This brings us to the similar question, is pimple popping a bad thing (the title of our blog post)? Like already mentioned, many do not agree with this practice. Naturally then, many will believe the majority as numbers is a good persuasion. But majority is not always right. There are things that many believe in which are not right (at least at a certain point in time). Let us take the Earth’s shape as an example. There was a time when most people believed that the Earth was flat. Today, we know that this is not true and we will laugh at anyone claiming to say so. But after man has sailed the world without falling off its edges and after man has travelled to the moon and back, it was proven that the Earth is spherical in shape. The point again is majority does not mean “right”. There are things which minority believe in but are correct like popping pimples. We will discuss this before the end of this post.

I’ll tell you what is bad. Addiction to pimple popping is bad. If you have lived long enough, you would realize that an excess of something good is not necessarily better but often times bad. I’m not saying that doing so is always good, but doing so to such an extent that it becomes an ugly habit or an addiction is not good. Not only does it look gross for someone looking at you doing so, it might have bad consequences if done incorrectly! Bad effects of doing so include face scarring and swelling. Bacteria might even spread on your face causing more zits to pop up if you do so incorrectly.

Doing so correctly however brings benefits. That is possible via proper pimple popping techniques. There are many techniques out there but the fundamentals are the same, pop only pimples that are ready to be popped (correct timing), pop them using the proper tools and procedures (correct technique) and make sure that bacteria do not spread on your face by cleaning it after the procedure (correct conclusion).

Thus the answer to the question is “no not necessarily”. If done correctly, you can have a clear and beautiful face without the need for expensive products.

First is to determine what causes stress. Just now we talked about school and work. In school, stress might come from various things. Students might be stressed because they are forced to get high grades at the expense of their health. They go to school everyday for more than 8 hours a day and go home with lots of homework to do. Upon arriving home, they eat their dinner and go straight to finishing their homeworks. This is a vicious cycle that students around the world have to face.

On the other hand, adults and parents of those students have to go to work 8 hours a day. Meeting deadlines, heavy traffic jams, toxic work, etc… all help to contribute to the high level of stress adults are in. Not only that, responsibilities in the family and making sure that each and every member of the family is well provided for certainly adds to that stress.

So what can students and adults do to bring those stress levels down? One of the most effective ways is to have a good schedule. For students, they should schedule when and how long they should do their school and homework. They should also add play time to that schedule to have some balance between work and play. The same thing applies to adults. They should have a schedule of their daily tasks. They should schedule each and every task they have for the day to make sure everything is in check. Doing so would avoid unnecessary stress caused by not completing important tasks. However, the most important thing in having a schedule is keeping to it! A schedule will be worthless if you do not follow it to the dot.

There are many other ways to keep our levels of stress in check and keeping a schedule is one of the most important one. By having a schedule, we help keep our levels of stress down thus reducing our chances of having pimples which in turn helps us to avoid having to pop our pimples in the first place (which is bad if we do not know what we are doing).

So create a schedule and keep to it. Next time we will look at other ways of reducing stress and thus help reduce our pimples.

[image from http://www.stressrelatedillness.com]

As we have seen in the previous posts, popping them is not always bad. Done at the right time and with the correct techniques, it could bring us quick relief. Just imagine having a pimple a few days before the prom! No doubt you will do anything in your power to get rid of that pimple (or pimples). If the timing is right, you can pop them using the techniques outlined before. If you do this with the knowledge and conviction that popping pimples is fine as long as you follow the rules we set, then you are not addicted to popping pimples. Otherwise, you might be.

The word addiction often brings a negative connotation along with it. We have heard of drug addicts, coffee addicts, etc…and true enough being addicted to something is almost every time bad for us. The same is true with popping pimples. If you are addicted in doing so, it is very very harmful to us. Why?

There are a few reasons. First, if you are addicted in doing so, it would be very hard in controlling your urge to pop them. You know that popping pimples at the wrong time and the wrong way is definitely bad. But when you are addicted to popping them, your desire to look beautiful again without pimples might override reasoning and wisdom set before you.

Secondly, since popping pimples becomes second nature to us, you might do so unknowingly and without shame in public. You hands might get accustomed to searching for pimples and popping them on sight that you forget you are in a public place. This would bring disgust to people around you because popping pimples the wrong way more often than not squirt out the puss in your pimple like quick bursts of water from a hose. Definitely disgusting.

So how do you control this urge? One way is by education. Negative feelings about popping pimples is a powerful thing. If we remind ourselves that popping pimple could cause much harm to us (visualize a scarred face) and destroy our public image by disgusting them, we could fight this urge. Positive feelings could also help us. Visualizing being cool and popular because of our good looks (without a scarred face) could be one. You can think of more can’t you?

In the end, it is our knowledge of popping pimples is what is essential. Do some research on the internet, go to the library and ask your dermatologist what’s best for you. Yes, having accomplised your due diligence is certainly the right path to overcoming your popping pimple addiction.

So what are our alternatives to popping pimples? Or reworded to a much better question, what can we do to remove our pimples without popping them? There are many. There are the natural ways and there are the products companies sell to treat pimples.

Natural ways are preferred by many people. This is because they believe that nature has the solution to man’s problems..we just have to find and discover them. One of the most famous natural pimple and acne treatment is the water treatment. The world is made up of roughly 75% water and must have some kind of natural healing power right? Probably. But a lot of people believe in the healing powers of water. It is advised in almost every field of cure and that includes pimple and acne treatment.

