A WOMAN claims she ended up in hospital battling a superbug after trying to spot a huge pimple on her face. Gibsen Armstrong shared her story on TikTok, which has been viewed almost 3 million times. Like many of us every day, she thought she’d give popping a juicy spot on her face a go. […]
A WOMAN claims she ended up in hospital battling a superbug after trying to spot a huge pimple on her face.
Gibsen Armstrong shared her story on TikTok, which has been viewed almost 3 million times.
Like many of us every day, she thought she’d give popping a juicy spot on her face a go.
But clips show that, as a result, her face swelled, causing her eye to close up.
She ended up in hospital, where Gibsen can be seen squeezing her face while a cannula delivering medication is in her hand.
Gibsen’s face oozes a stream of yellow pus as she presses the skin.
She captions the video “that time I got MRSA from popping a pimple on my face”.
She wrote in the comments: “I was in hospital when it was draining and I was hooked up on IV’s 24/7 [sic].
“I got admitted to the hospital for a week because they couldn’t figure out what it was.
“It finally busted itself.”
MRSA is a type of bacteria that is resistant to many common antibiotics, giving it the term a “superbug”.
MRSA lives harmlessly on the skin of around one in 30 people, usually in the nose, armpits, groin or buttocks. This is known as “carrying” MRSA.
It can cause problems if it gets deeper into the body, possibly causing a serious infection of the bloodstream, which can be life-threatening.
The bacteria can get into a wound or scrape and cause painful skin infections including boils, abscesses and cellulitis.
However, sometimes MSRA can be masked as acne or spots, so it’s unclear what came first in Gibsen’s case.
Regardless, dermatologists say you should not squeeze, pick or even touch spots.
Popping it can lead to infection, scarring, or delay the healing process.
Dr Aneka Khaira, an aesthetic doctor from Harley Street Dental Studio, says: “If you really have the urge, use a warm compress over your skin, this will loosen and soothe the skin, sometimes causing the pimple to pop by itself.
“It’s best to wait until there is a white head and treat it as aseptically as possible, i.e wear gloves and a sterile needle to pop just the outer layer.
“If you see bleeding you have gone too deep. Ideally, it’s best to leave the popping to a dermatologist.”
MSRA is most common in hospital patients because feeding tubes, drips or catheters are points for the bug to enter the body.
It can cause a high temperaure, pain, chills, aches, dizziness and confusion.
In the most severe cases, it may cause pneumonia in the lungs, damage the heart valves, lead to sepsis or cause a bone infection.
Do you have a story for The Sun news desk?
Email us at exclusive@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4104. You can WhatsApp us on 07423 720 250. We pay for videos too.
Click here to upload yours.
Click here to get The Sun newspaper delivered for FREE for the next six weeks.
