Watch Dr. Pimple Popper cut pebble-sized nodules off a man's nose and pop his inflamed eyebrow cyst
- In the newest episode of her TLC show, Dr. Pimple Popper helped Juan, a 25-year-old with a genetic condition that caused growths around his eyes and nose.
- Juan said the growths ruined his confidence and kept him from pursuing film school.
- When Dr. Pimple Popper saw Juan, she was able to pop the cyst near his eye and burn off his many nose growths with a special heated pen.
On this week's episode of her TLC show "Dr. Pimple Popper," the celebrity dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee helped a 25-year-old with a rare genetic disorder that left painful, embarrassing, and bleeding-prone bumps around his nose and eyes.
Juan, from Tustin, California, came to Dr. Pimple Popper after multiple dermatologists gave him ineffective topical creams for his genetic condition, called tuberous sclerosis.
Tuberous sclerosis can cause growths both inside and outside the body, which can lead to other conditions like cognitive disabilities, heart problems, and in Juan's case, epileptic seizures.
He said he had his first seizure when he was six months old and he's been taking medication to control the seizures since he turned 10.
"That's when the tumors started to come up," Juan said of the benign skin growths. At first they looked like freckles, but then they turned into bumps that bleed at random.
"With my condition, I don't want to go out with people," Juan said, adding that he feels like his skin growths are holding him back from his dreams, like going to film school.
Fortunately, Dr. Pimple Popper was able to help Juan gain the confidence he sought.
First, Dr. Pimple Popper squeezed Juan's eye cyst
When Dr. Pimple Popper met Juan, she explained doctors are unsure why some people with tuberous sclerosis develop skin growths.
To start, Lee numbed the silver dollar-sized bump at the end of Juan's eyebrow. Then she used a small surgical blade to create a small incision in the growth.
Using scissors, she pried open the incision to reveal a pink bubble underneath. Though the growth looked like a cyst from the outside, Lee said she had to be extra careful because of Juan's genetic condition.
After gently squeezing the growth, white pus squirted out and Dr. Pimple Popper was able to confirm it was a cyst, a growth known to create a thick substance when skin cells or oil get trapped under the skin.
Next, Lee used a cauterizing pen to stop bleeding so she could get a better look inside the growth's cavity and ensure she removed all of its contents.
Dr. Pimple Popper also treated his pebble-like nose bumps
After stitching up the incision she made near the corner of Juan's eye, Dr. Pimple Popper moved onto the bumps around his nose.
Lee said these bumps were angiofibromas, small non-cancerous papules that grow near the nose are are prone to bleeding.
To treat these growths, Dr. Pimple Popper used another cauterizing tool, which both controlled the bleeding and cut the tiny nodules off the skin.
Though the process was simple, it was also smelly and Juan kept coughing due to the strange fumes to procedure caused.
"As I'm cauterizing tissue, it creates a little smoke and that's really vaporized tissue," Lee said. She likened the scent to getting your hair stuck in a hair dryer.
But the smell was worth it, according to Juan, who was pleased with the final result. There wasn't any downtime or stitches required with the nose-growth removal.
"Having this clear now, it is going to give me confidence to pursue my dreams," Juan said.