Let science pop your myths — and offer better information — about pimples

A pimple is a very simple thing.

One of your skin pores gets blocked by dead skin cells or dirt and bacteria (that is always on your face) and causes an infection in the blocked pore. The redness is from the infection. As simple as it is, it causes a lot of stress, particularly for teenagers, who are already quite self-conscious.

Read below to really get a handle for what causes these annoying mini-face infections. Spoiler alert: it’s not eating chocolate, and it’s not how clean or dirty you are. However, your dirty cellphone might be causing some of your pimples!

Acne vulgaris

Almost all pimples are caused by a long-term (but relatively harmless) skin disease called acne vulgaris.

Most of your body is covered with sebaceous glands. The glands produce an oily substance called sebum, which helps keep your skin and hair moist. Your face and back have more of these glands than any other part of your body. This is why your face and back are often so oily. However, this oil is not the cause of your pimples.

While the glands in your skin are producing the sebum oil, your skin cells are constantly reproducing and dying.  Every so often, dead skin cells get stuck in the sticky sebum inside the pore and the pore becomes blocked. The blocked sebum oil builds up pressure under your skin and the area becomes infected by bacteria.

The bacteria that causes a pimple to form is always on your skin and is harmless. Some scientists believe that the bacteria on your skin plays an important role in your skin’s health. However, the perfect conditions exist inside the blocked pore so that the bacterial population explodes to levels that cause a skin infection.

The infection gets recognized by the body and your body sends white blood cells to the area to address the problem and this is what causes the redness. This is a pimple.

Teenagers most often suffer from acne vulgaris because their changing hormones cause their sebaceous glands to kick into overdrive and produce more sebum than in any other time of their lives. The extra sebum production gives more opportunity for pore blockage, which gives more opportunity for acne bacteria to develop.

About 80% of teenagers will suffer from acne while only 3% of adult men and 12% of adult women will suffer from it.

The pimple family

Whiteheads: The clog in the pore remains below the surface.

Blackheads: The clog is at the surface and the black color comes from a reaction to the air.

Pustules: This is what most people think of when they think of a pimple. The clog has become infected and the white blood cells have arrived to begin repairing the damage. The white pus that has filled the pimple consists of a mass of dead white blood cells.

To pop or not to pop?

All of the above information is fine, but what really concerns people is whether or not they should pop the pimples.

If you ask just about any dermatologist, they will advise that you should not pop your pimples. The reason for this is that the load of bacteria in the pimple can get pushed deeper into your skin as the infection is squeezed. A deeper infection could cause a permanent scar.

However, as many people know, if you visit a dermatologist they will often pop some of the larger pimples. So what’s the deal?

The deal is that dermatologists will work to extract the infection in such a way that would decrease the chances of a deeper infection. After the extraction, the dermatologist will likely clean the open areas with bacteria-killing cleansers.

As with many things, there is not always a clear answer. Additional research shows that pimples that are popped will most often heal faster than pimples that were left to heal on their own. However, there are some big exceptions to these findings.

First, if your popping of the pimple happens to push bacteria deeper into your skin, then you could end up with a scar and that never goes away. That is not worth it.

Also, if the pore was clogged deeper into your skin, you may not be able to pop it and, either way, your attempts are going to cause a much larger, longer-lasting red blotch on your skin than if you had left it alone.

Some quick advice if you have pimples driving you crazy. First, don’t wash your face more than twice a day.  While that seems like it could help, it dries out the skin and has an opposite effect.

Second, clean that cellphone! Phones are very dirty and then you put them up to your face. All the phone bacteria is now entering your pores eager to cause a pimple.

Mike Szydlowski is a science teacher and zoo facilitator at Jefferson STEAM School.

TIME FOR A POP QUIZ

Why do pimples form?

What is the difference between a whitehead and a blackhead? 

If a high school has 2,000 students, how many of those students likely have at least some acne?

What is the danger in popping a pimple?

Why do teenagers get more pimples than adults? 

LAST WEEK'S QUIZ ANSWERS

What is a single-use plastic?

A single-use plastic is plastic that you use for just a few minutes, then throw out.

Water bottles, plastic bags, and straws are examples.

How many pounds of trash does the U.S. produce every year?

251,000,000 tons x 2000 pounds in a ton = 502,000,000,000 pounds

Of the pounds of trash the U.S. produces, how many pounds get recycled?

502,000,000,000/3 = 167,333,333,333 pounds

If we could force everyone to recycle, would this fix the problem? Why or why not?

It would not solve the problem, as the biggest problem is we are using too many plastics and there is not enough market for used plastics.

Develop a plan that would help others reduce their plastic use.

There are many possible plans, but examples include creating parking lot signs to remind others to bring in their reusable bags, charging for plastic bags, etc.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Let science pop your myths — and offer better information — about pimples