When a blemish appears, if your first instinct is to pick at it or apply an acne treatment to dry it up, you’re committing a skin sin. While many of us have gotten into this habit, it is not what is best for the blemish. The reason for pus formation is that normal skin bacteria, called Propionibacteria acnes, break down the skin oil (“sebum”) into free fatty acids, which cause inflammation of the hair follicles that secrete sebum.
If you pick at it when it’s not ready to come out, you’ll only scar the skin and leave a discolored mark. And, if you dry it out immediately with a spot treatment, the resulting dry skin cells will only make it harder for the it to surface, resulting in a possibly bigger blemish that lingers longer.
The key is to leave the pimple alone and avoid touching the skin until it has organically reached the surface — usually one to three days after the blemish first appears. Then, if you feel you must tackle this blemish on your own, my rule is: do it after you shower when your skin is soft and open. Use tissue around your clean fingers and gently massage back and forth around the blemish to try to push it out. If it doesn’t come out then don’t aggressively push it because it isn’t ready yet and you can cause scarring.
Cysts, unfortunately, function a little differently: Your body will reabsorb a cystic on its own, but it won’t come to the surface. Using a spot treatment specifically made for cysts, like benzoyl peroxide is my recommendation.
At The Facial Bungalow our team of qualified estheticians are some of the best in the City and have handled all kinds of blemishes and cysts. We pride our selves on giving you the best skin care advice and treatments for blemishes that will never leave you scarred! My suggestion is before trying to squeeze out your acne yourself make an appt with a qualified acne specialist and let them do it for you.