Dr. Pimple Popper yanked a 5-pound fat mass out of a woman's arm during her festive holiday special

• Dr. Pimple Popper had a special holiday-themed episode where she treated a marathon of patients with various skin conditions like lipomas and cysts.
• One of those patients was Marilyn, a woman who had a five-pound lipoma growing on her upper arm for 15 years.
• Dr. Pimple Popper was able to remove the entire lipoma with her hands and surgical scissors.

To round out a year of both in-person treatments and virtual consultations due to the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Pimple Popper went on a bursting spree in her holiday-themed TLC Special.

"Dr. Pimple Popper: Season's Squeezings," which premiered at 9 p.m. Monday night, featured the same lipoma, cyst, and blackhead action as Dr. Pimple Popper's previous videos and television episodes, but with a seasonal twist.

During the hour-long episode, Dr. Pimple Popper, whose real name is dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee, treated seven patients with a variety of skin conditions like lipomas and cysts.

Perhaps her most eye-catching treatment was that of 76-year-old Marilyn who had a five-pound grapefruit-sized lipoma, or fat-filled lump, growing on her upper arm.

A lipoma is a type of fat-filled growth that sits 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. A lipoma is usually non-cancerous, but if it feels painful or it bothers the person who has it, a dermatologist can remove the growth.

Marilyn said she usually hosts holiday gatherings at her house, but hasn't in recent years because the lump, which had been growing on her arm for 15 years, is too heavy. Due to its weight, she can't lift heavy pots and pans filled with food to serve her family, she said.

To remove the lipomas, Dr. Pimple Popper had Marilyn lay on her side with her lipoma-bearing arm facing the ceiling. Then Lee injected it with a numbing solution so Marilyn wouldn't feel her cut and squeeze the growth.

The instant Dr. Pimple Popper cut through the center of the lipoma, a large and lumpy yellow fat deposit appeared. It was so large, Lee said it was like Marilyn's eighth child.

Using both her hands and scissors, Dr. Pimple Popper was able to pull most of the fat to the surface of the incision. But small bits stayed "wedged" under Marilyn's skin, Lee said, and required a bit more digging and cutting.

"It's been stuffed in there all cozy for awhile," Lee said as she cut off excess fat from the lipoma to make room for her hand in the incision. "It's going to make me work for it, but it'll be worth it."

To finalize the treatment, Dr. Pimple Popper stitched up Marilyn's arm and sent her on her way. A teary Marilyn told Lee she was excited to wear short-sleeved shirts again and take care of her family for Christmas.

• Read more:
• Dr. Pimple Popper: How to prevent and treat face-mask acne
• Dr. Pimple Popper's summertime skincare routine includes a popular drugstore face wash
• Dr. Pimple Popper removed a cyst from under a woman's tattoo without disturbing the design
• Dr. Pimple Popper removed 16 pus-filled lumps from a man who has so many that he doesn't look in the mirror anymore