Material required for popping a pimple:

• Sterile needle
• Gauze square or Q-tips
• Hot Water
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• Ice
• Hydrogen peroxide

• First: wash your hands thoroughly, including your fingernails. Dirt must be kept away essentially to avoid infection of the skin and pores.

• 2nd: If you wish guaranteed results, make a salt solution by mixing half a cup of warm water and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Apply the solution to the affected area using sterile gauze for about five to ten minutes. After this the pimples will usually come off easily when you try to pop them.

• 3rd: Heat makes it easier to pop up the pimples. So an alternative to step two, especiallycfor not so hard to pop pimples, is steaming your face or going to a sauna before popping a pimple, because it opens up your pores, allowing for the pus inside to outflow more easily when you pop the pimple.

You can also take a warm shower instead, and let the hot water run over your face as you wash it. Or wash your face in the sink with hot water. And apply a warm compress directly on the pimple just before popping it.

• 4th: Check your pimple. If the white pus is already pouring out to the surface of the skin you are lucky because then a hot compress will do the trick. Then skip ahead to the seventh step.

• 5th: Sterilize, as if you were a surgeon, a sewing needle tip either on an open flame, rubbing alcohol or by placing the needle in boiling water for several minutes and then letting it cool. This will ensure that any bacteria residing on the needle is killed and will not cause you any harm when popping a zit.

• 6th: Slightly poke the pimple’s white head with the sterile tip of the needle so that pus starts outflowing.

• 7th: Use tissue or gauze to squeeze the pimple not your bare fingernails. Do your best to avoid getting the pus in touch with your own fingers when applying a tiny pressure around the pimple to encourage the pus to outflow, and instead do it with your index fingers wrapped in tissue or gauze. Sometimes the pimple is so tender that you will only need to hold the tissue over the pus so that it gets absorbed.

Alternatively: grab a clean Q-tip, break it in half, and put one half in each hand. Use the tips of the Q-tip to surround the perimeter of the zit, making sure to avoid the bump itself. Then gently push the perimeter together slightly, until the pimple erupts. White pus should begin to ooze from the pore which is only your white bloodcells and plasma which has been working to help your skin heal. Keep squeezing until you get all of it out.

Stop popping the pimples once the pus gives way to clear fluid and blood. Once the liquid is out, use a Kleenex or the gauge square to swipe up the liquid. Ideally use a dabbing motion to allow the liquid to soak into the cloth; this will ensure that you are not spreading the bacteria on the rest of your skin.

If you don’t see a clear fluid and then blood, but instead notice that there is no more flow of pus and the pimple is drained, and there is more resistance to your pressure, then do not apply any more pressure. If you are stubborn with the pimple squeezing beyond the fact that there is no more pus, you risk causing more harm than good.

• 8th: Once the zit is completely popped and the extracted waste cleaned up, use a good amount of gauze to apply small amounts of hydrogen peroxide (buy at local drug store) to clean the surface where the pimple used to reside. If you do not have hydrogen peroxide, you could squeeze about 10-15 drops of lemon juice on the gauze cloth and use it for cleaning. This will help remove excess bacteria and restore the PH balance of your skin.

• 9th: Think of this pimple popping experience as a minor surgery you just performed on yourself. And as with all operations you may experience some swelling. This is where the ice comes in. Place the ice in a plastic bag and apply to the swollen area for 3-5 minutes or until the swelling goes down.