To Pop or Not to Pop! That is the question! … and whether we are willing to admit it or not, we ALL want answers.

So the other day a friend of mine was watching videos where she thought the people were artfully popping pimples, but instead, realized that they were extracting some sort of thin long bug from a girls skin… GROSS! However, despite how disturbing the video was, once my eyes were turned to it – I couldn’t look away. I felt like I was rubber necking some sort of car crash and yet without knowing it I was stuck watching it like an infomercial I just couldn’t turn off.

“Just three easy payments of $19.95 and this george forman pillow pet could be yours…yours….yours. It heats, it treats, it cleans itself and its only $19.95! (plus sales tax where applicable)”

– @ any infomercial ever…

So where does this fascination come from? Why do so many of us have this deep interest in the grotesque? and why is it that we can’t seem to just turn it off or look away.

Introducing … the GOOGLE SEARCH

So according to google gen x can’t get enough of these videos – and according to researchers, when we pop our own pimples the action releases dopamine (it makes you feel good) and when we watch other people do it, like in a video, that same feeling is triggered.

Which brings me to question #2 – can we get a sort of “pimple popping high” from either ourselves or these videos? My assumption is yes – because much like the other dopamine triggering actions the 21st century has created (receiving likes and views on Instagram, getting friended, getting texts etc.) this one provides a similar feeling . So while the high wouldn’t obviously be attributed to the consumption of a substance, the feeling one gets after finally getting rid of that painful pimple could trigger a pleasant emotional response.

According to Medical Daily the popping of pimples illicit a almost relaxing or soothing response for some people – which is why a YouTuber named “Dr. Pimple Popper” has 144,000 followers on her page.

But beyond the obvious and cringe worthy content Dr. Pimple Popper also reports that for some who, beyond the fascination – some who have a condition that obsessively drives them to pick at their faces, her videos actually could provide relief and allow them to stop harmfully picking at their facial imperfections.

So let me get this straight… some of the fascination of these disgusting and intriguing videos is actually helping people?

Dr. Pimple Popper

Featured in Medical Daily and the Times all signs point to the fact that Dr. Pimple Popper, Dr. Sandra Lee, is here to stay.

After starting to upload videos in 2010 Sandra Lee has since found her fame as one of the best dermatologists around – and honestly… More Power to her!

But as for or first… or maybe our last question of whether this topic is Cringey or Captivating ? I think for now, we may just have to leave it at BOTH.

The truth is, we can’t always understand why people are so fascinated by things like this, but at the end of the day we chose To Pop or Not to Pop and To Watch or Not to Watch, so whether watching pimples getting popped gets you giddy or makes you nauseous – well that’s just up to you.