Removing a whitehead?

Hi - I'm 25 and I don't really suffer that badly from acne - just the
occasional spot every so often. Two spots however that I had about a year
ago have seemed to turn into white heads. I presume that this is what a
white head is? Basically they're white solid stuff just under the skin.
I've tried squeezing them, and I get a minute bit of the white stuff out,
but this is just a tiny fraction of the total amount on the whitehead. And
each time I try to squeeze them my face is red for days. It there any way
to remove these without causing permanent scarring?

Thanks for any help with this,
Dan.

Dan wrote:
>
> Hi - I'm 25 and I don't really suffer that badly from acne - just the
> occasional spot every so often. Two spots however that I had about a year
> ago have seemed to turn into white heads. I presume that this is what a
> white head is? Basically they're white solid stuff just under the skin.
> I've tried squeezing them, and I get a minute bit of the white stuff out,
> but this is just a tiny fraction of the total amount on the whitehead. And
> each time I try to squeeze them my face is red for days. It there any way
> to remove these without causing permanent scarring?
>
> Thanks for any help with this,
> Dan.

The squeezing is a lot more damaging than opening the surface to let
the gunk flow easily out. Use a sharp needle (after sterilizing it,
the area around the spot and your finger tips in alcohol) and just
pierce the surface skin over the white spot. Then jiggle the point
sideways a bit to stretch the pore a little. If you do this right,
the contents should just flow out with a very gentle squeeze. Wipe up
afterward with more alcohol, to keep any microbes that were thriving
in that pore from being spread to others.
--
John Popelish