It's Only Acne by reddit user lost-angle

Popping my zits is part of my morning routine. Everyone tells me you're not supposed to do it, that it just makes things worse, but I can't help it. It feels so good to get that relief, especially on a big one.

Nearly two weeks ago, I was going over my face before I washed it, doing my normal routine, and I found a big one, right beside my nose. I was a bit surprised that I hadn't seen it the night before developing, but no matter. I put my fingers to either side of it and watched in the mirror as the white head curled out of my face, almost lifelike. It was the last one. I rinsed off my hands, washed my face and finished getting ready for school.

By noon, I was starting to feel the pressure of a zit on the side of my nose. After school, I went to the bathroom and looked at my face. Three white heads stared back at me, right around the spot where the big one that morning had been. I popped them all. Each one curling out onto my fingernail. I thought for a moment I saw one move, but that wasn't possible.

The next morning, the entire right side of my nose and part of my cheek ached as I got out of bed. In the bathroom mirror, I saw, to my horror, eight white heads clustered in the same area I'd purged only yesterday. I popped them all. That satisfying feeling I always got didn't hit me as hard as usual. I decided to get some acne cream or soap on my way home, in hopes of dealing with the problem. I had never used it before, but then, I'd never really had that much of a problem before. White Prom Dresses 2020

By lunchtime, I felt that now familiar ache on the right side of my nose. When I got home, there were 12 white dots waiting for me. I pinched each one. Each of them curled out, longer than most white heads I'd popped before. Immediately after clearing my face, I washed it and applied the cream I'd bought, hoping it would work.

In the morning, I knew the cream hadn't worked. I stared forlornly in front of the mirror and counted the dots that had appeared overnight. Fifteen. As the long white strands curled out of my face, I swear I saw some of them move.

Noon and that ache again. I was going to ask my mom to take me to the doctor. I checked the mirror when I got home and found twenty-two little white dots, spreading from my nose onto my right cheek. I didn't pop them, as much as I wanted to. I needed to have something to show the doctor.

At the walk-in clinic, I explained to the doctor what had happened. He took a look at my face and prescribed an antibiotic face cream. My mom picked it up at the pharmacy and we went home.
I immediately went to the bathroom and popped the zits. It felt like the white strands were longer this time and I know for a fact some of them moved. I washed my face and applied the new cream and hoped it worked.

In the morning, there was hope. My face still ached, but not as much as it had the afternoon before. When I checked the mirror, only seventeen little whiteheads. I popped them all and got ready for school.

That afternoon, when I checked the mirror, I was horrified. There were only thirteen white heads, but they weren't so little any more. Each one was huge, by zit standards. I popped them and the strands that came out were long, inches long, and I know for a fact some of them moved once they were out of my face. Instead of the holes where the white head had been closing up, the pores stayed open. Thirteen gaping holes in the right side of my face. I cried.

The number went back up in the morning. Eighteen. Big again, some of them in the pores from the day before, some in new ones. I went to school with twenty-five holes in my face. I wished I were a girl so I could hide behind makeup.

After school I found another twenty white heads. I started to pop them. The first one curled out of its hole onto my fingernail. All inch and a half of its length. I was about to rinse it off when I noticed that it was twisting around itself, sliding along my nail. I watched in horror as it found its way to the skin on the edge of my nail and wormed itself into a pore.

I had no idea what to do. I was frozen in place in front of the mirror.

When I snapped out of it, I knew I had to see a doctor. Now.
My mom wouldn't be home from work for another few hours, but the hospital was a short bike ride away. I left a note on the counter and rode for all I was worth.

When I checked in, the nurse asked what was going on. I tried to explain it to her, and she just shook her head. After a short wait, a different nurse came and got me. We walked past the ER beds that I was expecting to be taken to, down a few halls and to a set of locked doors. Once I was inside, I knew where I was: the psych ward.

They didn't believe me. I told them again and again what happened, but they didn't believe me. I tried to show them proof and they told me I was just self harming. They caught me in the bathroom popping the zits and washing the white creatures down the drain as fast as I could and they brought me out and tied me to a bed. They forced me to take medication, told me I was hallucinating, that I just had bad acne.

I spent the night tied to the bed. In the morning, I promised not to harm myself and they let me up. They made me take medication again. I didn't know what to do anymore, I wanted to go home. I cried.

I spent two more days in the psych ward before my mom came and was allowed to take me home. I could see the worry on her face.

Once I was home, I checked the bathroom mirror. The zits on my face had multiplied. There were so many I couldn't count them all. I also had several on my finger where the creature had found its way in.

Popping them would do nothing, I knew. Drastic measures had to be taken.

So, here I am. My mom's at work, I've got my pocket knife ready, and now that I've told my story, I'm going to get rid of this infestation once and for all.

source: reddit.com/r/NoSleep