Don't pop that zit!
By soccermom
@soccermom (3198)
United States
August 10, 2007 4:53pm CST
My hubby came home from work last night and was telling me about one of his co workers. The guy came to work and half his face was swollen and gross looking and he was on an antibiotic and a painkiller. Why? Because he had popped a zit that ended up becoming infected and the infection sspread throughout his face! I had never heard of this before. It sounded really nasty. Made me think twice before popping one I had. But then I was thinking about it and how dirty do you have to be to get an infection like that just from popping a pimple? Has anyone else heard or seen some crazy infections?
3 people like this
16 responses
@SpitFire179 (2536)
• Canada
11 Aug 07
once when i went to a dermatologist because i had pretty bad acne he told me to pop them, because many people get blood infections from the pimples, so that's what i do, but i always always wash my face when i'm done popping with something for acne, usually i use clean and clear, been doing this now for 10ish years and haven't had a problem, sounds like that guy doesn't know how to wash his face or something, i mean, i've never heard of such a thing.
ick
thanks, now i'm going to wash my face
2 people like this
@SpitFire179 (2536)
• Canada
12 Aug 07
aww i know it's been soo long, i still haven't been feeling totally up to snuff so i've been staying away from the computer as much as posslble, mostly because i can't stop sleeping ;)
yeah i pop mine, haha and it seems a lot of people are willing to admit the same, i'm a pimple freak, i see one i get it, my hubby has one i get it, though he complains it hurts hahhaa, and i just say suck it up, i pop mine too ;)
anyway, we're going out tonight, he's taking me to red lobster, wow trying lobster for the first time, goodie :D
hope your doing well, if you have yahoo add me spirit_fire179
and we can talk later.
1 person likes this
@soccermom (3198)
• United States
11 Aug 07
Spitfire I haven't seen you in forever!! Reading all of these responses it's kinda funny how much we all seem to know about pimples! LOL And how willing we are to 'fess up about our popping habits! LOL
@KrisNY (7590)
• United States
11 Aug 07
No- I've never heard of this ever- I know they say don't pop them it leaves scars- but honestly can you have a big zit on your face with the white head and not pop it? I feel like the whole world is watching it only- I pop them when I get them- (thankfully not often) I've never been infected- But I think I wash my face too often!
@wooitsmolly (3613)
• United States
11 Aug 07
I heard you are supposed to pop them if the whitehead has come up to the surface.. it is okay to do at that point, but you shouldn't dig around trying to get it to come out. That is probably how it got infected, although it has never happened to me and I pop mine all the time :P
@soccermom (3198)
• United States
11 Aug 07
Thank goodness I have ougrown the acne stage of life, but I know what you're saying. The second I see one I'm all over it. Then I tell my 11 year old not to pop hers! LOL And God help my hubby if he gets one on his back and I see it, I can't stop myself.
@mkirby624 (1598)
• United States
11 Aug 07
the only problem is that the Q-tips don't work. As bad as it is to use fingernails, they pop zits better. The q-tips won't stay on either side of the zit.
1 person likes this
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
11 Aug 07
While I have not personally had this to happen to me, I have taken care of many patients who have. What the person develops is cellulitis, an infection of the skin/soft tissues. It requires oral antibiotics to heal. Cellulitis can be very painful, especially if in a spot that can't accomodate the swelling that occurs with it. ..such as the face! When one pops a pimple, the pore is left agape and it can attract bacteria. We have lots of bacteria on our skin, and a lot lands there throughout the day! It happens quite easily. You are very right in saying, "Don't pop pimples!!!" Resist the urge!
1 person likes this
@soccermom (3198)
• United States
11 Aug 07
I asked hubby again if he remembered what it was called, and you're right. SO this is a common thing? Odd that you don't seem to hear of it often.
