Popping questions with Dr. Sandra Lee

Dr. Sandra Lee – best known as Dr. Pimple Popper – answers some of our swollen, itchy questions about skin, patients, her textbook of the future, her search for new food comparisons for what comes out of our bodies, and how she manages Dr. Pimple Popper across her TV and social media platforms…

Watch Dr. Pimple Popper now Watch TLC now Set a reminder

face-to-faceguard with Dr. Sandra Lee

What are your “don’t delay, see a doctor today” skin signs?

“Anytime you have a spot on your body that looks different, or looks suspicious to you, trust your intuition because you know your skin. You potentially see it every day. If you feel something is different, or has not been there before, or something really bothers you physically or mentally, those are the things that you should see your dermatologist for.”

Why do parents need to take their teenagers’ cystic and hormonal acne seriously?

“Acne does not threaten our lives in any way, physically, but certainly it affects us very much mentally, especially during the teenage years. We're just trying to figure ourselves out in general, and how we relate to others and to the world. And to have bad acne can really affect the development of your personality, who you are, and how you relate with the world. And that's important. And if you have moderate to severe acne, you are prone to scarring, which is life-long and very hard to treat once you have scars like that. I've seen countless adults who have come to see me because you look in the mirror and all you see is your acne scars, even though others may not. You can see what an impact it makes on people.”

What would you put in your own dermatology textbook?

“Well, a lot of pictures. I've had ideas of this, and I would love to put photos in that are interactive. There's a name for this, if you focus your phone on it, it'll move and you can see a little mini video (augmented reality). It would be really nice because a lot of the things that I do are more video oriented, not so much just the still picture. You want to actually see the pop, so I would love to make a book like that.”

You’ve sometimes used food comparisons, like oatmeal or bubble tea, to describe what you're seeing. Are there any new food similarities to watch out for this season?

“I always use food comparisons because it works in two ways. First of all, it looks like food. That's what organic things look like. And it makes it more light-hearted, maybe. It’s really good to use analogies to compare things. Most of the time they're food analogies. We’re always trying to think of another way to describe something. It gets boring when something just keeps looking like egg salad or grits. I may have to visit other countries to know what other things look like. I'm sure there's different delicacies in different countries that I could use as a potential cyst description.”

What's one of the most unusual case histories a patient has given you this season?

“People are giving their facts, but they're not always the facts that you necessarily need to hear. It could be throwing you off from the scent, even though they're not trying to do that. People tend to not be very good about timelines. A lot of times people say, “This has been here for 5 years”. But then if I really question them, and they think back, they'll realise that it's been there for 15 years or something. I think it's because we don't want to admit to ourselves that we've had this growth for maybe 15, 20 years.”

Some really famous people watch your show, and visit your social posts…

“What's so interesting about pimple popping is it really touches potentially anybody. It crosses all countries, races, religions, everything like that. I'm pleasantly surprised by the people who like my pimple popping. There's Gwyneth Paltrow, Celine, Ariana Grande's mom really likes it. Selena Gomez… I would love the opportunity to be on the red carpet, just to see who might come up to me and say, “I'm a popoholic,” because you'll never know. It would be so fun for me.”

How do you work out what goes on your show, vs what goes on Instagram, or what goes on YouTube?

“It's not easy. On the show, of course, we have a wonderful production crew and the network. They both get very involved and help to tell the story. I'm always amazed at the stories, because I don't see the whole picture. I don't really know about the background of the patient in terms of their personal life, or what their angle is to the story of this person, until I do my aside where I do my little interview part, or later even after when I'm watching it myself with everybody else. That is why this show is so great really, because of them – the network, and Ping Pong Productions. Then what I do on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok is more my own. Those are determined more by me, but also by my team. I have a team because I have a skincare line, SLMD Skincare, and they also run Dr. Pimple Popper, so they help to create a lot of the content. I probably am most involved in TikTok. So, if you are following a lot of my posts on social media, I'm the one usually posting on TikTok. And every now and then I do the Instagram posts. The YouTube posts, obviously I created the video initially, but somebody else helps to edit it for me. It’s somewhat on a whim. It’s like gambling. You pull the lever and you're like, “Is this one going to hit?” (with fans) and when it hits, you're just so happy. “Everybody got that! Everybody knows that feeling.”

Watch Dr. Pimple Popper Season 4 Fridays at 20:00 on TLC (DStv Channel 135)

The season is available on Catch Up and will also be available as a Box Set until 19 August 2022.

TLC (DStv Channel 135) is available on DStv Premium, Compact Plus, Compact, Family and Access. To upgrade your existing package, click here. Or if you'd like to Get DStv, find a service that suits your needs here.