I mean, assuming we still try to keep it sterile with alcohol the way they do.
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I’m an emergency medicine resident, not a dermatologist, so my experience is in abscesses more so than pimples. The big three things that make a difference between me draining the abscess and you are:
1. Making a sharp cut so the pus has only one way out. When you squeeze, some of the infection can go downward causing a worse/spread infection.
2. Breaking up all the tiny pockets of pus (often it’s not one “balloon”, it’s several small grape-like balloons) so that as much of it gets out as possible. I do this with a thin, blunt instrument of some kind. I’ll also thoroughly rinse the inside of the abscess with a jet of water.
3. Using clean tools. I wear gloves but it’s not a truly sterile procedure – we’re already dealing with infected tissue. But by being clean I can reduce the chance of other nasty stuff from getting in the wound – stuff like you’d find under your nails or on the sharp things you have around the home.
The combination of these things minimizes the chance for reinfection/worsening infection.
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