We all know the advice about not squeezing your spots. If you do squeeze them you can push the bacteria in your spot to the surrounding tissue worsening the inflammation and making the offending spot actually look much worse. Squeezing big spots might even result in ice pick scars; little pock marks that can sometimes be left behind. Damaging the tissue around your spot can also leave dark marks, something called hyperpigmentation. My advice therefore is to not squeeze yours spots – squeezing them causes too much damage to your skin.

If you have to get rid of that spot for a big date, event or function one of the best treatments we recommend at the clinic is Obagi’s CLENZIderm Therapeutic Lotion. All the Obagi range of products are extremely effective, but CLENZIderm Therapeutic Lotion is a fast acting antibacterial and anti-inflammatory cream that will help you clear your spots more quickly. Of course, using the full Obagi CLENZIderm range or the Obagi Nu derm range (which contains retinoic acid cream) can be very effective at preventing the spots in the first place.

Of course not squeezing a spot is much easier said than done – we all now that not squeezing a spot is the right thing to do but it can be exceptionally difficult to stop ourselves from doing it. We all know the reasons why we mustn’t squeeze them but if you just have to squeeze, here is my advice on the best way to do it without causing further damage to the surrounding tissue. Remember, don’t try and squeeze a spot that doesn’t have a head – these are papules and trying to squeeze these causes a lot of damage. You can attempt to squeeze spots with heads, these are called pustules.

Our foolproof guide to squeezing those spots safely!

Of course before performing the procedure you will need to make sure your nails are short and thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water. Ideally you should use disposable latex gloves. If you have an allergy to latex you can use the non-latex versions. Both are easily available from Amazon and cheap too. When squeezing, use the pulp of your index fingers (not your nails!) to gently apply pressure to both sides of your pustule. You are aiming to apply the pressure underneath the pustule and push upwards. If you find you have to press hard, you need to stop immediately. Carrying on will traumatise your skin, not get rid of the pustule and it will take longer for your skin to recover. When the pus has come out take a cotton bud and clean the expressed pimple with a skin disinfection solution. And that’s the end of your spot squeezing procedure.

If you do have problems with you spots and would like to find out how to control your acne, please call the Centre for a consultation with one of our technicians, doctors or nurses.  There are numerous ways of dealing with acne and the scarring and hyper-pigmentation that can result from this very common condition.