@mamasan34 (6518)
• United States
11 Aug 07
This has never happened to me, but I do occasionally get boils on my body. I am very careful with these because they can cause massive infection if you don't treat them properly. So far so good. I have never had anything as you described happen though! My husband had a guy in his troop that had a boil the size of an egg on the back of his head, he always would get them and they would end up getting infected and they would ooze. My husband finally told him he needed to have them covered when he came into work because they were disghusting him. It was pretty gross.
1 person likes this
@mamasan34 (6518)
• United States
14 Aug 07
The only thing I do is just keep the area clean because they can become easily infected. If they are ready to pop I take a sewing needle that has been sanitized and just pick the head, this will prevent scarring or trauma to the skin. I gently press and relieve the fluid and I apply peroxide to the area so it will dry out and keep it from becoming infected. Most often I can put some neosporin on it and cover it with a bandaid. that seems to help with the recovery time.
@CatsandDogs (13963)
• United States
13 Aug 07
He must've had some dirty hands or face when he popped that zit for it to become infected. Can't say I've ever heard that before but can see that happening though. Poor guy. He had to be embarassed as all get out. Hopefully it's a lesson learned for him to be clean before popping another one! lol
1 person likes this
@mkirby624 (1598)
• United States
11 Aug 07
It could have been staph. Last year, one of my students was scratching at a pimple, and because staph had been going around the school, it was in the air and infected the pimple. What started as a small pimple ended up being a staph infection about half and inch around and stuck out about an inch from his forehead. It was horrible!
1 person likes this
@Marie2473 (8512)
• Sweden
11 Aug 07
Never ever heard about that. Never had a zitproblem though and I can count all the ones I have had on my both hands throughout my life =)
I am sure I would still pop it though, coz this oughta be something very unique
1 person likes this
@Foxxee (3651)
• United States
11 Aug 07
He probably should of washed his hands really well before he popped his pimple. I have heard about people popping their pimples and getting infections and also getting impetigo from it.
If you really need to pop a pimple, I would say, wash your hands and then maybe use something like a tissue to help pop it.
In some cases our hands are the dirtiest things on our body.
Maybe everyone should have some rubber gloves in their homes, like the ones the doctors use, so when you have a pimple you can use them. LOL!
1 person likes this
@awonderfullife (2893)
• United States
12 Aug 07
Gross! I have NEVER heard of such a thing!
I had a blister on my foot a few weeks ago and I was so tempted to pop it but then I read that it could get infected. I've popped blisters before but this one was big so I just used witch hazel on it daily and it slowly dried it up. Yuck!!
1 person likes this
@whyaskq (7523)
• Singapore
11 Aug 07
What I have heard was there are some zits that should not be popped, and that is at the tip of the nose. That is the sensitive part and can cause hurt to the nerves. As for infection, this can happen when the finger touching the oooze touch other parts of the face, and cause another zit to appear. If the hand was already infected by germs or bacteria and there was no pop, likely some crazy infection can take place too if the infected hands was used to touch or rub the face.
1 person likes this
@tdbrower1969 (1242)
• United States
11 Aug 07
That is horrible! I have never heard of this either! I guess that it could happen, if you think about what can get in the skin once you open it. I am very lucky and I don't and never did have a problem with acne.
@Powder86 (23)
•
11 Aug 07
I always disinfect mine straight after squeezing them. I usually just use some old aftershave we have in the bathroom. I haven't seen anyone get an infection from it before, but a couple of my friends have had severe breakouts from squeezing and accidently spreading the bacteria :/ Eurgh!
1 person likes this
@njrealestategirl (369)
• United States
11 Aug 07
I know of someone who try to pop a blind pimple and it popped inside her jawline instead of popping outside and she had to get it drained with a needle by a dermatologist - pretty gross. If I get blind pimple I pretty much leave them alone from now on. They say it's not good to pop even whiteheads by squeezing that you should actually pull the skins apart from both sides to pop it or put some salt water on it before bed and it won't be there in the morning. Hey if that's the cure for acne - I should bottle it and make millions!! Gonna go wash my face now too!!
1 person likes this
