Rant: My old instructor told me to never use a comedone extractor on inflamed acne, and she was totally right.

I had a client with a really angry cyst last week and remembered her saying, 'You'll just drive the infection deeper and cause scarring.' I used a warm compress and high frequency instead, and it calmed down in two days without a mark. Do you guys ever break the 'no extraction' rule on active breakouts, or is it always a bad move?

3 comments

3 Comments

black.joel1mo ago

Ever try a hydrocolloid patch overnight?

the_hugo1mo ago

Wait, didn't a derm on youtube say those patches only work on open stuff? Like if it's a closed bump with no head, it's just sitting there doing nothing. You gotta get the gunk out first for the patch to pull anything out. Otherwise you're just wasting a patch on a blind pimple.

jake_owens1mo ago

Disagree completely with that old rule. Sometimes you have to lance a proper cyst to relieve the pressure. Leaving it to fester can cause more trauma under the skin. A careful, sterile approach with the right tool works fine.