You're probably tired of hearing everyone telling you to stop picking at your pimples, whiteheads, and blackheads, but it's for a good reason. Picking at blemishes often results in them becoming redder and more inflamed. The said bad habit also increases the chances of scarring your complexion. Or in the case of Redditor tsukasaaaaa, you could end up ripping a chunk of your skin off!
Yup, you read that right. In Reddit's Skincare Addiction thread, tsukasaaaaa posted a zoomed in photo of her nose with a large wound. She wrote, "Ripped out [a] chunk of skin trying to get a blackhead out." Criiiiiiiinge
She also wrote, "Trust me it looks way worse IRL. I'm flipping out please help," and, "Side Note: It looks like there's a chunk of my nose missing."
Numerous Redditors came to her aid by giving suggestions on what she can do/use to help the wound heal faster. The main recommendation was to put a hydrocolloid bandage over it. ICYDK, hydrocolloid bandages are basically acne stickers! The gel-textured bandages protect the area from dirt and bacteria, allowing it to heal quickly.
However, Redditor MammothUnion said that when the exact same thing happened to her months ago, it took a while for the wound to completely disappear:
"Ok, same thing happened to me back in June. Right on my nose, in a similar spot to yours, I was trying to squeeze a whitehead and my fingernail just took a chunk off. I freaked out, it was all red and there was a hole. Basically, I put hydrocolloid on it overnight for a week and also left it on when I didn't care who saw me or was just staying at home. So I also put a little bit of Vaseline on it whenever I went out, but only a little bit, so it wasn't noticeable. But it took a few days for it to get less red.
"After a while, it faded completely, but it took a few months to fully fade. But within like two to three weeks it was barely noticeable. Don't get freaked out by the amount of time I list, because in one week it looked way better, but just be gentle and moisturize and use the hydrocolloid bandages, and you should be good soon."
So the next time you're tempted to extract a blackhead or pop a pimple that's not *ripe* yet, you might want to let a pro (aka a derma) do it for you.
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