How to Stop Picking Pimples (and What to Do Instead)?

Introduction

Having acne-prone skin comes with a great deal of insecurity and the irresistible urge to fix it right away. The moment a pimple is visible to you, it becomes difficult to resist the urge to pop it and clean your skin to get rid of it. Despite its tendency to look like a simple solution of getting rid of your pimples by popping them out of sight, it could worsen the condition and can lead to undesirable consequences such as exacerbated inflammation, spread of bacteria, increased risk of infection, and worst of all, scarring and hyperpigmentation. This guide will help you overcome such impulses, help you learn a lot of ways to treat your pimples properly, and help you learn how to stop picking pimples to get blemish-free skin.

What Really Happens When You Pop a Pimple?

While popping your pimple, you might feel a sense of relief temporarily, but it leads to some serious issues that are sometimes tough to work on. Here are some of the leading results when you pop a pimple.

1. Break the follicle: Squeeze the pimples, and they well may lacerate the deep part of the skin into the follicle, leading to terrible damage to the skin texture and the deep penetration into the skin.

2. Exaggerate the inflammation: Pimple popping contributes to a wound emerging around the pimple, hence resulting in associated aggravation with redness and pain in the area.

3. Risk of Infection: Picking a pimple would merely introduce dirt and bacteria from your fingers into your skin, increasing the chances of infection and therefore worsening the pimple condition even further than it was.

4. Deeper Scarring: Causes damage to cellular tissue and tends to leave a scar for a longer time, as well as causing hyperpigmentation.

Types of Pimples You Should Never Pop

Learning how to stop picking pimples is necessary, and knowing which ones are off-limits is the most important of all. Here are some of the types of pimples that one must never pop or pick to worsen the acne situation.

1. Deep cystic acne: These acne are often infections deep within the skin, which do not clear out simply with picking and increase inflammation, acne-prone skin, and tissue damage, on the contrary.

2. Whiteheads & blackheads: These pimples might seem poppable, but might create problems if not extracted with proper care. When not done properly, these can lead to scarring and inflammation around the area.

3. Nose and surrounding area: Picking pimples in this area is prone to higher risks of infection spread in the body, leading to damage to the skin, and although rare, reach the brain through connected veins.

What to Do Instead: Safe, Effective Alternatives?

Below are a few safe and efficient alternatives you may use as part of your "how to stop popping pimples" plan.

1. Using treatment products with active ingredients such as salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide can exfoliate within the pores and kill bacteria that cause acne.

2. A warm compress can be used to calm the inflamed tissue, bring any underlying infection to the surface, and encourage natural drainage without manual manipulation.

3. Having a professional extraction done by a dermatologist or aesthetician is a safe and effective choice since they possess the knowledge, sterile equipment, and techniques to extract pimples correctly, reducing the risk of infection, scarring, and additional inflammation.

Product Recommendations

While working on how to stop popping spots, it becomes necessary to implement the correct series of skincare items to cure the damage caused to the skin and make sure future incidents are avoided with complete care. While searching for solutions on how to stop picking pimples, hiring a professional counselor would be the best way to eliminate persistent acne.

Here are some of the product recommendations that you can consider adding to your skincare routine to treat your acne-prone skin and hyperpigmentation.