WWe know it’s bad. Maybe our parents or partners have scolded us for it. Maybe we’ve suffered the consequences, in the form of angry red sores on our chins and eyebrows. And yet, when a pimple starts to form… don’t you just want to pop it?
“A lot of people pop their pimples,” says Dr. Howa Yeung, an assistant professor of dermatology at Emory University School of Medicine. “But if that process is done incorrectly, it often leads to more inflammation.”
How bad is it really? What happens when we give ourselves a tap on the chin at the end of a stressful day? And why can it feel so damn satisfying?
What is a pimple?
“When people have acne, there are several things going on,” Yeung says. First, dead skin builds up around a hair follicle. This mixes with sebum, an oily substance that hydrates and protects the skin, and results in a pimple.
The Difference Between Acne and Pimples, According to the Cleveland Clinicis that acne is a disease, and pimples can be a symptom of acne.
There are two main types of acne, explains Dr. Olga Bunimovich, a dermatologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center: comedonal and inflammatory acne.
Comedonal acne means blackheads and whiteheads. In blackheads, the excess oil and dead skin is open on the skin surface, while whiteheads are closed on the skin surface.
In some cases, this acne attracts bacteria, which in turn results in inflammation. This can lead to pimples, cysts or nodules, which are usually more painful.
Why do we squeeze pimples?
“We have an unconscious pull toward harmful behavior,” says Fabiana Casanova, a psychotherapist and owner of Nova Psychotherapy in Boston. Some obvious examples include addiction and overeating, she says, but popping pimples is part of the same drive—what Sigmund Freud called the “death drive.”
“It’s not necessarily a calming behavior,” she explains. “But it’s one that brings a little bit of pleasure despite the pain.”
Casanova says it’s common to see an increase in such behavior during times of stress. The behavior becomes problematic when it “starts to affect our ability to perform our normal tasks and activities of daily living,” she says — for example, if popping pimples keeps you from leaving the house, or if you feel self-conscious about your appearance.
To manage this behavior, Casanova says you need to be aware of your emotional triggers and be able to process those emotions, which can help you reduce your attraction to the activity.
What Happens to Your Skin When You Pop a Pimple?
When people pop pimples, they often apply pressure to the skin around the bump, pressing down on the bump to expel whatever is lurking beneath the surface. But while some pus may come out, Bunimovich notes that this pressure can cause some of it to seep deeper into the skin, leading to more inflammation.
“This also increases the risk of pigment changes and/or scarring,” says Dr. Lindy Fox, professor of dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco.
If you pop a pimple to relieve pain or drain pus, you also run the risk of nothing coming out. Bunimovich says she works with a lot of patients who have acne scars. “I can always tell which ones are the popped acne scars,” she says—the scars that form when patients try to pop a pimple and nothing comes out, so they keep picking at it. These scars often have jagged edges, she says.
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Is there a way to safely pop pimples?
Popping pimples is bad for your skin. But is there a way to do it with minimal damage?
“Painful pimples are best treated by a doctor, where they can be drained and/or injected with a small amount of corticosteroid to reduce inflammation,” says Fox.
If you don’t have the time or resources to visit a dermatologist regularly, there are a number of things you can do yourself.
Bunimovich says that if you see pus on a pimple and it’s right at skin level, you can use clean hands or a clean, sterilized needle to pop the top and then wipe away some of the pus. But use “barely any pressure,” she cautions.
If you have a deep, painful pimple, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends placing a clean, warm, damp washcloth over the pimple for 10 to 15 minutes, three times a day. “This will help bring the deep pimple closer to the skin’s surface so it can heal,” they explain in a blog postUse a clean washcloth each time and “resist squeezing the pimple.”
Topical treatments can also be helpful. Yeung recommends benzoyl peroxide gel, an over-the-counter acne treatment that he says “can be great for treating individual pimples.” According to the AAD, products containing acne-fighting ingredients like adapalene and salicylic acid can also be helpful, as can hydrocolloid acne patches, which “protect your skin and improve healing.”
How can you prevent acne?
One way to avoid picking at pimples is to prevent acne from forming in the first place.
Bunimovich says she recommends dietary changes, specifically reducing sugar and dairy intake. For patients who wear a lot of makeup, she also suggests wearing a little less makeup, since heavy makeup can clog pores and contribute to acne.
Yeung also warns against over-exfoliating. “Although exfoliating is popular on social media, I generally don’t like using it for people with acne-prone skin,” he says. Excessive exfoliation can strip away sebum, causing the skin to produce even more of it, leading to more acne.
If you have acne, experts recommend working with a board-certified dermatologist. “We have so many good treatments for acne,” Yeung says.