To squeeze or not to squeeze

[rushour]

Last week i had a tiny spot on my face (in between nose and upper lip)

yesterday it had grown into a full of puss spot and so i put colgate on it overnight. this morning it looks 10 times worse. i wished i'd just let it breathe.

now the spot or more like the crater, looks ready to explode. what should i do?

if i squeeze i run the risk of infection (more spots) and scarring.

is there anything i can put on it to tame it down, or do you think the only way of getting rid of these crater spots is by squeezing the puss out?

squeeze it! then put on witch hazel or other antiseptic cream or similar on. You may need to tackle it again in the morning - but that should be it.

I believe toothpaste is a myth for love bites rather than spots though

i was told to put hot cup of tea on spot or anything hot hold it on to draw it out but dont pop as can cause more spots to appear my friend is beauty therapist and gave me the advise as had terrible spot and squeezed it and it got worse once squeezed

thanks furball. just done squeezed it a little, to allow the pus to slowly ooze out, rather than a full blown spatter! and it now looks red and sore. still inflamed, but have put sudocrem on it (the only antiseptic cream i've got in the house).

hopefully no scarring! i must say i've been reading some simiar threads with interest. i've been getting more spots around my chin and upper lip area since i've had children and never considered it to be hormonal until now. i would like to talk to my GP about it, but feel like he may just laugh me out of his surgery!

you've gotta squeeze all of it out - otherwise it will heal with it in and prolong the whole thing

ooh - I know all about 'hormonal' spottyness! My body seemed to turn back into a 13 year olds after babies - spotty / greasy - yuk! Anyhoo - you gotta squeeze, i've walked around with disgusting white spots resisting the squeeze and in return I have found that the unsqueezed take ages to go down and leave a lump for ages after that. In contrast the squeezed ones will look awful and angry for a day or two but then they're gone. Furball's right though - its all gotta go or it'll just come back! I wish I didn't know quite so much about that subject...

Personally I'd leave a spot on my face as it could scar - put some witchhazel on it or try a gentle exfoliation face mask to see if you can take the top of it off then it might heal itself. Sometimes spots aren't ready to pop.

FWIW, I was reduced to tears of pain last year as a beauty therapist insisted on trying to pop the blackheads on my nose . Even after she'd steamed my face twice, they wouldn't go but she wouldn't give up - then she tried to flog me a £30 face cream! I walked into the breakfast room at the hotel (I had an early appt as we were leaving that day) looking a right sight. Red blotchy skin to match my red eyes.

thanks for all your posts. sorry to hear abt your awful experience lacomtesse. sudocrem is helping to reduce the inflammation. will try the hot tea cup next time!

Well, these things happen, especially if you get someone trained in different techniques to those you're used to. I don't take as much care of my skin as I should but I still feel she wasn't as gentle as she could have been . She told me off for picking my spots as a teenager, since I have slight indentations on my face too but didn't seem to believe me when I told her that they were chickenpox scars from the previous year (I'd scratched them in my sleep). Still it was mostly nice. Good luck with your spot.