Acne scars–or any kind of scar for that matter–form when the skin tissue begins to regenerate itself after an injury or disease. Though most scars may not be attractive, scarring is a natural part of the healing process to repair skin tissue. Most wounds on the skin will result in some type of scarring being either very minor or very severe. Animals are pretty lucky in this regard because they don’t scar like humans do (not fair, I know).
Scar tissue is a lower quality type of skin is more exposed to the hazards of the environment like UV rays from the sun and future damage. It is best to allow a would, like popping a pimple, some time to heal as it will usually result in better repair of the skin and less scarring. Acne scars tend to appear more often when the pimple is popped early on and aggravated day after day.
Here are some tips to minimize acne scarring:
- Leave your pimples alone. I know that it’s very tempting to pop your huge pimples on your back and other parts of your body, but it is best to leave them alone and let the body do it’s work. I’ve been there and I know exactly what you may be feeling, but give the pimple a few days before you attempt to pop it.
- Only pop pimples when they’re about to burst. Though I don’t recommend this method, it’s almost impossible to ignore a pimple that looks like it’s ready to burst. However, do keep in mind that some pimples may appear as they’re ready to pop–but they’re really not.
How do you tell if a pimple is ready to be popped? The best way to tell is when you attempt to squeeze the pimple. Do not squeeze hard as this will aggravate the surrounding tissue and cause further complications. Perform a tiny amount of squeezing pressure one time on the pimple and see what happens. If it does not pop, do not repeat this process. If you cause pain to the pimple, you are squeezing too hard.
- Be observant. This is key if you are going to attempt to pop pimples and reduce the scarring that may follow. You must observe what happens and how it feels. A pimple that is ready to be popped with burst with hardly any applied pressure. It can be important to make sure you pop these pimples because they can burst and ruin your clothing.
- Be gentle. Again, I can’t emphasize how important it is to apply very little pressure if you attempt to pop a pimple. Scars usually form when a pimple is repeatedly aggravated which creates an even worse pimple. After trying to pop it for 15 minutes, it eventually breaks open and begins to bleed. This is the beginning of a bad situation that most likely will result in a scar.
- Clean the pimple. If you do happen to aggravate a pimple and break it open, you need to clean it. Take a towel with hot water and apply it to the broken pimple. Continue to wash the pimple and reapply hot water until it stops bleeding.
- Let it scab. Another important step is to not pick at the scabs. At this point, scarring will occur and it’s important to have the least amount of scarring as possible. Do not pick at the scars as this can further aggravate the tissue and create a bad scar.
Remember, it is best to leave acne alone and let the body do it’s thing. However, there will be times when it is necessary to pop a pimple in order to prevent it from popping itself and bleeding on clothing. Be sure to be extremely gentle and to not cause any pain to the pimple. Acne scarring worsens the more a pimple is aggravated.