Another one, kind of unusual, is the garlic treatment. Rub the pimple with raw garlic several times a day. As crazy as it sounds, garlic is known to cure the toughest of acne problems. Externally used, garlic can help to clear the skin of spots, pimples and boils. To cure acne further, eat three seeds of raw garlic once daily for a month. This will cleanse the blood stream and ensures basic cleansing of blood that would keep pimples away.

The other alternative to popping pimples is by using acne treatment products. Acne treatment products proliferate both the offline and online markets. Offline, we can find such products on the supermarket shelves. Online, we see them in big online stores.

Personally, I have tried out both the natural ways and the commercial products that help in treating acne and I must say that both are effective. I guess it boils down to keeping your face clean at all times. You can do so by washing your face regularly throughout the day. You should also avoid applying anything on your face that is chemically strong such as make-ups. If you have to do so, make sure to remove them completely before the day ends.

So those are the alternatives to popping pimples. Choose one that suits your needs and preferences. What is important is you get rid of your pimples fast and effectively.

So then again we go back to the same question, is it perfectly bad to pop pimples? While majority thinks so, based from personal experience and some research this is not entirely true. What is bad is popping pimples at the wrong time. As they say, there is a good time for everything. To give an analogy, popping pimples is like riding a bus. If you ride the bus at the wrong time (while still mobile and fast at that…), most likely than not you will get into an accident. But if you ride it at the right time then you will be able to board it safely.

In the last post, When to Pop a Pimple, we have talked about the correct timing and situation to pop pimples. Now we are going to discuss the good and the bad points in doing so.

First up the bad. A picture paints a thousand words so they say thus here is a picture of the bad effects of popping pimples at the wrong time:

Pimple Scars

As you can see from the picture above, popping pimples at the wrong time might cause scarring in the long run. Also, popping pimples improperly will cause bacteria to spread on the surface of your face and cause more pimples. So, be careful in popping those pimples.

On the other hand, there is a good side to popping pimples. Doing so at the right time can actually heal the spot where you got your pimple faster. And if done properly, you can have a pimple free face in no time!

Thus popping pimples is not entirely bad. If you pop it according to what we have outlined in this site, you should not encounter any problems. However, if you are hesistant in doing so, feel free to consult your dermatologist on this.

Popping pimples has been the norm for many of us. We pop a pimple whenever it comes out. We don’t care if it painful or not just as long as we get rid of that ugly pimple! Our parents and dermatologists often caution us against popping pimples saying that it would cause scars in our faces and ultimately cause more harm than good. Well, they are partly right. However, not all pimples are created equal (lolz).

You pop pimples when it is ready to be popped. So, the question begging to be answered is, how do you know if a pimple is ready to be popped? First of all, the pimple should have been there for a while. Popping freshly acquired pimples would cause disaster to your face! What is the color of your pimple? If it pinkish-reddish, then it’s likely not yet ready to be popped. Pimples that are ready to be popped are white in color. Ok now for the final step.

In the last post, How to Pop a Pimple, it has been said that we need to wash our hands and face first before proceeding. The same is true here. Wash your hands and face first to remove bacteria from our hands. This is because we need them to test if our pimple is ready to be popped. Once clean, use your hands to apply pressure to the pimple. Use the tips of your fingers in doing so making sure to apply just the correct amount of pressure. If you feel lots of pain in your face then discontinue. If it is just a bit of discomfort and you feel that the pimple is ready to be popped then follow the instructions in How to Pop a Pimple.

In a nutshell, the correct time to pop a pimple is when it is white in color, has been there for a while and really ready to be popped by using the techniques above. But then again, do not pop a pimple if it has not passed the tests above. Doing so would be a disaster not only to your face but probably to your self-esteem as well.

Generally, most people advise against popping pimples. Still, there are also some people who agree that popping pimples is a good thing. So what should you do? Well, there is no hard and fast rule to popping pimples. To cut a long story short, you should only be popping pimples if it is ready to be popped! You could check my other post, When to Pop a Pimple, to know how to determine if a pimple is ready to be popped or not.

For those who do (I was one of them when I was younger…) pop pimples, I guess most of us are guilty of popping them the quick and easy way. That is, by squeezing them, either with 1 or 2 hands, and letting the puss spurt out! That works, but there is a better and healthier way of doing so.

Before popping a pimple, make sure your hands and face are clean. Wash your hands first then your face with your favorite cleanser. You would also need some utensils such as a needle, alcohol and a face towel. Once you have them then you are ready.

First, sterilize the pin by heating in a low flame. 5 seconds is enough. Then, splash some alcohol onto the tip of your face towel. Go in front of the mirror, find the pimple you want to pop and make sure it is ready to be popped. If not, stop following this instruction. If it is, lightly prick the pimple’s surface with the tip of your needle. If the pimple is really ready to be popped, liquid should easily flow out from that pimple.

Once the puss is out, take your face towel with alcohol and wipe the spot where the pimple was popped. This would kill-off the bacteria still residing in that popped pimple.

Again, I would like to emphasize that popping pimples not ready to get popped is a bad thing. Not only is it painful, it could also cause harmful effects to your face and cause scarring (sometimes permanent). To know more about the effects of popping pimples, you can read the post, Is Popping Pimples Bad?.