There are rare times when an effort to pop a pimple should not be viewed as a futile and worthless effort. When an acne pimple develops on the surface, and when a white head forms on that pimple, that pimple becomes a prime "target" for a pair of clean fingers, fingers that are ready to pop the pimple. When the situation just described develops then the pimple "popper" needs to follow a tested protocol.
The best tool for the pimple "popper" to have at his or her disposal is a needle. Yet one should not pop a pimple with just any needle. One needs to use a sterile needle. A needle that has been exposed to a flame can provide the pimple "popper" with a sterile "lance."
Once a search for a needle has been completed, then the person who will pop the offensive pimple needs to wash his or her hands. After that, the person with the clean hands should expose the needle to a hot flame. If this is done prior to a washing of the skin on which the pimple has grown, then the sterile needle should be placed in a spot that is germ-free as possible.
The sterile needle will quickly become dirty, if the skin to be lanced contains dirt and chemicals. Those substances must be washed off of the pimple that is to feel the point of the needle. Once the target area has been cleaned, then the needle should be gently inserted into the white head of the pimple.
A lanced pimple has a tiny rupture. The pus in the pimple can escape through that rupture. Still that pus will not come out on its own. It needs to be pushed out of the pimple.
The person who has taken charge of the "popping operation" should get a clean tissue or a piece of gauze. Either of those materials can be used safely to cover the fingers. Then those covered fingers can be used to squeeze the pus out of the pimple.
The skin on the fingers should be the source of pressure. It is not wise to apply pressure with the finger nails. Dirt might lodge inside a fingernail, and thus get onto the lanced skin. That could cause an infection to develop.
Pressure on the pimple should push out the white pus. Once the pus stops coming out of the pimple, and the same pimple begins to release either a clear liquid or blood, then the pressure on the pimple should cease. Both the clear liquid and the blood contain nutrients that can help to nourish the skin.
A clean tissue or clean gauze should be used to wash the area of skin onto which pus has settled. The skin in that area needs to receive a 2-step treatment-first application of hydrogen peroxide and then application of an antibiotic ointment.
If a pimple deep in the skin becomes unbearable, then efforts can be made to bring it to the surface. Such a pimple needs to soak in a warm salt solution (1/2 tsp of salt in ½ cup of water).
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