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A top dermatologist is bursting to share the best way to pop a pimple.
Experts strongly advise against popping pimples no matter how much you want them gone, but if you really can’t resist here’s the best way to do it.
Dermatologist Dr. Mamina Turegano revealed the four-step way to drain that sucker the “right way.”
“I know it’s hard to refrain from popping your pimples because it looks like they are staring straight at you every time you look at the mirror,” Turegano said in an Instagram video.
The triple-board certified dermatologist noted that her fellow skin experts do not recommend squeezing a zit but admitted that she knew many people do it anyway and wants to help people do it in a clean and safe manner.
Tuergano guided acne sufferers to begin trying to get rid of a pimple with an over-the-counter medicated spot treatment or pimple patch before attempting to squeeze out the gunk.
If the white head still looks like it’s about to bust, begin the pimple-popping process by sterilizing your hands and the area with rubbing alcohol.
Then poke the pimple with a diabetic lancet, which has a very tiny needle, to open the surface with a small prick that “won’t cause too much damage.”
Once the area has been punctured, apply very slight pressure with two cotton swabs to let the contents drain out.
“When popping a pimple it’s very important that you’re not applying a lot of pressure otherwise you’re gonna get a lot more inflammation and result in scarring,” Turegano advised.
She also warned against messing with any acne that appears in the “triangle of death” — the area in the center of the face extending from the nose down to the bottom corners of the mouth.
Board-certified NYC-based dermatologist Dr. Mark Strom recently took to TikToK to reveal that the “triangle of death” is the one place on his face where he would never pop a pimple.
“Popping pimples in the center of the face can be particularly dangerous. The area of the face from the bridge of the nose down to the corners of the mouth has veins that connect directly to the brain via a blood vessel called the cavernous sinus,” he said.
Strom explains that traumatizing the skin in this critical area can introduce “a nidus of infection into the bloodstream.”
This infection can be carried directly to the brain, in rare occurrences causing death.
Strom notes that while mortality is unlikely, the threat of death by pimples is enough to make him avoid popping any pimples in the center of his face.
“Really, don’t mess with it. Spot treatment it or see a derm,” Tuergano insisted.