- Dr. Pimple Popper treated a fan named Jim who had a lipoma on the back of his neck, and another on his thigh.
- Jim had one growth for 17 years and another for seven. He said his late wife inspired him to see Dr. Pimple Popper.
- Dr. Pimple Popper used her fingers for most of the procedure, and was able to squeeze chicken-like fat masses out of Jim's body.
Dr. Pimple Popper treated a longtime fan with orange-sized growths on the back of his neck and thigh during the latest episode of her show.
Jim, a 55-year-old from Cottonwood, Arizona came to Dr. Pimple Popper after worrying his growths could affect his job as a postal service driver. He also told Dr. Pimple Popper, whose real name is Dr. Sandra Lee, that he and his recently deceased wife watched "Dr. Pimple Popper" together.
"I feel like my wife had a hand in me getting ahold of Dr. Lee and right now she's looking down at me," Jim said during the episode.
Jim's neck growth appeared 17 years ago as a quarter-sized lump, but now it's the size of an orange, he said. The leg lump is similar in size and Jim first noticed it seven years ago.
Dr. Pimple Popper diagnosed Jim with 2 lipomas
When Dr. Pimple Popper first met Jim at her Upland, California office, she diagnosed him with two lipomas.
Lipomas are fat-filled growths that sit between a person's muscle layer and skin layer. Typically, lipomas grow slowly and are fairly small, about two inches in diameter, according to the Mayo Clinic.
These growths usually feel doughy to the touch and, if pressed with a finger, will move around a bit under the skin. For most people, lipomas don't cause any pain, but for others, the growths can be painful if they're near any nerves or blood vessels. If that's the case, the lipomas can be drained.
To treat Jim, Lee tackled his thigh growth first. She numbed the area and then sliced down its center with a blade, revealing a lumpy and slippery yellow fat mass covered in blood.
Dr. Pimple Popper plunged her finger between the lipoma and Jim's skin in an attempt to loosen the growth from its cavity.
Then she squeezed around the sides of the skin with one hand while grabbing and pulling the mass with her other hand.
"It does remind you of chicken, doesn't it?" Lee said to Jim, who said his wife loved chicken broth in response. A few minutes later, Dr. Pimple Popper had removed the entire lipoma in one piece.
Jim's neck lipoma worried Dr. Pimple Popper
After stitching up Jim's thigh area, Lee moved onto his neck lipoma. She said this removal would be more difficult because the neck has more fibrous tissue that holds lipomas under the skin.
She started by slicing through the growth's center and loosening it with her hands. That's when she noticed it was "wedged" into place and cut the lipoma in half to see under the surface.
Next, Lee used surgical scissors to cut out the rest of the lipoma and stitched Jim up. She said the procedure was simpler than she thought it'd be.
Before Jim left California, Dr. Pimple Popper signed a picture of him and his wife at his request.