Popping zits is an activity most people with acne participate in daily. It’s even something that is considered fun by many. Well, no matter how bad the temptation is, don’t do it. Popping zits is bad for your skin, no matter how embarrassing it may be to leave the pimple alone.

A pimple forms when you have too much sebum, a substance that lubricates the skin. Your pore than becomes too full of sebum, dead skin cells, and bacteria, causing a pimple to appear. When you pop this pimple, you may force all the excess stuff back down into your follicle. The whole reason the pimple formed in the first place is because this stuff was too much for the pore to handle, so popping zits just makes the situation worse because now the follicle walls may rupture and the material may leak even further.

If this occurs, the material most likely spills into the dermis, which is the innermost layer of your skin. From here, popping zits may cause nodules or cysts. Nodules are extremely painful. They appear as hard, red lumps under the skin and are caused by the ruptured follicle leaking into the dermis and infecting other follicles. Nodules take much longer to go away than normal pimples do.

If a cyst occurs, it has to be treated by a doctor, and treatment varies based on the seriousness of the cyst. So in addition to causing some wicked scars, popping zits can lead to a whole host of other problems. Make sure you avoid any further damage by keeping your hands off.