Getting rid of pimple on 6yo DD?

[kristenk]

DD has a pimple (or something of that sort) on her face between her lower lip and chin. It has fully come to a head and is huge. I was hoping it would start to go away over night, but it's just gotten larger.

What's the best way to get it to go away? I'll confess that I would have already tried to squeeze it if it were on me, but that doesn't seem like the best thing to teach DD to do! I gave her a warm/hot washcloth to put on it to see if that would help, but that's the only idea I've come up with.

I know it's pretty painful for her and it's very, very, very noticeable. What should I do?

[TwoBees]

Have you tried a salycylic acid acne spot treatment, like clearsil or neutrogena?

[turtledove]

I would try the hot washcloth again and then dab some tea tree oil on it. "I" would hesitate using regular acne treatments on one so young (don't have any basis for that, just what I feel). GL!

[HIU8]

DS just had a HUGE pimple (he is 5.5) on his cheek. We were washing his face really well, but it wasn't going away. I finally dabbed a tiny tiny bit of my proactive stuff on it (just one night) and it went down so much that just washing his face well again for a few days and it went away. I to was tempted to pop it, but I didn't want to teach that to DS (plus he mentioned that it hurt him so I figured it was also infected and I didn't want to risk it spreading).

[kristenk]

I guess I'll give the washcloth another go and try tea tree oil. I don't have any sort of adult acne treatment or proactiv here.

Kristen - do you think the tea tree oil would sting or anything? I touched the pimple yesterday and DD got tears in her eyes and couldn't believe that I would hurt her. :( I really just touched it, so it must be incredibly painful. I don't want to do anything else that will really hurt.

[turtledove]

It might sting a little bit - sorry. I was thinking more about the anti bacterial properties in it.

[mmommy]

I'd probably rub a fresh cut lemon on it. It generally helps the swelling go down OR brings it to a head that will pop on its own, prevents infection, won't hurt, and wouldn't be horrible if she happened to get some on her lip.

[katieqp]

if it's that painful and big, I would be concerned that it's not a pimple, but a cyst or staph infection. keep at it with the hot compresses for a day or two, but try to limit how much DD touches it, and definitely DO NOT pop it - that will just make it worse. if she gets a fever, or you notice any redness around it (like it's swelling, or spreading) take her to the doctor.

Not trying to scare you, but I've had a couple of staph infections in the past year that started out like you describe, so just want to keep it on your radar. GL!

[elliput]

I don't have any good suggestions, but would you get the joke and laugh if I said to spray it with Windex? :duck:

[TwoBees]

if it's that painful and big, I would be concerned that it's not a pimple, but a cyst or staph infection. Not trying to scare you, but I've had a couple of staph infections in the past year that started out like you describe, so just want to keep it on your radar. GL!

I was just going to post this.

[kristenk]

Well, we went with tea tree oil and it didn't bother her. She said that it felt very cold after we put it on, but didn't say it hurt. A little while later, I noticed that it wasn't quite as noticeable as it had been and discovered that it had popped on its own.

DD said that it feels much better now and doesn't hurt. I don't know if it's really that big or if it just looks huge b/c it's on a 6yo face, ykwim?

What do I need to watch for as far as staph goes???

(Oh, and Erica, yes, I got the reference!) :)

[Tondi G]

It was probably just a pimple... I would just keep it clean and maybe put a dab of neosporin on it since it has popped on it's own.

[StantonHyde]

Neosporin is my usual go to answer with any skin infection, bumpr or scratch. Just because with kids the biggest concern is infection not appearance.

[Clarity]

I don't have any good suggestions, but would you get the joke and laugh if I said to spray it with Windex? :duck:

I know I did! Thanks for today's chuckle. :bighand: