Ask A Pro: Treating A Pimple
“It’s a pimple. Phyllis. Avril Lavigne gets them all the time and she rocks harder than anyone alive.”
We all get them, pimples. Some of us haven’t experienced them yet and think we are safe, but alas, you’re not. Adult acne has been on the rise for the last few years, in large part due to the day-to-day stress we are under. But I get ahead of myself. This blog is going to address one, very specific issue facing most of us, how the heck do you properly and safely pop a pimple!? Or at least get it to go down? Rest assured, these questions and more will be answered by the time you are done reading this, hopefully…
Before the Bump: The Lifespan of a Pimple
Our friend the pimple has quite an interesting journey before becoming our friend the gross, intrusive whitehead, which from here on out I will be referring to by it’s proper name, a pustule.
There are warning signs our friend pustule gives off to let us know, hey a big old pimple is on it’s way! You might notice the area feel tender to the touch. This happens to me with nose pustules, they are the worst! It could also be red, which is a sign of inflammation and a good place to pause for some science. What exactly is inflammation? What role does it play in our breakout?
Inflammation is our bodies way of signaling that something is in “dis-ease” and needs to be attended to. For example, when you get a scratch and don’t properly clean it right away, you will notice the outside edges getting red and puffy. That is your bodies signal to you, it’s inflamed. When you feel the pre-breakout-bump what is happening inside your follicle is causing the skin to inflame, a warning sign that there is imbalance. The imbalance is in your follicle, your bacteria that live there and have a very important function (see The Epidermis Explained blog for more on that). Those bacteria are irritating your follicle wall by eating Tri-Glycerides and leaving behind Fatty Acids, the components that make up our skin’s oil. This “over eating” that is happening can be caused by many reasons, so here is just a short list of some common reasons why:
Your skin’s surface is impaired, causing the ecosystem of bacteria, dead skin and oil to be off. This can result in your skin’s natural “flora and fauna" to travel down the follicle for nourishment.
Friction, maybe you don’t change your pillowcase very often, or you have been on the phone more recently transferring dirt and oil to your skin’s surface. Constant touching, irritation from clothing and more can push dirt and debris down into your follicles.
Stress. This is a touchy one as to treat it truly means we all need to find our own ways to manage our days and our thoughts. Stress though, can lead to an internal chemical reaction that actually makes your skin oil stickier and sweeter, which is all around bad news for a breakout. Or good news for the bacteria as they love sticky, sweet oil and therefore become abundant, which leads to a pustule, which in the end is bad news.
Poor skin care routine, this can lead to many issues, including a breakout. If you are using the wrong product your skin will let you know, either with redness, irritation, or flaking to name a few.
Over exfoliation or hydration. These are kind of two ends of a spectrum, over-exfoliating can cause your skin to dry which can trigger your oil production, which in the wrong skin type and right conditions can lead to breakout. Whereas overly hydrating the skin can cause the skin to purge, thus leading to blackheads that if not removed can turn into a pustule.
Diet and lifestyle choices, again, a touchy one as it might shed light onto things you don’t think are related (*cough *cough alcohol). For example, the center of your eyebrows and the middle of your chin are parts of your face that are associated with the Kidneys and the Intestines. As these can be detox, waste and purge warehouses, it’s no surprise that an imbalance there can manifest on your skin. Eating late at night, right before bed, lots of sauces and dairy rich foods, alcohol consumption and even eating out too often can all result in a breakout in these areas as well.
These are just a few, and maybe the more common reasons for breakout. There is also a genetic factor and a hormonal imbalance factor but that calls for a whole other blog! I did also write an Oily Skin blog which does address some of those issues. Understanding what could be causing your breakout can help you not just treat it, but hopefully minimized future breakouts.
So you feel a bump deep under your skin, and you know it’s going to be a pimple and just want to get all that gross stuff out of your skin, right? Wrong-ish! Yes, it might very well be a pustule in the making, but attacking it won’t help, you need to treat this stage a little differently. What is happening is the inflammation from acne-causing bacteria making your follicle wall swell, a sign of a problem to address. Here is one way to address it:
Pre-Pustule Treating:
Gently cleanse the skin with a foamy cleanser, if you have one with actives in it like Glycolic or Salicylic now is the time to use
Tone the skin with skin-feeding ingredients like the Cucumber Hydration Toner to help normalize surface bacteria. Apple Cider Vinegar works as well
Apply a warm compress to the skin. Can be easily made with hot water and a clean face towel, press into skin for 1-2 minutes. You don’t want to leave it on the skin for too long, just enough to help open up the follicle.
Apply a Vitamin C Serum to the skin, Vitamin C is a skin healer and can help speed up healing time of a breakout.
Apply a clay based or charcoal mask to the pustule. I really like FarmHouse Fresh masks if you do not have a favorite. Leave on for 10-15 minutes and rinse off with warm water.
Apply an exfoliating serum or spot treatment to the skin where the breakout is starting.
Apply moisturizer and, if during the daytime, SPF.
Now don’t touch the area at all until cleansing again before bed or, if you did this process at night, when you wake up!
Most of the battle is going to be in not touching your face, and trying to not squeeze whatever you think is still in there. I want to encourage you to be strong and resist the pick! Leave it alone! Just trust that the prep routine you just did for it is enough to get you through today. If it ruptures naturally during one of the steps, use clean q-tips dipped in either a toner or witch hazel, wipe and then re-wipe with a freshly dipped q-tip. Continue from step 4. However, picking and digging creates way more problems than any kind of help. There is nothing in there to dig out, I promise you. If you keep digging, you will cause damage to the skin and possibly scarring. Trust the process, trust your skincare and let your skin do its job.
The next step if it goes down in size: continue following steps #1-4 daily, discontinue step #5 unless you feel it needs to be drawn out some more, follow with steps #6-8 nightly until it heals completely. This could take a week, just be patient and think more calming than aggressive. But what if it didn’t go down in size? Or even worse, becomes one of those giant, gross white pustules??
Treat It: “Popping” a Pimple
You will notice the air quotes above popping. That is because technically, you really don’t want to do what you think when you think of “popping”. Squeezing and forcing the debris out of a pustule can cause a lot of damage . One little tidbit I learned in beauty school was that just about the exact amount that comes out of our little pimple, also comes out the bottom of the follicle into our clean epidermal-dermal layers of the skin. That means, your spreading your breakout. So instead of “popping” or “squeezing” our breakout, we are going to take a less aggressive, more skin healthy way to getting out the debris. First, you want to follow the above steps for treating a pre-pustule, unless your visitor already has a visible whitehead. After that has been done, if it progresses, then we take the next steps.
Steps to Treating A Pustule:
Cleanse the skin twice, once with a gentle foamy cleanser and second cleanse with an active cleanser like our Glycolic Cleanser or Raspberry Refining Cleanser
Apply a topical enzyme exfoliant, if using Skin Script use the Retinol Jojoba Scrub/Mask for 5-10 minutes following the steps for usage as a mask for this step. Remove gently with a disposable facial sponge or cotton wipes.
Tone the skin to keep it hydrated.
Take two cotton q-tips and dip into toner. If you have a Glycolic toner, press into that absorbing solution into q-tips.
Hopefully, the exfoliant step has helped to rupture the top of the breakout, and then the debris inside can be eased out with the soaked q-tips. Use gently pressure, do not press or dig into the breakout, this will damage skin and lead to scaring which is preventable. One thing I have noticed friends and clients ask about is when you notice that no more pus is coming out, and now it’s clear debris coming out, you’re done. Do not think there is more inside of it, what is happening is inflammation and your bodies natural ability to heal. Yes it will be a bump still, yes you will think there’s more in there. I promise you there isn’t. The only thing there is your desire to remove full to completion and flatness, for it to be immediately gone and the satisfaction of getting it all. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it probably won’t be flat for a good minute. So stop now, wash your hands and give yourself a high five, because for now, it is done.
If the pustule did not rupture*, DO NOT REPEAT EXFOLIATION STEP! Continue on to the following steps, drawing the debris out naturally. When it is ready, the exfoliation step will naturally make your pustule rupture.
Wipe area with toner on a cotton ball
Apply Vitamin C Serum all over, clay-based mask to the area you are treating, and a gel or aloe treatment mask everywhere else , remove after 10 minutes. The idea is to draw out the rest of the debris with the mask, but your whole face might not need that. Treat your skin based on what it needs, if you don’t have two masks, then just finish up to step 8 on the rest of your skin and mask the area where your pustule is.
Tone Skin and apply nightly moisturizer
These are some basic steps to treating a pustule that has worked for me and my clients. There are many ways to treat a breakout, but if you don’t have one give this one a try! However, there are still tendencies we have when it comes to post-pustule life that can bring them back with a vengeance.
*Sometimes, the skin needs help creating an opening for the debris to come out. Unfortunately, in the state of California, this is outside of my scope of practice, so I will just say this… Dr. Pimple Popper.
Our skin is a very sensitive, and delicate soul. It reacts to the mildest of offenses, and is unpredictable at best. Just when you think you have a handle on your breakout, it’s back and it brought friends. How did this happen? What did you do to deserve this?! Well, you might be surprised to find out that it can be anything from the simplest reason (you kept touching your face) to the most complicated (hormonal or stress related breakout).
Here are just some simple do’s and don’ts of breakouts to maybe help answer this question for you.
The Do’s
Keep skin hydrated, this will help your skin purge out the excess bacteria and minimize peeling from active acne ingredients
Mask regularly, weekly should work but also incorporate “treatment masks” which are designed to treat the skin with either enzymes, peptides or other actives.
Spot treat throughout the day, this is also dependent on your spot treat so follow directions on use.
Continue to follow your home care routine twice daily.
Drink lots of water, less dairy and keep friction down to a minimum.
Change pillowcases often.
Clean makeup brushes weekly.
Use a fresh, clean towel to dry cleansed skin.
The Don’ts
DO NOT PICK! I can’t stress this one enough. The largest issue I have with acne is the client continually touching their face, picking and therefore spreading the breakout. If you don’t pick, you also lower your risk for scarring.
Do not use nails or fingers to “pop”, instead use a Q-tip soaked in toner.
Don’t over exfoliate, just keep it to your nightly treatment. Anything excessive can result in other issues, like overly dry skin or irritation
Beat yourself up if it comes back, at the end of the day our skin has no predictability and the best we can do is continue to treat it and also give it space to heal. Not all pustules go away in 24 hours.
Don’t pile makeup on it to cover it up, you can definitely use makeup, but make sure you are thoroughly removing all of it nightly. Every night.
There is literally so much more I can say about breakouts and treating them, but this is supposed to be a short and quick informative blog! I hope that answers some of your questions when it comes to treating a pimple, aka pustule. If you have any more questions or want to see something in the “Ask A Pro” series, hit me up on our Instagram and I will make it happen!
Till next time, be good to your skin and even better to yourself,
xx eri