin with tip of the lancet and gently put pressure on the sides of it to extract the infection. Yuck, but it worked. I'd take a Q-tip dipped in hydrogen peroxide and put it on the zit to disinfect. It'd fizz up and I'd leave it for a while, then rinse and put toner on it and some other zit treatment, like the clay-based stuff you swab on and leave overnight. Et voila! Next morning, there'd hardly be a sign of the zit!
Please note: I only ever extracted a zit that was obviously ready to be extracted. NEVER try to extract one that doesn't have a head on it, is one of those underground, cyst-type zits, or are the ones that are red with no obvious opening. THOSE must be left alone, otherwise you will get pitting and scarring if you try to extract them. A friend of mine used to make mincemeat of her face trying to extract those things - years later, all the peels in the world would not correct the damage to her face.
Sometimes if you gently, manually exfoliate with a scrub, you can just nick the whiteheads right off your face, but I only do that with little itty bitty ones that come up in small clusters.
Happy popping! Just be gentle! |
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 4:27 am |
What every one says about popping is so true. I can never leave pimples alone, especially the one white that are inflamed. But silly me, I would try and pop them with my fingers without even waiting for them to come ahead. Result, it would just get filled up again and be even more angry. Left some pigmentation too.
Of course since I started learning about skincare on here, it is much better!  |
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 6:21 am |
| I also believe in popping. I tried not popping and it just never goes away. I tried to use the tweezerman extractor but not quite master it yet, so sometimes I made it worse. |
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:12 am |
I'm in the majority here - everyone says not to pop - but if I don't I'm left with huge whitehead zits for days ... and nothing covers them.
Right now I have 2 near my mouth. 1 is hormonal and the other is probably from the Swellips I've been using/overusing.
I apply a warm/hot wet facecloth until it opens. Wipe and let it drain - then apply whatever I have.
If the zit doesn't develop a whitehead (and I can camouflage with makeup) I'm having great success with LRP Effaclar K.
I also have Kate Somerville's drying potion (which is the same as Mario Bandescu's) but I really can't see that it helps. |
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:23 am |
Like everyone else here, popping (when ready only!) is the way to go. After cleaning hands & face and using a very warm-water cloth compress on the area, sterilize a very fine needle, open up the tip of the white area and gently, gently press, then clean the area again with hydrogen peroxide. If it looks really inflamed afterwards I use a cloth-covered ice cube on it for a while. There may be a whitehead again the next day, if so, repeat. Dab with a sulfur-clay overnight treatment. I do not use any benzoylperoxide type harsh treatments since if you just dry the skin out, you'll have dry, painful peeling skin AND zits.
For those sore, big cysts (got some on my chin in my mid'40's) if they're still growing after a few evening of icing it, I always go to my dermatologist for an injection--otherwise they take months to go away and I have the scars to prove how wrong it is to squeeze those suckers. |
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 11:04 am |
I'm a popper. I can't help myself when it comes to popping zits. Is it gross that I actually like to do it? You should see me with the b/f when he gets one. I'm on that thing like no other!
I'm one that won't be able to just let it sit on my face KNOWING that it's there and big and white, it bothers me. I too clean it with toner or so and then put some acne medication on it..when it burns then I know it's working..LOL |
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26, combination skin with oily t-zone |
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 1:23 pm |
| Me too. I am a popper too. Just can't help it. It bothers me and I just could not leave it alone. |
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Celia
New Member
 
Joined: 02 Nov 2006
Posts: 2
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 1:51 pm |
I have the urge to pop a zit when I think it's 'matured', but I realized it would take much shorter tiem to heal if I had just left it alone. Now I try not to pop, but soemtime can't help it.  |
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 2:03 pm |
| No matters how hard I tried, I still could not resist the urge to pop knowing that I could make it worse. |
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 3:31 pm |
| Popper here too. I can't stand how they *feel* on my skin when I just leave them alone. They hurt and make the area sore. Pop and gone. Only bad for me is that now that my skin is 40+, they take longer to heal and leave a dark mark that takes longer to fade away than before. |
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 7:36 pm |
| I pop them too. I have left whiteheads alone for days and days just waiting to see if it would go away on it's own. No suck luck. Just be careful and sanitary and wait until it's ready. |
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 7:57 pm |
| WOOOOW ... AWESOME!!!! I don't feel so guilty anymore about being a popper! So warm towel, *pop*, or prick or tweezerman (that thing sounds kind of scary though, but definitely looking into it) hydrogen peroxide, or other kind of antiseptic, then sulpherized clay or other type of ointment. I've always wanted to try Yonka woohoo! |
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Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:23 pm |
| I'm a popper too! To me, a ripe zit just screams to be popped, so i end its red painful misery with a squeeze, and then a dab of my prescription topical antibiotic. Popping a zit has never backfired on me with an infection before, so I'll just keep doing it. |
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Fri Nov 03, 2006 5:35 am |
You know, since we are all pretty clued about skin here and still go with popping, would it be wrong for me to say that PIMPLES CAN BE POPPED and the magazines are wrong wrong wrong?
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Fri Nov 03, 2006 9:43 am |
Does anyone pop and use Neosporin?
I was reading Prevention and it looks like hydrogren peroxide is no longer the recommended method for cleaning wounds, etc. since it kills good cells as well as bacteria. They recommend cleaning cuts, etc. with water, then applying neosporin.
Must say though, popping and applying Effaclar K yesterday - today the white head is just a tiny red bump. |
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Fri Nov 03, 2006 11:31 am |
| I used to use Neosporin, but while it disinfects, i find that it doesn't do much to speed healing. |
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Fri Nov 03, 2006 12:06 pm |
| Anyone know what can be used for the redness? I read somewhere that eye drops help with the red. So I actually put Visine on it, I think it does help, but it could be just wishful thinking. |
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26, combination skin with oily t-zone |
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