# Why don't people pop their pus-filled pimples when they are on their face ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487 "2011-01-05T15:15:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/21 "2011-01-06T00:18:53Z")
I’ve never had bad acne, but have had the occasional spot - usually blemish-free skin with one enormous unsightly zit - well, it looks enormous and unsightly to me, anyway - and sometimes, even when it’s huge, it won’t pop. ---
**Author:** ![dukette71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@dukette71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dukette71)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/22 "2011-01-06T02:48:13Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > Don’t hit me, but, at 42, I have never had a pimple on my face. Just wanted to share that. hmmmmph! I am guilty. I woke up, looked in the mirror, and there wasn’t anything on my face. Then on my way to work, I noticed a zit popping up on my nose, but didn’t worry much about it. When I got home, it was a full on, puss filled bump. At least I am not the girl that pops her zits at work. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/23 "2011-01-06T05:06:37Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I don’t even really know how to be honest. Compulsive liar? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/24 "2011-01-06T05:16:05Z")
I think the scarring depends on the skin - I don’t scar much from anything (including zits). Another reason someone might not pop a big zit while they’re out and about is because they’d rather have a zit on their face than a bloody crater. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/25 "2011-01-06T07:13:50Z")
The worst zit scars I have on my face are from two huge zits I had when younger that I did NOT pop and then put acne creme on. My doc showed me how to sterilize a needle and pop the zit. Then to get the pus out by gently applying pressure around the zit, not squeezing or pinching. Then I put something like Clearasil on it and they were usually almost nothing the next day. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/26 "2011-01-06T08:07:28Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > The one on the lip was more likely a herpes sore What are you basing that on? I get whiteheads near my upper lip all the time; some of them practically on my upper lip (especially when I let my facial hair grow long). They’re undeniably pimples and not cold sores. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/27 "2011-01-06T13:20:38Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > What are you basing that on? I get whiteheads near my upper lip all the time; some of them practically on my upper lip (especially when I let my facial hair grow long). They’re undeniably pimples and not cold sores. She’s admitted herself that she is ignorant of pimples. 😛 Round my mouth is not my customary break-out spot, but it’s happened before. Whiteheads usually, that come to a pus-filled head and are easy to pop. They really hurt when they’re right on the border of your lip. I’ve never had a cold sore. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/28 "2011-01-06T18:43:03Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > [Dr. Oz says you sterile the area](http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Dr-Oz-on-Health-and-Hygiene/print/1), then take a sterilized needle and push it through the top of the pimple parallel to the skin. Then you rip it open by pulling up on the needle. > > Yes, rip it open. His words. > I saw him demonstrate it on TV —\> http ://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Dr-Oz-Demonstrates-How-to-Properly-Pop-a-Pimple-Video (Video warning - high YUCK factor! Link deliberately broken because you will spew your coffee onto your computer monitor.) You can do something similar with a razor blade or with certain kinds of tweezers. Sterilization of your tool of choice and of the skin is _de rigeur_. Ironically, I have had a small number of long-term (not permanent) scars from picking certain pimples, but ONLY if I’ve gone after them too soon. Sometimes, I feel them before they become full-fledged whiteheads, and then I have to resist the urge to pop them until the white stuff breaks the surface of the skin. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/29 "2011-01-06T18:46:26Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > What are you basing that on? I get whiteheads near my upper lip all the time; some of them practically on my upper lip (especially when I let my facial hair grow long). They’re undeniably pimples and not cold sores. If it’s right on the lip, it’s undoubtedly a cold sore. Lip skin doesn’t have follicles, which are what pimples grow out of. A cold sore looks just like a pimple, with a red base and a white head to it. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/30 "2011-01-06T18:47:04Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I actually enjoyed doing it, and was fascinated by the eruption, the volume of the emanation, as well as the consistency of the spew, which changed depending on the firmness of the pustule. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/31 "2011-01-06T18:48:43Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > Don’t hit me, but, at 42, I have never had a pimple on my face. Just wanted to share that. Smack! ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/32 "2011-01-06T18:51:16Z")
> [@cognizant](#): > > 1. Because one does not usually have the necessary equipment for a sterile pus-draining procedure Nothing special is required … the weapon of choice need be nothing fancier than a needle, razor blade, or tweezers. Hot-as-possible tap water will suffice for sterilization, though rubbing alcohol is better. Also, when I was through, I used to like to apply hydrogen peroxide liberally to the esrtwhile zit. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/33 "2011-01-07T00:51:15Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > A cold sore looks just like a pimple, with a red base and a white head to it. Eh? A cold sore starts as a red lesion that becomes a blister that ruptures to weep clear fluid and then leaves a raw open ulcer. Cold sores do not have whiteheads (cite: [http://www.chacha.com/question/do-cold-sores-have-whiteheads-like-a-zitt%3F-whats-the-difference-between-a-cold-sore-and-zitt](http://www.chacha.com/question/do-cold-sores-have-whiteheads-like-a-zitt%3F-whats-the-difference-between-a-cold-sore-and-zitt)). If you have a pustule that you can pop pus out of it, it’s a whitehead and not a cold sore. You can’t pop a cold sore. You can pop a fever blister, but those are obviously blisters and not zits. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/34 "2011-01-07T03:21:15Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Eh? A cold sore starts as a red lesion that becomes a blister that ruptures to weep clear fluid and then leaves a raw open ulcer. Cold sores do not have whiteheads (cite: [http://www.chacha.com/question/do-cold-sores-have-whiteheads-like-a-zitt%3F-whats-the-difference-between-a-cold-sore-and-zitt](http://www.chacha.com/question/do-cold-sores-have-whiteheads-like-a-zitt%3F-whats-the-difference-between-a-cold-sore-and-zitt)). If you have a pustule that you can pop pus out of it, it’s a whitehead and not a cold sore. You can’t pop a cold sore. You can pop a fever blister, but those are obviously blisters and not zits. When they initially erupt, before they get popped or pop on their own and scab over, herpes sores do have a [white head](http://www.herpes-doctor.com/image_files/herpesmouth.jpg) to them. They aren’t comedones, AKA “whiteheads”, that’s not what I was saying. But they will often have a [white](http://www.pulsemed.org/herpeslips.jpg) or [yellowish](http://whatdoherpeslooklikes.com/images/header_5.jpg) top on it. And you can pop them. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/35 "2011-01-07T04:48:06Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > When they initially erupt, before they get popped or pop on their own and scab over, herpes sores do have a [white head](http://www.herpes-doctor.com/image_files/herpesmouth.jpg) to them. They aren’t comedones, AKA “whiteheads”, that’s not what I was saying. But they will often have a [white](http://www.pulsemed.org/herpeslips.jpg) or [yellowish](http://whatdoherpeslooklikes.com/images/header_5.jpg) top on it. And you can pop them. Those look more like blisters than whiteheads to me. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/36 "2011-01-07T16:47:27Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Nothing special is required … the weapon of choice need be nothing fancier than a needle, razor blade, or tweezers. Hot-as-possible tap water will suffice for sterilization, though rubbing alcohol is better. Also, when I was through, I used to like to apply hydrogen peroxide liberally to the esrtwhile zit. I keep a box of sterile lancets, the kind diabetics use for testing and a box of alcohol wipes handy for this and minor first-aid (like splinters). I get [nasty zits that hurt like hell until they pop](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=95080); it helps to lance them if they need it. When I do this, I wash my hands and make sure my face is clean beforehand, and wipe the area with alcohol afterward, and wash my hands again. I don’t re-use lancets, either; those get re-capped and thrown out. The alternative is a nasty, scabby face. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/37 "2011-01-07T17:41:57Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > If it’s right on the lip, it’s undoubtedly a cold sore. Lip skin doesn’t have follicles, which are what pimples grow out of. A cold sore looks just like a pimple, with a red base and a white head to it. You can get whiteheads right on your lip, at the edge. I have them all the time and they don’t go away until you squeeze that little stream of white goo out. If you squeeze it too much sometimes it will have blood in it but they don’t really ever get inflamed or painful unless you’ve irritated it. If you do it just right it goes away without much hassle. Cold sores look more like those big inflamed pimples. They are not the same thing. I get them too, very rarely but they are painful and annoying and it’s ten times worse if you go messing with it. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/38 "2011-01-07T17:46:44Z")
My husband will sometimes get a blackhead right on the border between his lip and the regular skin. And it won’t resolve until I remove it. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/39 "2011-01-07T17:51:06Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > When they initially erupt, before they get popped or pop on their own and scab over, herpes sores do have a [white head](http://www.herpes-doctor.com/image_files/herpesmouth.jpg) to them. They aren’t comedones, AKA “whiteheads”, that’s not what I was saying. But they will often have a [white](http://www.pulsemed.org/herpeslips.jpg) or [yellowish](http://whatdoherpeslooklikes.com/images/header_5.jpg) top on it. And you can pop them. You can, but you shouldn’t. Especially not in the effort to not appear hideous to other people because it will only make it look much, much worse. AND crusty. Blech. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487/40 "2011-01-07T18:58:46Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > When they initially erupt, before they get popped or pop on their own and scab over, herpes sores do have a [white head](http://www.herpes-doctor.com/image_files/herpesmouth.jpg) to them. They aren’t comedones, AKA “whiteheads”, that’s not what I was saying. But they will often have a [white](http://www.pulsemed.org/herpeslips.jpg) or [yellowish](http://whatdoherpeslooklikes.com/images/header_5.jpg) top on it. And you can pop them. Well, the zits I have gotten right around my mouth or even on the border of my lip and regular skin look nothing like that. Thank jesus. They look like a regular, small, whitehead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-people-pop-their-pus-filled-pimples-when-they-are-on-their-face/566487.md?page=3)