Every week on Dr. Pimple Popper, dermatologist Sandra Lee, MD, meets with men and women suffering from rare, often confidence-crushing skin conditions. The boils they carry are massive. The cysts are bubbling up to balloon-sized. But it's the people underneath the incredible lumps and growths that make the show worth watching. Just cover your eyes through the pus-filled eruptions, if you must.
Following a brief hiatus, TLC's Dr. Pimple Popper is back for its sophomore season. If you missed tonight's television premiere, "Nose No Bounds," we have the breakdown of every pus-filled pop you missed. The hour-long episode gave us three new patients: April, who has bubbly lipomas in her arms, Genner and his nose boil, and Chris, with a two-for-one of flaky psoriasis plaques covering his entire body and an egg-sized bump on the top of his head. Here's how Dr. Lee started season two with a bang...
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Case #1: April
We meet 45-year-old April on a farm in Deatsville, Alabama. April's arms are large and puffy, ballooning with mountains of fatty deposits of all different shapes and sizes. "When I look down at my arms, I feel like a freak," April says, her eyes welling with tears. "The bumps around my elbow are a little sore, tender to the touch. But the pain isn't my problem; it's the fact that these lumps are hideous."
We meet 45-year-old April on a farm in Deatsville, Alabama. April's arms are large and puffy, ballooning with mountains of fatty deposits of all different shapes and sizes. "When I look down at my arms, I feel like a freak," April says, her eyes welling with tears. "The bumps around my elbow are a little sore, tender to the touch. But the pain isn't my problem; it's the fact that these lumps are hideous."
At their initial meeting, Dr. Lee squishes the puffy bumps running all down on April's arm, diagnosing her with familial multiple lipomatosis (a condition April inherited from her father and has passed down to her teenage son, Hunter). Comparatively speaking, April's case is one of the most extreme Dr. Lee has ever encountered. "I've never seen this many bumps on a person's arm," she says. "There are bumps on top of bumps — more than you actually see. I can't even imagine how many are really under the skin."
The goal of the surgery is to remove as many lipomas as possible, without covering April's arm with scars. Working quickly, Dr. Lee begins slicing, pressing, and popping squishy lipomas out of April's skin, starting with her left arm. In just the one arm, Dr. Lee extracts 38 fatty lipomas. The right side proves equally impressive, with 30 lipomas hiding out underneath the skin. After Dr. Lee has piled 68 blubbery, golf ball-sized lipomas across a single surgical tray, April's arms are back to a normal shape — and Dr. Lee's fingers are very numb.
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Case #2: Genner
Next, we're introduced to Genner, a man from the Philippines who covers half his face with a surgical mask — not because he's sick, or to protect against germs, but because he wants to hide the massive lump on his nose. "It started as a small pimple fourteen years ago, and has grown into this huge boil since then," Genner says, removing the paper mask from his face. "It leaks this bad odor, and it's heavy on my nose — I'm in pain every time I shake my head."
Next, we're introduced to Genner, a man from the Philippines who covers half his face with a surgical mask — not because he's sick, or to protect against germs, but because he wants to hide the massive lump on his nose. "It started as a small pimple fourteen years ago, and has grown into this huge boil since then," Genner says, removing the paper mask from his face. "It leaks this bad odor, and it's heavy on my nose — I'm in pain every time I shake my head."
During the office consultation, Dr. Lee immediately diagnoses Genner with rhinophyma, a thickening of the nose skin that's actually a rare form of rosacea. "Genner's case is an interesting presentation of rhinophyma," Dr. Lee explains. "It sort of presents like he chewed a whole pack of bubble gum and stuck it right onto the tip of his nose."
To get rid of the lumpy mass, Dr. Lee uses an electric laser, which burns off the flesh of the nose and immediately cauterizes the resulting wound at the same time. She likens the cauterizer to a an electrical sculpting tool, which can help trim and reshape the nose. The skin-burning surgery is brutal (and bloody), but after a few minutes of laser buzzing, Genner's nose is back to its intended shape — zero bumpy buildup on the end.
Case #3: Chris
The third case of the day is a double-header: two unrelated skin conditions in one patient. Chris, 32, has a an egg-sized boil smack dab on the top of his head, and severe psoriasis plaques over his whole body. "My psoriasis flared up when I was about 20," Chris says, adding that it's become unbearable. "Then it was only on my scalp, but now it's all over my shoulders, neck, and chest — the majority of my body is itchy all the time. When I get out of the shower, the entire bathroom floor is covered with dry skin."
The third case of the day is a double-header: two unrelated skin conditions in one patient. Chris, 32, has a an egg-sized boil smack dab on the top of his head, and severe psoriasis plaques over his whole body. "My psoriasis flared up when I was about 20," Chris says, adding that it's become unbearable. "Then it was only on my scalp, but now it's all over my shoulders, neck, and chest — the majority of my body is itchy all the time. When I get out of the shower, the entire bathroom floor is covered with dry skin."
After meeting with Chris, Dr. Lee recommends a single surgery and an injection to treat the head lump and psoriasis, respectively. Dr. Lee starts by cutting into the bump with a scalpel, then pushes at the sides of the incision before a sticky white ball that looks a little like a garlic bulb pops out from Chris' head. To tackle the psoriasis, Dr. Lee injects Chris with a shot of Cosentyx, a prescription medication that will help suppress Chris' overactive immune system to control his flareups. With routine injections, Dr. Lee believes that Chris will be able to massively reduce his widespread psoriasis breakouts.
After an hour of popping, slicing, cauterizing, and enough dry flaky skin to fill a bathtub, we leave you with three dermatological success stories — don't forget to tune in next week for round two.