Life Fright

Way back before the surge of available skincare knowledge on the Internet, I struggled with my acne and relied on the advice of peers, parents, and older adults. In my case, it led to less than ideal results and I believe it prolonged the duration of my acne outbreaks particularly from the stages of puberty to early adulthood.

Overall, I have dealt with the physical and mental anguish of acne for over a decade. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, yikes. Let me be the first to tell you if you haven’t heard it before or need to hear it again. Seek help treating acne through a medical professional. I could have saved myself a lot of tears and pain if I sought medical treatment sooner. I will be sharing what I’ve learned about dealing with acne and my acne journey in later posts so look forward to more about this!

Now back to the title of this post! I want to warn people against considering this tool for dealing with acne.

This nifty tool is called a pimple extractor and the general idea is it can help unleash the contents of the pimple, thus getting rid of acne easily. Truth be told, my younger self thought it made sense since it seemed more hygienic than picking at acne and I was told to use this extractor to curb my emerging acne issues.

Instead, it started a toxic cycle where I would obsess with using this tool over every bump on my face. It led to acne scars (pitted crevices) and dark spots (hyper pigmentation) and if those were not enough, more acne would rise to the surface beginning the cycle anew.

If you really want to use this tool I would only advise it if you can guarantee to:

• disinfect the tool and intended area before and after use
• use light pressure on the spot
• not be stubborn and try increasing pressure to the area or even worse revisiting the same area many times

Even with the above points, I do not believe it is worth the trouble and instead saving yourself from the ensuing harm far outweighs any success you might have using the extractor.

That being said, perhaps there is a place for an acne extractor in the hands of a medical professional who is equipped with all the knowledge to safely and effectively resolve the acne issue then and there. Otherwise, letting the acne spot resolve itself over time without irritating it in this aggressive manner is the best approach.