Popping for me usually depends on how desperate I get. Sometime last year, I had one in each ear, which I couldn't do anything about as they were too far in for me to do anything about them. The fact my ears were partly blocked by the swelling stopping them from airing out properly, so when I got a cold from all of the storms we were having at the time, I ended up with severe ear infections in both ears.
So yeah, popping mostly depends on if you can reach it, if you can stand the pain required to get everything out, and if you have a decent doctor. (Mine gave me ear-drops... and then acted like it was someone else after I came back with green gunk oozing out of a perforated eardrum.)
I have one of those nasty little suckers in my ear as we speak. I also agree to not trying to pop it. I just tried and now it won't stop hurting. It does work to put some acne medicine on the pimple though. I hope mine will go away soon.:'(
Wow..really?? At this stage in our evolution and humans are really that worried about infection, still?? Am I just special?
Iv had mayby one infection in my life and iv been cut and scraped by just about everything you can think of...etc..etc..
Iv been getting these things for years. outer ear flap/canal. They HURT like hell and Im not one to blindly deal with pian that long. Nor do I pop a pain pill or rub some factory made posions on my skin for every little thing. You all realise these are for worst case senerios. Your body should be able to handle most things for you just as mine does. You all realise you can actually have bad effects from constant use of these things? from building an imunity to illergic reactions?
I pop those lil buggers everytime!! A popsicle stick works best as its got a hard sharp edge but will not cut you. ALWAYS!!!!! make sure to sterilise your
medical equitment!! Put the stick inside behind the pimple and flod the outer skin in push till it pops! you'll hear it! and dont freak out if the puss lump move around a little as your trying to pop it, it does that. Just keep trying, youll get it eventually!
I have one now and it's very painful. Just a word of warning about popping...I'm sure you're aware of the possible infection it can cause but more important, you damage the inside of the pore beneath the skin when sqeezing. It explodes INSIDE your skin, expanding the pore and pocket and will increase your likelyhood of them re-occuring in the same spot, getting larger each time you pop them. Eventually they will become cystic and be a chronic problem due to the enlargement of the pore and easy access of bacteria to get inside the gaping hole. So it's best to use an on the spot acne med and keep the area clean until it clears up on it's own. Popping it will of course relieve the pressure quicker and give you instant gratification, but you're possibly setting yourself up for a lifetime of problems with that damaged pore.
I really sympathise. Pimples inside the ear canal can be very painful, especially if they continue to re-infect over a long period of time without bursting of their own accord. I'll share my horror story if you're interested. Its a case where there was no option but to squeeze (hard:)...
Some time back a blackhead had formed deep inside my ear canal, about half-way to the eardrum. It became infected and very painful, so I mentioned it to my GP at an appointment. He had a look and told me that it was just a pimple and it would burst on its own. No problem. Over the next 4 YEARS (yes, 4 YEARS), the site re-infected fairly regularly, getting more painful each time due to the pressure built by the increasing volume of infectious material (i.e. pus), but would settle down within 24 hours, so I wasn't that concerned. Then one morning I woke early. The entire left side of my face was aching, I had a severe headache, and my ear canal and surrounding areas were thumping as the infection throbbed. This time it did not let up after a day or so and was getting worse literally by the hour. The pain and the headache were intensifying. After two days I was in acute pain. It was an evening and I was at a point where I had to do something about it immediately. My girlfriend (a nurse) examined it and could see an angry, very inflamed lump with the blackhead, but it was in too deep for her to burst directly. With an infection like this ofcourse, you can only see about 1/4 of the problem. The other 3/4 was set deep within the clogged pore, and contained 4 YEARS worth of accumulated pus.
NOTE: The story gets a little horrible hereon, so please stop reading if you are squeamish. You'll see why it had to be burst :) ...
I was in too much pain to handle and the thing had to be burst - right now - to releive the pressure. I decided to use both hands to push my thumb into the inner lobe of my left ear, compressing the ear canal wall inwards to a point where (I prayed) the blackhead would be forced out and the thing would burst. No painkillers or local. I knew that the pain was going to be uh, intense. If it didn't burst it was straight to the ED in even more pain. So... 3, 2, 1 and I pressed as hard as I could. Absolute agony. Roaring with pain. After 2 seconds nothing had happened so I summoned myself to press EVEN HARDER. After three seconds of this nightmare, FINALLY, I heard a bang go off that honestly sounded like a gunshot. I stopped pushing and heaved to get my breath back. I told my girlfriend "I think I got it". She looked in my ear and said "I can't see your eardrum at all - you got it alright". My ear canal was full of liquid pus and I had also gotten the core out - which was 4 years worth of hard pus - as well. When the horrible thing exploded, it was completely drained, and was now oozing blood. My girlfriend pulled the core out of my ear with tweezers, placed it on a tissue, and we were both totally shocked. What had come out was a thread of pus with the blackhead on one end, coiled up like a ball of string. The coil was as big as my index fingernail. The pus thread itself was 4cm in length and 1.5mm in diameter, ranging in colour from white (new pus from the current infection), to yellow fading to a grey crumbly substance (old pus from the original infection). You can imagine the pressure and pain such a large infection would cause in as sensitive place like deep in the ear canal. All the pain literally dissapated with 15 minutes of bursting it. I'll never forget the relief. I cleaned the site with peroxide, packed the pore full of Oxy 10 and its never been back. And that's pretty much it!
I had pain in my ears and it got worse and worse. I thought I had an ear infection. Went to the doctor.
Said I had a pimple and it was infected. Gave me antibiotics and told me after it popped it would feel better. But it's deep in there and I can't see it or get to it. Also gave me pain relievers, though I'll try if I can to avoid taking any of the Rx stuff....
It hurts really, really badly. As badly as any ear infection. A high amount of pressure and pain inside the entrance to the ear canal. People who say it's not big deal; I wonder if it's near the outside.
A couple other questions - I never get pimples on my face. I do not wear headphones.