Submit your skincare questions to Dr. Agnes, CEO of Herborium and natural medicine expert
Large and small pimples are only one of acne's physical symptoms, but they are easily the most noticeable, discussed, and most hated. Because of this, people are normally willing to do whatever it takes to get rid of them as soon as possible without considering the long-term impact on their skin and without understanding that the superficial removal of a pimple is very far from treating acne. Short term, you may get rid of this ugly white head sticking out from your skin, but popping pimples can increase your risk of getting new and more severe pimples or cysts in the future as it actually opens "a window" for infection and may spread bacteria throughout your skin too. Furthermore popping pimples damages the skin tissue, and if this damage is deep enough it will lead to acne scars and marks. As the cost of "popping" is high, the benefits are really low and very short lived; popping pimples cannot break the acne cycle and treat acne.
Even though many chronic poppers know that their habit is bad news, they can't break the cycle, and that's because stopping is not just a matter of wanting to - you need to know why it is important to stop and really take a strategic approach to it. Assuming that you now accept that popping is bad for your skin, you just need to concentrate on HOW to do stop popping. These five tips for resisting the urge to pop pimples were developed based on what psychologists know about habits and how they are formed and broken. With them, you will increase your chances of eliminating this damaging practice from your life entirely.
One of the most helpful ways to make popping your pimples seem less appealing is by understanding what exactly happens when you do it. Pimples act as a container to hold debris and bacteria in your pores. While this is a less-than-ideal situation, letting your pus run free over your face, hands or anywhere else for this matter is much worse. When you pop a pimple, you release this junk and allow it to contaminate other nearby pores. On top of this, you also run the risk of contaminating your skin even more, as bacteria from your hands are then transferred onto your skin and existing blemishes. This increases the probability of further infection and inflammation.
While positivity can go a long way in your quest to stop popping pimples, sometimes you've got to get a little mean with yourself in order to stay accountable. Find a close friend or family member who's willing to help you out with your problem and each week give them a certain amount of money - it should be enough that it will hurt to lose but not enough that it will wreck your finances. At the end of the week, if you have successfully refrained from popping your pimples, you get the money back, no strings attached. However, if you succumbed to the temptation, you lose that weeks' money to your friend. This may sound extreme (and maybe a bit embarrassing), but by adding real-world punishments into the mix you make pimple popping look much less attractive.
Studies have shown that repeating affirmations is a great way to break an old habit or form a new one, and your smartphone is the perfect tool for cementing those affirmations in your mind. There are lots of motivational apps out there that send you inspirational quotes throughout the day, and there are even some that let you customize your own. Use these to your advantage - come up with one to three short, positive affirmations about resisting the urge to pop pimples and have them sent to your phone multiple times a day, so that you're never far from a motivational pick-me-up. You may feel goofy at first repeating these affirmations to yourself, but over time they'll begin to take hold, and you'll really start to believe them.
One of the main reasons that people pop their pimples is because these blemishes are unsightly. So, if you want to successfully resist the temptation, you've got to find something better, more effective and healthier that can get rid of them. There are TWO parts to this process:
While we've already addressed creating negative consequences for succumbing to temptation, it's just as important to celebrate yourself when you resist the urge to pop! Once you start having some success, don't forget to reward your commitment. Your rewards can be tangible or intangible - for some people it might be something as simple as watching an extra baseball game on TV, for others it make take something more, like a visit to the spa or even new pair of shoes. Whatever you ultimately decide on, remember that by reinforcing your good behavior the chances of your not popping pimples turning into a bad, skin damaging habit increase greatly.
With a Promise of Clear Skin, Dr. A