Not all pimples appear as small, painless (although annoying) whiteheads. Sometimes you’ll have a large, red bump that’s deep in the skin, or even a gunk-filled pimple that looks just about ready to pop. Other times they’ll even feel a little irritated or itchy. And when they do, you can be tempted to pick at or try to pop the pimple.
How do pimples get irritated and/or itchy?
There can be a couple different reasons your pimple may feel irritated or itchy:
Touching your face throughout the day
For one, it can be hard to keep your hands off your face when dealing with acne. Kind of like a scab, it sometimes feels like you just feel compelled to pick at the pimple. So while the spot may not necessarily be itchy, you end up touching your face a couple times throughout the day even without thinking about it.
But, throughout the day we are constantly touching a bunch of different surfaces. Like typing away at your keyboard, touching doorknobs, or even shaking someone else’s hand in greeting. There are a whole host of surfaces you come into contact with and you don’t really know how clean those surfaces are (which is kind of scary to think about).
Then, when you inevitably end up picking at spots on your face, you can potentially transfer bacteria to the skin. Adding external stressors to the skin can make pimples worse and the worse they get the more irritated and sometimes itchy they start to feel.
Dry skin
Another reason for irritated, itchy pimples can be dry skin. When you think about it, dry skin is often characterized by tightness and sometimes flakiness. Dry skin can also at times feel itchy contributing to irritated acne.
However, itchiness isn’t always a bad sign. If you’ve noticed, when a wound starts to scab it can start to feel incredibly itchy but it only feels itchy because it's in the healing process and shedding old, dead skin cells.
Popping your pimples
Lastly, if you succumb to the urge to pop your pimple you could end up causing more irritation. Popping a pimple isn’t always bad. If the pimple is close to the surface of the skin and isn’t inflamed then you can safely pop the pimple. But, when trying to pop more stubborn pimples, like blind pimples, then you can cause more damage.
When you pop a pimple you may trigger swelling and maybe even a little bleeding. Then the spot may become irritated especially since the skin is now an “open wound” and is exposed to outside irritants.
How to treat irritated, itchy pimples
As hard as it may seem, one way to avoid further irritating acne is by keeping your hands off your skin to avoid transferring unwanted bacteria to existing acne. And, if dry skin is the culprit then you can keep the skin moisturized to help curb the itchiness. The Hanhoo Dermafix Blemish Moisturizer is a lightweight, water-based moisturizer that helps soothe and hydrate and won’t irritate acne-prone skin.
But if the spot is already itchy and irritated, you can spot treat the pimple. The Hanhoo Soothing Blemish Patch is specifically made to help calm irritated, itchy pimples and can even be used on popped pimples.
The Soothing Blemish Patch is made with skin-soothing, pimple-targeting ingredients that help minimize the look of the spot and provide relief to irritated pimples including:
💧Aloe - Moisturizes and soothes
🌱Tea Tree Extract - Calms redness and irritation
🌿Madecassic Acid - Helps repair the skin
🩹Hydrocolloid - Absorbs pimple gunk
This patch can be applied to irritated, itchy pimples to help soothe and reduce irritation and helps absorb fluids like pus and excess oil to help the spot shrink faster. And, since popping a pimple can worsen swelling, the Soothing Blemish Patch can help calm the spot and keep out external irritants while the pimple heals.
How to use the Soothing Blemish Patch:
- First, start off by thoroughly cleansing and drying the skin.
- If you use a toner, you can apply it at this step.
- Carefully peel the patch from the film and apply it directly over the targeted pimple.
- Leave the patch on for 6 to 8 hours, then remove and discard.
- After applying the patch, you can continue with the rest of your skincare routine.
- If needed apply another patch.
Lastly…
While there are various ways to help calm irritated, itchy pimples, it’s best to remember to keep hands off your pimples and apply protective products like spot creams and/or blemish patches to encourage the spot to heal.
