Fast Ways To Remove Pimples & How To Prevent Them

Imagine the following situation: you’ve just waken up, you’ve got a great feeling abou the day because you’re going to a party tonight. But when you head to your bathroom and look in the mirror, you see a terrible surprise: a new pimple, one of the bad ones. And to make things worse, it is right in the middle of your forehead or in the center of the your nose tip.

Although one single pimple doesn’t exactly mean you have acne, it has been a very common skin condition since ancient times. Acne peaks during adolescence and early adulthood, affecting approximately 85% of people between the ages of 12 and 24, but it can affect older adults as well. ¹ A single pimple could be caused by various factors, like a blocked hair follicle, excess oil production, bacteria, or hormonal changes.

Therefore, having pimples is not something you should feel ashamed for. But it is normal that you feel annoyed by it. Sometimes because you have an event coming soon and want to look flawless, or because you’ve been putting a lot of effort into your skincare routine and got frustrated by that pimple that showed up out of the blue.

Because of these reasons, I’m going to guide you on how to get rid of one or a few pimples faster than the usual, and also give you some tips on how to prevent them. But is important to remember that acne is a skin condition, and, if you have it, you should consult a dermatologist to initiate a treatment that will work over time. Enjoy the post!

Fast Ways to Get Rid of a Pimple

1.1. Apply Ice if it’s a Regular Pimple

Regular pimples are the most common type, being described as the ones that stay on the surface of your skin, and usually have a yellow “head” filled with pus. If you apply ice to your pimple, it can help reduce the inflammation, which will directly reduce its size. Besides that, the ice can also reduce the redness, making the pimple less noticeable.

How To Do It

First of all, make sure you’ve cleansed your skin. Then, goes the practice. There are various ways in which you can apply the ice on your skin. You can wrap it on a piece of cloth, towel, or thick piece of paper towel. You can also use a cold compress, since the ice can provoke a huge mess of water after it starts melting.

When applying the ice to your skin, you should do one-minute sessions with five-minute breaks between every session, to prevent damaging your skin. I think three one-minute sessions should be enough. You must be careful not to overdo it to keep your skin safe.

1.2.Apply a Warm Compress if it’s a Blind Pimple

Although blind pimples happen less often than regular pimples, they are also very common. These are the pimples that have “no head”, cause the skin to be red, and are usually very painful.

They are, in fact, easier to hide with concealer, but the pain these pimples cause itself can be a motive for you to want to get rid of them ASAP. The pressure and tenderness you feel happen because the infection gets deep in the skin, so there is no “head” on the surface of you skin.

Although applying ice can help reduce a little the pain you feel, applying a warm compress will make it go away faster, which will directly cease the pain. This happens because the warmth will encourage the pus to come to the surface of your skin or dissolve.

When applying the warm compress on your skin, first of all, make sure the temperature is ok. A compress that is too hot can damage the skin. You can wrap it on a piece of cloth or on a towel, and then hold it in the pimple for about 10 minutes, a few times a day.

2. Use Pimple Patches

Pimple patches are one of the hottest products in the skin care market right now. These products can work very well on surface level pimples, the ones who are filled with pus. These stickers are placed directly on the pimples to make them dry out more quickly. But how? The patches are made of hydrocolloid, a substance that soak up the liquid in the pimples, making them dry out.

It is possible to find these patches in many sizes, formats, and colors. While the transparent, circular-shaped sticker is found to be the most common, many business are producing colored, star-shaped stickers to fight the stigma around acne. These items are also found to be very good for getting rid of pimples since they prevent you from picking them, an action that can be very prejudicial and that I will cover up later.

3. Try Spot Treatments with Natural Remedies

While their effectiveness can vary from person to person, some natural ingredients have shown to have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and soothing properties that can make them very effective when reducing the appearance of pimples.

Before using any natural remedy, I strongly recommend you to do a patch test on a small area of you skin. This is very important to assure you won’t have any adverse reactions.

3.1. Spot Treatment with Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil is a natural ingredient known for its ability to reduce skin inflammation and fight bacteria that can cause pimples. However, since this oil is very potent, it can cause bad effects on the skin, such as redness and irritation.^{2 3} For this reason, it is always important to dilute it with a carrier oil.

Carrier oils are less concentrated oils that are used to dilute essential oils before applying them to skin. Some examples of carrier oils are jojoba oil, coconut oil, and olive oil.

How To Do It

Always remember to clean your skin and perform a patch test before starting the process.

1. Combine 1 drop of tea tree oil with 1 tea spoon of a carrier oil
2. Dip a cotton swab or ball into the mixture and gently apply it only to the pimple itself
3. Let the skin absorb the mixture you left on the pimple, there is no need to wash it immediately
4. Repeat the process 1-2 times a day until the pimple improves. Always be careful and look out for any skin irritation.

