There is a scientific scale to measure how much you enjoy watching pimples explode and many people have high scores

The paths of the Internet are inscrutable. Sometimes, the videos that set trends on social networks are more than understandable. For example, who isn’t going to like kitten videos? However, on other occasions, there are videos that divide society. It is the case of the videos of exploding pimples. For some users, they are as pleasurable as exploiting them in person. For others, precisely those who can’t stand it in real life either, they are the height of unpleasantness.

But what is it about the act of popping pimples or seeing it on the screen? Why are there so many people who enjoy it? Actually, with psychology in hand, it is not so strange. The problem is that, if we change psychology for dermatology, it can be dangerous in some cases. Although not as much as we think

Why do we enjoy popping pimples so much?

For starters, our penchant for popping pimples is related to dopamine. Humans experience pleasure when a surge of dopamine is released in our brain. In reality it is a much more complex process, but we can keep that in a simplified way. It is the hormone that dominates reward systems. That is, those who They are set in motion when we do something that is beneficial to us as a species.

For example, sex is beneficial, because it helps us perpetuate the species. Eating chocolate is beneficial because it gives us energy. The brain does not distinguish between energetic and healthy, so it also generates that feeling of pleasure that makes us want to repeat. If we have a lot of sex it will be easier for us to reproduce and if we eat a lot of chocolate we will have a lot of energy. That’s the summary of how reward systems work.

Unfortunately, not everything that activates reward systems is always good. Drugs, for example, can replicate that feeling of pleasure, despite not providing us with any benefit.

Leaving that aside, stopping feeling pain also gives us pleasure, logically. It’s good for us. Furthermore, from a much more superficial point of view, what is beautiful and aesthetic is equally pleasant. For that reason, there are people who get so much pleasure from exploding pimples. With a single gesture of her nails, they are removing something painful and unsightlyso they get a good shot of dopamine.

What about the videos?

The case of videos that circulate on social networks is not exactly the same. There we are only spectators. We are not directly exploiting the pimples. Even so, just take a look at the visualizations to see that they cause a sensation. A feeling that, in fact, is not new.

In 2021 already There was a team of Austrian scientists who were interested in the reasons why so many people enjoy these types of videos. They carried out an investigation with 80 women, of which 38 reported that they enjoyed these videos and 42 indicated that they did not. Their brains were analyzed using functional magnetic resonance imaging while they watched several of these videos, so it was observed that, indeed, those who enjoyed them showed greater activity in brain regions associated with pleasurelike the nucleus accumbens.

Later, in 2024, these same scientists They developed scales that they called the Grain Exploitation Enjoyment Scale. (PPES) to evaluate people who enjoy this guilty pleasure.

The study was carried out through two experiments. In the first, 104 people participated and were asked questions aimed at evaluating the PPES scale. In addition, they were made to watch videos of people exploiting pimples, with complete freedom to move the video forward or backward if they saw it necessary. Thus, the scale was found to be appropriate, since higher scores corresponded to a lower probability of forwarding the video.

Then, with the scale already evaluated, a second experiment was done, this time with 501 people, who were asked questions to score through the PPES scale, but also through other personality scales. The objective was to check what type of traits lead someone to enjoy these videos. Thus, it was seen that, mainly, people with higher PPES scores are those who feel pleasure with situations of possible death or discomfort in controlled and non-threatening situations. It should be said that this does not mean that possible death is pleasurable, but the adrenaline of risky situations does, when seen from the outside, without real danger. People who enjoy these situations also tend to be lovers of horror movies, for example.

To a certain extent, this human tendency is also linked to the survival of the species. Enjoyment in risky situations leads us to observe them conscientiously and learn in case, when the time comes, we find ourselves in a similar scenario in real life.

It is true that exploding pimples is not fatal, but it does pose a certain risk, so seeing it from the outside, in a controlled way, can cause a feeling of pleasure. If we add the dopamine from seeing something unsightly removed, we can understand the fury of these viral videos.

What are the risks of popping pimples?

We have seen that people who enjoy pimple popping videos do so because they see a certain dangerous situation. It is not doing bungee jumping, but it has its risk. Now, to what extent is it dangerous?

To find out, I have contacted Rosa Tabernerdermatologist at the Son Llátzer Hospital (Palma de Mallorca) and member of the Spanish Association of Dermatology and Venereology. To begin with, he explained something very interesting to me: the reason why in viral videos (and in reality) you see those yellow threads when removing the pimple.

The key is in the keratin that accumulates in the pores of the skin. “Pimples or blackheads correspond to what dermatologists call open comedones,” he begins. “When this opening is more dilated than normal and sebum secretion is increased, keratin accumulates in that pore.” Keratin oxidizes when in contact with outside air. “That’s why the most superficial part darkens, but the keratin is white-yellowish, hence when we continue squeezing the material it is that color.”

That said, The ideal will always be not to explode the pimples or leave it to the professionals. However, the dermatologist clarifies that it is not always so dangerous. “Mechanically emptying those blackheads, in a careful and non-traumatic way, is not necessarily bad if it is done carefully,” he explains. They are the classic “skin cleansing”, so famous in the age of skincare. “What is not recommended is traumatic manipulation of these lesions and, above all, manipulating the most inflammatory lesions: nodules, pustules (when there is pus) and red pimples.” In this case “we will only increase inflammation, scars and secondary pigmentation.”

How can they be treated?

We already see that if we carefully exploit the pimples there should be no risk. Still, people who enjoy it often don’t measure whether what they’re pinching is a blackhead, a pustule, or a pimple. They simply satisfy your need for dopamine. Therefore, it is best to avoid it and treat these pimples properly. Normally it is usually tried first with topical treatments, such as retinoids, benzoyl peroxide, clascoterone, or even antibiotics in combination. “In the most serious cases we will have to resort to the oral antibiotics (doxycycline is usually used) or oral retinoids, such as isotretinoin.” In adult women, “the hormonal component is almost always relevant and hormonal treatments may be indicated.” With all this, Taberner insists that they are treatments that must be prescribed by a doctor.

In short, popping pimples is not necessarily as bad as it is made out to be and the urge to do so is not as unhealthy. Everything has its explanation. In any case, if it can be avoided, all the better. With videos you don’t have to avoid anything if you enjoy them, but don’t show them to someone who doesn’t have the same interests as you. Maybe he won’t have dinner that day.

Image | Magnificent

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