Gooey, grotesque, at times bloody — no pimple popping video will ever be deemed "safe" for the squeamish. But in the case of one extraction, in which the body part at hand is so intimate, issuing a disclaimer feels especially important. So be forewarned: The following story is about another one of Dr. Pimple Popper's excavations... only this time, it's on a young man's scrotum.
Last month, dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee (a.k.a. Dr. Pimple Popper) uploaded a clip that showed her removing a smattering of calcinosis cutis — the fancy term for calcium deposits in the skin — on a patient's scrotum. In the video, which you can watch for yourself after the jump (NSFW), you'll see a smattering of white, below-the-belt bumps that she very carefully squeezes and snips out one by one. All par for the course, right? But Dr. Lee recently told Refinery29 that it's the one clip she was most hesitant to post.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
"Here's this shy, good-looking guy in his early 20s who has hundreds of bumps on his scrotum," she explains, adding that it took her two full years before finally uploading it to her YouTube channel. "Nobody knew he had these — not even his parents. He's never had a girlfriend because he feels so embarrassed. So I wanted to protect him. When I removed the calcinosis cutis, we didn't use his voice in the video. He had a watch on; I told him to take it off. I didn't want anything about him to be identifiable."
Of course, Dr. Lee eventually decided to share the video with her 3.5 million YouTuber subscribers — mostly in an effort to normalize the situation. "What is so important as a dermatologist is making sure your patients feel comfortable," she says. "When people come in to see us and OBGYNs — you're showing us everything. You're laying yourself out on the table. I want them to know that they're normal. This is not something they did, and this is something that can potentially be treated."
We love that she's shedding light on an issue many people suffer from in silence — just maybe don't open it on your work browser.