Popping pimples in the ‘Triangle of Death, a triangular area of your face between the bridge of the nose and the corners of your mouth, can cause serious medical complications and even death.
Lish Marie, a young mother of three, recently went viral on TikTok after posting a video about how popping a pimple below her face caused extreme inflammation and facial paralysis that required medical attention. Lish tried to pop a pimple just below her left nostril using her nails, but within hours, she knew something was wrong. The left side of her face became so swollen that when she tried to smile, it hurt, and only the other corner of her mouth raised into a grin. After about four hours, she went to the emergency room, where doctors immediately put her on four medications – including antibiotics and steroids – to treat the infections that had allegedly entered the bloodstream through the pimple.
Photo: Lish Marie/TikTok
Lish’s case isn’t unique. After her TikToks went viral, the New York Post reported about similar cases of people popping pimples in the same area of the face with disastrous consequences. One woman claimed that, in her case, it led to a staph infection “worse than childbirth” that left her with a scar, and a mother recalled her daughter spending a week in hospital and having to undergo facial surgery after an infected pimple spread. Doctors warn that because of the anatomical structure of this area of the face, called the Triange of Death, even popping the smallest of pimples can cause complications.
“There is no valve mechanism in this area to prevent retrograde blood flow,” dermatologist Dr Vishakha Dhorde told NDTV. “If bacteria from an infected pimple enter these veins, they can reach the brain and cause severe infections such as septic cavernous sinus thrombosis, potentially leading to loss of eyesight, stroke, paralysis or even death.”
Photo: X
“Because of this anatomical pathway, an infection in this zone can, in rare cases, spread from the face to the brain without the protective filtering of other parts of the circulatory system,” fellow dermatologist Dr Ajay Rana confirmed.
Basically, when you pop a pimple in the Triangle of Death, you create an open wound through which dangerous bacteria can enter the bloodstream and cause an infection that can reach your brain. Cases as the ones mentioned above are rare, otherwise, millions of teenagers would wind up in the hospital every year, but doctors warn that, however small, the risks need to be considered.
@lishmarie1♬ Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64, Act I: No. 13, Dance of the Knights – Mariinsky Orchestra & Valery Gergiev
“I think I caught mine extremely quick, within hours so I’m on a ton of meds,” Lish said on TikTok, adding that her smile was crooked for about 24 hours. She was 100% back to normal in three days.
Others weren’t so lucky, as bacteria like Staphylococcus or Streptococcus are extremely tough to deal with once they enter the bloodstream. Inflammation can be an issue as well, as pressing too hard on a pimple in the Triangle of Death can cause the inflammation to spread to the cavernous sinus and press against optic nerves or other sensitive organs close to brain.
“I almost died from this. It’s no joke, I was hospitalized for a week and a half and had surgery,” one person commented on Lish Marie’s video.
Doctors suggest that, if you really have to pop a pimple in the Triangle of Death, make sure you wash your face and hands, use a cotton swab or disinfected popping tools instead of your fingernails, and whatever you do, don’t apply too much pressure to avoid causing inflammation.