3.2. Spot Treatment with Other Essential Oils

Besides the tea tree oil, there are another essential oils with anti-inflamatory, antimicrobial, and soothing properties that can be used to treat pimples. Between them, there are rosemary oil⁴, cinnamon oil⁵, and lavender oil⁶.

Just like the tea tree oil, these essentials oils need to be diluted with a carrier oil to prevent skin irritation. And it’s also always important to perform a patch test in a small area of your skin.

How To Do It

After cleansing your skin and doing a patch test, follow these steps:

1. Combine a few drops of the essential oil with one tablespoon of a carrier oil and blend them well
2. Dip a cotton swab or ball into the mixture and gently apply it only to the pimple itself
3. Let the skin absorb the mixture you left on the pimple, there is no need to rinse it off immediately
4. Repeat the process 1-2 times a day until the pimple improves. Always be careful and look out for any skin irritation.

4. Avoid Picking or Squeezing!

This is the last, but not least important, topic. Actually, this topic is the most important of the list. Picking or squeezing pimples is a bad habit a lot of people have. And it does bad more than it does good. In fact, it does not do any good at all.

Picking pimples can spread the inflammation and worsen the area. Besides, squeezing them can push bacteria and pus more deep into the skin, causing more swelling and redness. Not to mention the scars that can be left on your skin when you squeeze a pimple. Have patience, it’s more worth it.

Tips to Prevent Pimples

1. Keep Your Skin Clean

Washing the face is the basic, and one of the most important, step of every skin care routine. Scientists have identified a bacteria that causes acne breakout by turning sebum, an oil produced by our body, into fatty acids, provoking inflammation⁷.

Therefore, washing your face daily is important because, by removing excess dirt, sweat, and oil, it helps prevent pimples. But be careful not to wash your face too much since it can make the skin more dry, worsening acne. The ideal is for you to wash your face twice a day. It’s also important for you to know the best products for your skin, by discovering its type, as I will cover in the next topic.

2. Know Your Skin Type

Knowing your skin type is important because it will allow you to choose the best products for your face. There are a lot of quizzes available online that will help you learn about your skin, but you can always consult a dermatologist if you are still unsure.

There are 6 main skin types:

1. Normal skin:
   • Is well balanced: neither too oily nor too dry
   • Has small pores and is not much sensitive
2. Oily skin:
   • Tends to produce excess of sebum
   • Has large pores
   • Probably looks shiny by the end of the day
   • Is more prone to acne
3. Dry skin:
   • Lacks sufficient moisture and may feel dry or rough
   • Prone to flakiness, redness, and fine lines
4. Combination skin:
   • Is a mix of two or more types of skin
   • Usually, the T-zone (nose, forehead, and chin) is oily, while the cheeks are normal or dry
5. Sensitive skin:
   • Is prone to redness, irritation, and reactions to various products
   • Can go with any of the other skin types
6. Mature skin:
   • Experiences a decrease in collagen and elasticity, leading to wrinkles and fine lines
   • May become dryer, and age spots and sun spots may appear

3. Avoid Too Much Sun Exposure

In this topic I will give you that classic tip, but a skin-saver: wear sunscreen! Frequent exposure to the sun can dry out your skin, and then block the pores and make it produce more oil.

I know that there are a lot of all-body sunscreens that, when applied to the face, can make it look oily after a couple hours. For this reason, opt for a sunscreen made specially for the face, that is oil-free and won’t mess with your skin shininess.

I have been using the Neutrogena SPF 70 dry-touch sunscreen for the past 2 years and I strongly recommend it. I have combined skin and I used to suffer with the sunscreens that used to leave my face looking like I had rubbed butter all over it. But this wonderful thing right here leaves my skin looking flawless, a true life-saver!

4. Be Careful with Makeup

A lot of people wear makeup daily, so it’s really important to be careful with it. Always wash any makeup off at the end of the day, specially before sleep. Also, avoid covering up pimples with makeup since it can block the pores and provoke outbreaks.

It is also important to be careful with hair products. When washing your hair, always make sure you’ve rinsed off the shampoo very well, since leaving it on your scalp can cause acne outbreaks on the hairline.

5. Go to a Dermatologist

Last tip, but a very simple one: consult a dermatologist. Acne is, overall, a skin condition, and no one will help you treat it better than a dermatologist. This professional will help you know more about your skin, how to take care of it, and might prescribe you a treatment that, over time, will strongly improve your skin.

You’ve reached the end of the post, thanks for reading!

References

1. https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/acne ↩︎
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-4632.2012.05654.x ↩︎
3. https://academic.oup.com/bjd/article-abstract/147/6/1212/6637547 ↩︎
4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319562X19302414 ↩︎
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7305778/ ↩︎
6. https://www.e-ajbc.org/journal/view.php?number=619&utm_source=Freebunni.com&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=Freebunni.com%20Lavender%20Oil%20for%20Acne ↩︎
7. https://academic.oup.com/lambio/article-abstract/42/3/185/6703493 ↩︎

Cover photo: @foreomea on Instagram