Recently, a 20-year-old university student in Zhejiang, China, developed abscesses in his lungs and partial necrosis of his lung tissues — all caused by a popped pimple.
Lin (not his real name), a student of Ningbo University, found a pimple the size of a soybean on his face after staying up late for exams.
Image courtesy of Water’s Edge Dermatology. For illustration purposes only.
“It was red and swollen, very unsightly, so I thought squeezing it would make it heal faster,” he said, according to Sina News.
Without washing his hands beforehand, he squeezed the pimple until the pus came out.
After a few days, the wound became infected, and Lin began to develop a fever, cough, and phlegm, which only went away temporarily after taking medication.
His condition only worsened as time went by.
He began experiencing pin-prick-like pain in his lower right chest, which made him break out in cold sweat whenever he breathed deeply or coughed.
By the third day, his fever reached 39°C, prompting him to seek treatment at the First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University.
Dr Ding Qunli, the chief physician of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, arranged for Lin to go through a CT scan.
The results then showed that some of his lung tissue had already been damaged.
According to the Dr Ding, Lin’s condition was due to Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria found in the surface of the skin.
“The bacteria then traveled through the bloodstream to the lungs, eroding the lung tissue,” Dr Ding explained.
The infection in his face had pushed the bacteria into his bloodstream, causing sepsis — an extensive inflammation throughout the body that may cause tissue damage, organ failure and death.
Lin responded well to medication and was discharged from the hospital after 12 days of taking antibiotics.
Following the incident, doctors from the First Affiliated Hospital advised against popping pimples on the “danger triangle of the face”, CTI News reported.
Infections in this area of the face, which stretches from the bridge of the nose to the corners of the mouth, may lead to life-threatening health complications.
While experts have noted that such cases are unlikely, they discourage the public from popping pimples as it increases the risk of bacterial infection.
Also read: Woman in China develops snake-like patterns on back after using TCM cream for 10 years
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from SLMD, Lifestylememory on Freepik, both for illustration purposes only.