I squeezed a pimple and almost sent myself to the ICU! @Everyone: Fight against acne with your wits

Many people have experienced "battle acne"

Facing acne

Many people think:

"Just squeeze it out"

But this behavior almost put people in the ICU

How to deal with annoying acne?

Event Backstory

Haohao (pseudonym), a 7-year-old boy from Fuzhou, had a noticeable pimple on his nose, so his family helped him squeeze it out. Unexpectedly, a few days later, Haohao's entire nose became red and swollen, and he had a high fever, so his family sent him to the hospital. After a doctor's examination, Haohao was diagnosed with "nasal cellulitis" and was immediately hospitalized for treatment to prevent his condition from getting worse.

According to experts, cellulitis is an acute suppurative inflammation of the subcutaneous, subfascial or deep connective tissue, often caused by infections such as Staphylococcus aureus and hemolytic Streptococcus .

The nose itself is home to a large number of bacteria. When we squeeze pimples with dirty fingers , pick our noses frequently, or have broken skin, the soft and fragile nasal mucosal barrier can easily be damaged , creating conditions for bacteria to invade.

The main symptoms are redness, swelling, pain and fever of the nose . In severe cases, the swelling will affect normal breathing and may even cause swelling around the eyes.

(1)

Acne in the “danger triangle” of the face

Never squeeze pimples in the "dangerous triangle area" from the base of the nose to the corners of the mouth!

Because this area is rich in blood vessels and has no venous valves to prevent blood reflux, it is connected to the intracranial cavernous sinus vein. In other words, when we squeeze the pimples hard, bacteria can easily go back into the brain along the veins , causing intracranial infection, meningitis, brain abscess, and even sepsis and septicemia, which can be life-threatening in severe cases.

(2)

Immature or very deep, hard pimples

Do not squeeze immature pimples that have not yet produced white pus spots, or pimples that are very deep and hard! Because the pimples are in the stage of inflammation, or the inflammation is very deep, it is often difficult to squeeze out anything. Forcible squeezing will not only spread the inflammation , but may also leave pits and scars.

You can try topical medications , such as anti-inflammatory drugs like benzoyl peroxide gel or fusidic acid cream; but if the effect is not good, or large areas of redness, swelling and acne appear, it is recommended that you go to the hospital as soon as possible.

First, prepare the following items: alcohol or iodine, medical cotton swabs, alcohol cotton pads, acne needles, fusidic acid and other antibiotic ointments.

(1)

Wash your hands and face, and disinfect your skin

Use a cotton swab dipped in alcohol or iodine to disinfect the acne and surrounding skin in a circular motion from the inside to the outside. The disinfection area can be larger.

(2)

Disinfection of items

Wipe the needle of the acne needle with an alcohol cotton pad. It is recommended to disinfect it back and forth several times.

(3)

Correct acne picking

This step is critical! The needle should be parallel to the pimple and prick the top horizontally. Be careful not to insert the needle vertically, because it is difficult to control the depth and the dermis will be pierced accidentally, which is easy to leave scars.

(4)

Popping acne with cotton swab

Use two sterile cotton swabs to squeeze both sides of the pimple from bottom to top to squeeze out all the yellow or white contents in the pimple until light red blood flows out.

(5)

Follow-up care

After squeezing the pimple, disinfect the pimple and surrounding skin from inside to outside with alcohol or iodine cotton swab again. After drying, apply fusidic acid cream or other antibiotic ointment on the wound to prevent inflammation and inhibit bacteria. After the wound heals, you can apply retinoic acid ointment to prevent acne marks and reduce the recurrence of acne.

Be careful when popping acne

"Fighting acne" requires "outsight"

Acne, a seemingly small problem

There are risks that are easy to overlook

Learn the correct techniques and care for popping acne

To keep your skin healthy and beautiful

This is the end of this issue

Want to see more interesting and practical content

Follow me now

Source: Popular Science, Fuzhou Evening News, Shenzhen Institute of Dermatology.

The cover image and images within this article are from the copyright gallery Chuangke Post. Reprinting and using them may lead to copyright disputes. For reprinting original images and texts, please reply "reprint" in the backstage.