Why are we so obsessed with pimples?
What’s behind our apparently primal obsession with pimples? Why can’t we seem to keep our fingers and eyes off of them?
After a short hiatus, I thought it would be best to return with a pop.
In 2014 Californian dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee uploaded her first video to YouTube of showing the extraction of pus from one of her patients suffering from a bad case of acne; generating 2 million views, this turned out to be an unexpected hit. 6 years later Lee, who is now more commonly known as Dr. Pimple Popper, has developed a thriving empire around her namesake. Her following of over 12 million subscribers across Instagram, YouTube and Facebook hypnotically devour over 5000 videos showing every flavour of pimple and cyst imaginable. But this is only the tip of the iceberg: there is a smorgasbord of other Instagram and YouTube channels devoted to more amateur popping content, there’s the active Reddit communities, the patents for pimple-popping simulators, the family games (ages 5 and up) and even the blackhead vacuum with a built-in 10x zoom camera on Kickstarter.
The year is 2020 and the world is crazy.
Or is it? The world’s fascination with all things pimple popping does not seem like too much of a surprise when you reflect on your fixation with the last zit that graced your forehead. What’s behind our apparently primal obsession with pimples? Why can’t we seem to keep our fingers and eyes off of them? Let’s explore.
Dead skin with a dash of oil
A pimple occurs when pores in your skin get clogged with dead skin cells and excess sebum — an oily substance produced in tiny skin glands that helps to lubricate your skin and hair. When this clogging becomes significant, your body may react by sending white blood cells its way, giving the pimple its characteristic redness and inflammation. The blockage may also encourage the growth of propionibacterium acnes bacteria that cause the chronic skin condition acne. The pus contained within the pimple is made up of dead white blood cells. (Source: Medical News Today)
A few more useful facts for your next (very odd) cocktail party: pimples come both in whitehead and blackhead form. The latter is often misinterpreted as a bit of dirt blocking a skin pore; however, it is actually caused by oxidation when the skin at the head of the pimple is opened and exposed to the air. A cyst is a separate sac or cavity that forms in the body or the surface of the skin (not a clogged pore) that can also be filled with pus. An abscess (or boil) is a pus-filled infection directly within body tissue caused by bacteria or a virus. (Source: Healthline)
Regardless of which variety you might be graced with, dermatologists seem to universally agree that popping it yourself is a terrible idea. Bacteria from your finger can easily find their way into the pimple, allowing it to strike back. As the wrong technique can also lead to unnecessary and permanent scarring, the American Academy of Dermatology recommends treating smaller pimples with patience and using ice or other remedies to reduce any inflammation. Since that sounds practically impossible, your next best bet might be getting your hands on a set of professional pimple-popping tools.
Three Theories
I will preface this section by stating that the following theories, while interesting, are not necessarily backed by peer-review science. Instead, I’ll file them in the category of “interesting food for further thought”.
Evolutionary defence
The prevailing evolutionary theory for why we might be obsessed with pimples is that, in the absence of swatting tails, “humans have evolved to groom each other to avoid [infections from] ectoparasites.” As irritated bumps on our skin are a very visible and tangible indication of an infection, we react fast to try and remove them. Our obsession with other people’s pimples may follow similar evolutionary logic; keeping your eyes fixed on that jewel at the tip of the barista’s nose allows you to remain on the defensive against possible infection. Popping a pimple also produces a kick of dopamine that activates the nucleus accumbens, the reward centre of the brain. This keeps us wanting to come back for more, which in extreme cases can result in excoriation (or skin-picking) disorder.
“Humans have evolved to groom each other to avoid infections from ectoparasites.”
Horror movies and rollercoasters
Let’s be clear: although oddly satisfying, most pimple popping videos on the internet are pusitively disgusting. And that may be exactly the point — research by psychology professor Paul Rozin at the University of Pennsylvania suggests that humans may become attracted to certain actions and sights that trigger seemingly undesirable reactions. This concept is known as benign masochism and may explain why we are drawn to everything from horror films, to sad songs, super spicy food, rollercoasters and videos titled “The best blackheads of 2018”. Testing yourself to see how much of a grotesque pimple-popping video you can handle results in the satisfaction of having conquered mind over matter. Pushing yourself this far also rewards your curiosity by discovering more about the mysteries lie beneath the skin. (Source: TIME)
Strangely satisfying
Pimple popping videos are only a subset of a much larger movement of so-called “strangely satisfying” content on the internet. Videos of slime, hot knives slicing effortlessly through anything and glass blowing capture the attention of millions on YouTube. Then, there’s the whole movement around YouTubers who lightly whisper, smack their lips and stroke microphones on camera to activate your autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR); this will literally send a tickle down your spine and can apparently can help put you to sleep. What all these videos have in common is a certain tactility — a texture, weight and an almost physical presence that is satisfying to embrace through the two-dimensional screens that surround us every day. Many would agree that pimple-popping videos might share this very tactility.
These videos are a sociological snapshot of the colourful variety of subcultures that can exist in our world today. In fact, this might be what this article is really about. Maybe we do have an inherent, or even evolutionary, obsession with pimples. However, it takes the magic of broadband internet to rally 10 million people from every corner of the world around this obsession. Could Dr. Pimple Popper have existed in the 70s? Maybe through a very niche periodical, but that seems so much more committal than watching a quick video on the web.
The pimple video movement of today seems to trace back to the almost pornographic experimental 75mm film “Sybille II” by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye. It is said that the on-screen pus for this was provided by one of his art students.
The year was 1999, and the world was apparently already crazy.
