Cysts? Lipomas? Dr. Pimple Popper's been there, done that — and we've watched them all in abject horror. But something we haven't seen before? What happens when someone's over a piercing. In her latest video, Dr. Sandra Lee decided to forego the usual dermatological fare and show us the process of removing a dermal piercing.
Not familiar? According to the Association of Professional Piercers, a dermal piercing, which is also known as an anchor, involves "implanting a titanium anchor into the dermal layer of the skin using a dermal punch or need." You may have seen them before inside dimples, on the chest, and the back of the neck. After an anchor is pierced, jewellery can be screwed into it and interchanged easily.
In Dr. Lee's video, you can see her unscrew the upper jewel part of the piercing before getting to the anchor, which, in this patient's case, is on the cheekbone. In her usual conversational style, Lee walks us through the process, which involves snipping at the skin to remove the T-shaped anchor. It's a delicate procedure and a far cry from the dramatic pops and squeezes that we're used to, but the video shows an important part of piercing that nobody talks about: what happens when you want your piercing gone.
Another way this video goes against the Pimple Popper norm? The patient returns because the site gets infected. Dr. Lee explains in the video's description that she made a mistake and "essentially just trapping fully healed skin underneath" the suture. After some antibiotics, the patient was fine and Dr. Lee's back at popping — and celebrating over a billion views on her YouTube channel.