Authored by Velisa S Mefford in Skin Care 
Published on 05-24-2009

Yargh! You went to bed with great looking skin and you wake up the next morning to find a big ugly pimple growing on your face! It looks big, red, and huge and it’s definitely making you want to wear a bag over your head until you can get it to disappear. Your thinking, “Hmmm…maybe I can give it a squeeze and get that nasty goo out of it…” right? WRONG! Resist the urge to squeeze that zit! It is a fact that squeezing those nasty, unsightly zits will almost always make the problem worse by damaging your skin and causing even more pimples to pop up, not to mention permanent scarring. There are ways to alleviate pimple swelling without resorting to popping them.

There are quite a few very effective, and inexpensive, herbal remedies available right in your pantry or refrigerator. While some natural remedies work better than others, they are all safe and will not cause harmful side-effects the way prescription medication can. Most of these natural zit remedies will give you relief from flare-ups and improve the look of your skin after a fairly short period of time.

The humble ice pack is the pimple sufferers best friend. By applying an ice pack two or three times an hour should give you some fairly quick improvement. Other useful household remedies that do a good job of helping to get rid of that zit quick include toothpaste, which reduces redness and apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is a natural astringent and will help to reduce the swelling. Cucumber masks and tomato juice swabbed over the skin will also tighten pores and reduce the appearance of swelling dramatically.

Aspirin is another inexpensive home remedy that can help shrink that pimple down to nothing and clear it up. Simply crush an aspirin or two into powder and add just enough water to make a thick paste. Apply to the zit, or zits, and leave on over night. If you are allergic to aspirin DO NOT use this remedy.

Some very effective treatments from other parts of the world include sandalwood paste mixed with rose water and Tea Tree Oil. This rather fragrant paste reduces skin irritation and swelling. When used on a regular basis sandalwood paste will also improve overall skin texture. To use this particular remedy the paste should be used as a facial mask and left on for no less than six to eight hours, overnight is better if you want to see really fast results. The Tea Tree Oil is a very potent anti-bacterial. The tea tree oil helps prevent other infections and helps prevent over drying of the skin.

If you find that none of these natural remedies work for you then there are effective medications with benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid in them available without a prescription. In most cases these over-the-counter treatments are very effective for healing pimples quickly and preventing new ones. Some people, however, suffer from sever acne and may need to resort to seeing a doctor or dermatologist for prescription medications to help clear up their acne.