A blind pimple is a pimple (zit) that forms under your skin. Unlike other types of pimples that form a visible whitehead, blackhead or red bump, blind pimples develop under the surface. Some blind pimples eventually come to a head and “erupt” from underneath your skin's surface, forming a visible blemish.
Applying a warm compress can help to treat a blind pimple. The heat can open up pores, which may draw the pimple closer to the skin's surface and create a head. The formation of a head enables the sebum, cells, and bacteria to exit the skin. The heat from the compress can also help to relieve pain.
Pimple Popper on YouTube), milia are not pustules that easily flow out of the pore. They are made of hard dead skin cells that have no way of escaping underneath your skin's surface. Instead of popping them, you'll just be left with a red, irritated – and possibly scarred – face.
Sound familiar? It's likely a blind pimple. “Blind acne, or underground acne, gets its name because these pimples are not at the surface and largely occur under the surface of the skin,” says Zenovia Gabriel, MD, a dermatologist, hormonal skin expert, and the founder of Dr. Zenovia Skincare.
Those disagreeable-looking white, round things are milia. Also called milium cysts, milk spots, oilseeds, or pearl acne, no matter what you call them, milia are decidedly unattractive, small or moderate-sized, round or dome-shaped, white or yellow bumps that are easily visible beneath the skin.
Milia (milk spots) are small, white cysts on your skin. Cysts are filled pockets under the surface of your skin. The most common place to find milia are on your face. Milia are harmless and only affect your appearance.
Acne papules are small, inflamed bumps caused by excess oil in your skin, bacteria, hormones and some medications. They don't have a pus-filled tip like other forms of acne.
Nodular acne is a severe type of acne. It causes hard lumps or knots (nodules) to develop deep under your skin. The nodules start below the surface and appear on the skin as red bumps. These bumps usually don't have a whitehead or blackhead at the center.
Pustules are a type of pimple that contains yellowish pus. They are larger than whiteheads and blackheads. Pustules appear either as red bumps with white centers or as white bumps that are hard and often tender to the touch. In many cases, the skin around the pustules is red or inflamed.
Pimples You Should Never Pop
Big, inflamed, deep blemishes: These could be nodular breakouts and cysts. You should never squeeze this type of acne because the core of the pimple is too deep in the skin. It's best to let them heal on their own. A spot treatment or acne medication might help.
If ignored, cysts can take anywhere from 1-4 weeks to go away by themselves. Although your body will eventually deal with the inflammation, some cysts can persist for extended periods of time and often leave behind scars.
“I never recommend attempting to pop, pick, or poke a blind pimple—this inevitably leads to more harm than good because the pimple does not have a connection to the surface of the skin, attempting to pick it will just increase your risk of an infection or scarring,” advises Dr.
Don't pick or squeeze
As we just said, we know how tempting it can be to try and extract a blind pimple, but this just makes the problem worse. Picking or squeezing causes more inflammation and increases the likelihood of scarring.
How long do pimples last? Pimples usually last between three and seven days. Most pimples go away on their own, but it may take some time. Deep pimples (pimples under your skin with no head that may feel hard to the touch) may take a few weeks to go away, if not longer.
If you have a hard pimple under your skin that won't go away, the odds are you have a cyst. Like with any blockage, a clogged pore can cause real inflammation, particularly of the hair follicle, making for hard and painful pimples.
Additionally, popping a pimple can lead to a nodule (hard, red, painful blemish deep within the skin) or a cyst. The most serious form of a blemish, cysts are large and painfully inflamed lesions.
Oil, bacteria, and dead skin.
The excess sebum mixes with dead skin cells and can form a plug in the follicle — leading to acne. Bacteria that live on the skin can then infect the plugged follicles, causing papules, pustules, nodules, or cysts.
Milia are bumps containing keratin that has been trapped underneath the skin, and are sometimes called “baby acne” or “Epstein pearls."
Milia are small, bump-like cysts found under the skin. They are usually 1 to 2 millimeters (mm) in size. They form when skin flakes or keratin, a protein, become trapped under the skin. Milia most often appear on the face, commonly around the eyelids and cheeks, though they can occur anywhere.