Why Shouldn’t You Pop Herpes Blisters? Here’s What To Do If You Accidently Popped It Up

These words I think might be oxygen to your thinking if you are deliberate over popping up your herpes blisters. I have strong grounds as to why puncturing the blisters might instigate severe trauma to your skin.

Let’s face the truth.

You think popping up the cold sores speeds up the healing process. We randomly asked 133 people from different infection backgrounds, i.e, HSV1 and HSV2 patients about their opinion on this matter. Would they prefer puncturing the blisters rather than allotting time to heal on their own?

53% (round off) of people reacted as if they could do anything to heal their sores. They were ready to pierce their skin. People with such views are doomed to repent for life.

Do you really want to pop herpes blisters?

Believe me, this action is irreversible and can impact physical, psychological, and social aspects of your life. It even could be a lifelong nightmare for you.

Why Isn’t It Safe To Pop Herpes Blisters

Dr. Omar Obrahimi is a founder and medical director of the Connecticut Skin Institute, a board-certified dermatologist who says that popping up the cold sores might not be easy on your skin. He says, “people desperately want to pop herpes blisters in an attempt to accelerate the healing process, though, they don’t know the anguish they sustain might overpower the thin chances of benefits.”

I would say, blisters protect you from foreign invaders. They shield the inner tissue layers such as epidermis and dermis from the outsiders and help in preventing potential infection which might be certain if the blisters would not be there.

Blisters are a kind of natural shield which is protecting you from the inside out.

Let’s probe the complications you might face.

Chances of New Infection

Popping up the cold sores effuses the free flow of highly contagious fluids that contain millions of viruses. These secretions are deadly contagious that even a mere touch is enough to spread the infection to other parts of the body. As the human skin is highly sensitive to herpes infection, you might end up infecting other parts of your body such as your fingers, eyes, or even genitals.

You May Acquire Herpetic Whitlow

Herpetic Whitlow is an infection of your finger/s. Your fingers are at the highest risk of developing an infection as you are going to pop herpes blisters up with your hands. Herpetic whitlow is a rare infection but is a deadly-painful occurrence that you would want to avoid. If you don’t know about herpetic whitlow, consider reading Answered: Your Most Burning Questions About Herpetic Whitlow where I have tried to address basic to advanced questions about herpetic whitlow.

Herpes Keratitis Manifestation

You might end up infecting your eyes with the herpes virus. There are chances this occurrence may progress to herpes keratitis, a condition where the herpes virus becomes an ultimate cause of corneal scarring. We have a dedicated article on this topic. Insane (But True) Things About Eye Herpes “YOU SHOULD KNOW”

Genital Herpes

The possibility of infecting your genitals (penis, vagina, anus) is a bit low but it may happen.

Permanent Scarring

Why would you want permanent scarring on the site of infection? I am damn sure, you would want to avoid falling into such situations. When left to heal on their own, the blisters usually don’t leave any scar on the skin.

Hindering the natural healing process and popping it open might endanger your skin to bacterial infection. Your skin is already fighting this immortal virus, exposing it to a bacterial infection will only deteriorate your skin condition to worse. The bacterial infection might inflame your skin and make it worse to heal.

It may take months to heal and that is what potentially increases your chances of developing a permanent scar.

Sedated Healing Process

Open wounds are prone to various skin infections. If any infection captures the infection site, the healing process might be slowed down. The slow and gradual healing response of your body may stall the healing for 20 days or more.

Excruciating Pain

Pain management is one of the toughest in the event of herpes infection. Be it any strain of herpes, blister induces pain beyond endurance. Pain is one of the reasons why people want to get over it ASAP. Though, I still recommend not to pop herpes blister because the pain from the popped-up blister is way too excruciating than the regular one.

In Case Of Accidental Pop Up

What if you accidentally popped up your blisters or someone else accidentally pressed the blisters to pop? Both in case, the damage is done, you can’t reverse the event or time. Neither are there ways to prevent woes of physical damage, but there are certain measures which if enforced might help you decrease down the extremity of your complications.

Right after the incident, there are huge chances of infection to other body parts. The one who has accidentally come in contact with your blisters is at risk of getting herpes infection. Prevent fluids touching other body parts such as your fingers, chin, eyes, and even your genitals. Do not let the highly contagious pus spread across body parts.

Prevention of Infection

Now you need to wash it off your body. I recommend using antiseptic with a 60 to 80% concentration of ethyl alcohol. Ethyl alcohol is a potent virucidal agent, as per the Center for Disease Control (DC), and can inactivate the herpes virus effectively. It will also help in preventing plaque formation at infection sites.

Ask the person who popped up your blisters to wash off his skin with the same antiseptic to minimize any chances of herpes transmission.

You can also use tea tree oil as a highly potent virucidal agent that can stop plaque formation by 97%. Here is a complete guide on how to use tea tree oil for herpes.

Minimizing The Chances Of Scarring

You need to clean and disinfect the infected part as soon as possible. You have to avoid on-site infection. If the infection occurred, the infected area would inflame and form a scab. Long-term inflammation is prone to scarring. Hence, a forthwith action is required to stop skin infection. Below are the steps you can take to prevent scarring:

1. Prevent infection and plaque formation right after the incident.
2. Use disinfectants such as ethyl alcohol to stop the infection.
3. Always keep your wounds clean, clean the wounds every day. You can use a mild soap or an antiseptic to fix this part.
4. Apply petroleum jelly to prevent drying skin.
5. Always keep your wound covered with bandages. This will help prevent foreign pathogens from staying outside. I recommend changing the bandage every day.
6. You can use silicone sheets to cover up your wound. The report suggests that using silicone sheets might improve the scar’s appearance.
7. Scabs are the byproduct of tissue healing. Please do not pick on the scabs. It helps in reducing itching and even bleeding. If you scratch the scab, your wound will take longer to heal.

Pain Management

Warm Compress:  Warm Compress might help in soothing herpes-induced pain. Heat relaxes your muscles which then sends a positive signal to the brain which helps in herpes pain.

Cold Compress: Cold compress can alleviate swelling and quite off the inflammatory responses of your body.

Baking Soda: There is empirical evidence that is in favor of using baking soda to dry out herpes lesions effectively. The soon your lesions dry the better would be your chance of managing pain. We have a dedicated guide on how to use baking soda for herpes.