Guide to Popping Acne Lesions

We do not recommend that you pop your acne lesions (spots). Instead, you should use a safe, targeted acne treatment. To find out more about the treatments that are available, and how you can cover your acne lesions, visit the Treatments and Covering Acne sections of this website.

Picking or squeezing acne lesions can damage the skin and lead to an increased chance of scarring. It is not advised that you pick or squeeze your acne. However, in reality many people do this in an attempt to remove pus, blackheads or whiteheads. If you are insistent on picking at or squeezing your acne to remove pus, blackheads or whiteheads then you should follow our guide below to lower your chances of damaging your skin and scars forming.

It is important to note that this technique does not remove the risk of permanent scarring.

Warnings

• We do not recommend that you pop or squeeze your acne lesions. Instead, you should use a safe, targeted acne treatment. To find out more about the treatments that available, and how you can cover your acne, visit the Treatments and Cover-Up sections of this website.
• This guide is designed to help lower the risk of permanent injury to the skin for people who are insistent upon squeezing their acne spots. However, scarring and skin damage are still risk factors even when following this guide.
• Do not apply anything more than gentle pressure in an attempt to drain more pus. You will be at risk of squeezing only inflamed skin, which cannot drain, and force the acne-causing blockage deeper into the follicle.
• If you squeeze out blood then you should stop. Squeezing out blood is not the only time when you should stop. Never apply anything more than gentle pressure and stop if the pus, blackhead or whitehead does not easily release.

Guide

Step one: Gently cleanse and sterilise the acne lesion, surrounding skin and your hands using an anti-bacterial skin wash.

Step two: Place the tips of your index fingers either side of the acne lesion.

Step three: Applying gentle pressure, press your fingers downwards and towards each other. Don’t use your nails as you may break the skin, risking infection. If pus or the blockage is not released then DO NOT apply more pressure and leave the acne lesion alone.

Step four: Gently re-cleanse the area of skin and your hands.

Step five: Apply an acne treatment to the acne lesion/area.

If pus or a blockage does not release after following this guide then do not apply further pressure. You will be at further risk of causing permanent damage to the skin, forcing the blockages deeper into the skin, and breaking the follicle wall, which can result in inflamed acne and acne cysts forming.