They’re a gross but very real part of life: pimples. Red, often painful to the touch, and very unappealing, these annoying spots plagued many of us in our teen years and continued to follow us into adulthood, to our fury. We’re taught not to touch our pimples and ESPECIALLY not to pop them – but what if you just can’t help it? What if there’s a pimple just ready to burst and you have a date in a few hours that you’d rather attend without a second head growing from your cheek? Well, if you truly feel like you want to pop your pimple, you can. However, you should always follow this technique laid out by Dr. Oz.

The reason we should never touch or pop our pimples is because our hands are generally covered with dirt, oil, and bacteria. Prodding your pimples is simply going to make them worse and trying to open your pimple with dirty fingers? Well, we’re sure you can imagine what’s getting into your pores if you do that.

Even worse, squeezing at the pimple from both sides (as is traditionally done) is just going to rough up the healthy skin around the pimple. This will actually make it more difficult for the pimple to heal and leave a scar when the acne is gone.

The best technique to safely pop your pimples only requires two tools…and a strong stomach, of course. Here’s what you’ll need to banish that white head for good:

Materials

• Rubbing Alcohol
• Needle

Instructions

1. Start by disinfecting EVERYTHING. Use the rubbing alcohol to disinfect the pimple, your fingers, and the needle you’ll be using.
2. Once everything is clean, poke the needle into the head of the pimple from the side. Stick it straight through so it comes out the other side.
3. Pull up on the needle to pop the white head.
4. You can use your disinfected fingers to squeeze out any remaining pus if you’d like.

Obviously, this is a very unpleasant thing. But if you’re extremely careful with the needle and follow the exact procedure, you should have just safely removed the pimple. Please be safe with any needle near your face; if you’re a teen, DO NOT try this trick without an adults’ consent or assistance.

Once you’ve popped the pimple in question and cleaned up the remains, make sure to clean the area with an astringent like witch hazel and moisturize with your face moisturizer.

Dr. Oz leaves us with one final – and actually terrifying – word of advice: never pop a pimple that’s between the bridge of your nose to the sides of your lips. That area is known as the “Triangle of Death” and for a pretty serious reason. If you try to pop a pimple in this region, you’ll squeeze the pus deep into the veins that drain to the brain and cause a brain abscess. The veins leading to your brain can get clogged from this pimple pus and cause a bacterial infection in the brain. And that, my friends, is really not good.

As long as you’re following these guidelines laid out for us by Dr. Oz, you should be safe to pop that pimple! Never fear those annoying white heads again.

What do you think of these tips? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.