Don’t Pick at Your Blemishes Until They Are Ready to be Extracted

Skin Care Tip of the Day: The only type of blemish that I give you permission to squeeze is surface, infected blemishes and ONLY once a visible whitehead is showing.

The key is not to pick at the blemish the minute you feel it coming up but rather, wait until it is ready. Why? Because if you “attack” it right away when the infection isn’t ready to come out yet, you start injuring the skin which will result in a scar. Then what most people do it to immediately start putting a topical spot drying treatment on the blemish. Then it’s drying out the skin, not drying out the infection, because the infection hasn’t reached the surface of the skin yet. After a day or two when the infection DOES come up to the surface, you try to squeeze it and although you may be able to get the infection out, the dry skin is also peeling off as well. The result? A post-breakout red mark/scar that will now linger for months and that’s worse than the blemish itself!

What WILL help: The key here is to leave it alone and do not touch the skin until the infection has reached the surface, which is usually 1-2 days after the blemish first appears. Then you can carefully wrap your fingers and gently try to squeeze out the infection. Remember the rule: three strikes and you’re out! If it doesn’t come out after three tries, leave it alone and try again the next day. Once you do get the infection out, THEN apply a spot drying treatment because now it can really get into the skin and heal up any remaining infection. The goal of any blemish is preventing a red mark that lingers for months.

Are you guilty of picking at your skin?