Thursday Thirteen #353

  

13 reasons not to squeeze zits. It's sad but true: I still get pimples. 66 years old, and red bumps still appear beside my nose and on my chin. Not with the regularity of my teens and twenties or even thirties -- thank God! -- but dammit, they still show up.

I have, for the most part, replaced pimple popping with pimple patches. (I'm glad this is a blog and not a podcast, because "replaced pimple popping with pimple patches" would be very difficult to say.) But I admit the temptation is still there. And here are 13 reasons to resist it.

1. Inflammation. Guess what: your skin doesn't like you squeezing and poking at it and that annoying red spot will just get redder.

2. Pain. Squeezing hurts. Pimple patches may not deliver immediate results, but they don't hurt. Be nice to yourself. Don't squeeze.

3. Infection. Anytime you break the skin, you give bacteria a chance to enter and make things worse. 

4. Spread. When you pop a pimple, the pus will just naturally touch nearby pores, which puts you at risk for another zit. 

5. Cysts. If your attempt to pop goes wrong, you may just force the infection deeper and instead of a pimple you may find yourself with hard, really icky cyst.

6. Bruising. Pressing your fingers forcefully into your skin can cause bruising. 

7. Scabbing. Know what looks worse than a zit? A scab. Why risk it?

8. Delayed healing. After you break the skin, it takes longer to heal than if you'd just left it alone. 

9. Scarring. The popped pimple may leave you with a reminder for the rest of your life.

10. Broken blood vessels. After your pimple fades, you may find yourself with a network of little veins near the skin's surface.

11. Discoloration, or "postinflammatory hyperpigmentation." This is what can happen when skin experiences trauma. It can take years for the discoloration to fade completely.

12. Cosmetic reaction. After you pop a zit, you have to be very careful applying moisturizer and foundation. These products were not created for broken skin.

13. I close with my personal endorsement. (At least one of these 13 shouldn't be cringey, right?) I order these patches from Amazon. They're affordable and efficient.

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.