Woman rushed to hospital after popping 'excruciating' spot on her face

A woman who squeezed a spot in the notorious 'triangle of death' zone on her face was rushed to the hospital after becoming dizzy and experiencing "excruciating" agony.

Alisha Monaco had no clue it was dangerous to burst a pimple in the 'danger triangle' - a region between the corners of the mouth and the bridge of the nose. Because of its link to the cavernous sinus, an area in the brain, prodding or pressing pimples can result in severe infections.

The 32-year-old, who chronicled the ordeal in a TikTok which attracted 7.8 million views, said it seemed to be an "average" pimple, which she is susceptible to developing several times a month, the Mirror reports.

After being unable to burst it, she pierced it with a sterilised pimple popper needle tool, and her ear popped simultaneously, causing her to become dizzy instantly.

"I knew I'd messed up," the 32-year-old said. "The pain was all on the right bottom side of my nostril, down to my lip and even up the side of my face.

"I woke up four or five hours later in excruciating pain on my right side of my face. The whole right side of my face was swollen, my smile was crooked, and my ear felt clogged on the right side. It was brutal. I was in so much pain just trying to smile/talk."

The mother-of-three rang her husband to return home to stay with the children in the morning whilst she attended the hospital.

Alisha said: "The urgent care staff was extremely kind to me and make a point to not let me feel embarrassed about being at the urgent care for popping a pimple.

"They were happy I came in because the swelling was so bad. I needed to get it treated immediately because the risk of infection in that location is dangerous."

Alisha was prescribed four different medications to control her symptoms and prevent the infection from spreading further before being discharged from the hospital.

Fortunately, she has been making a good recovery at home since the ordeal, but decided to post on TikTok to highlight the risks after previously learning about the 'triangle of death' zone on the platform.

She explained: "I had a feeling after I popped the pimple that I needed to look it back up on TikTok to double check, and sure enough, my pimple was right in the triangle of death area.

"I [then] just wanted to warn others to learn from my experience. I don't have a huge following on social media, so I had no idea that it was going to go so viral, but from reading the comments of all the people who weren't aware that the triangle of death was a thing, I'm glad I did.

"Now everyone can see what happened to me, and hopefully they will just put a pimple patch on and leave that area alone!" Dermatologist Alok Vij explained: "Think of this small segment of your face as a direct line to your brain. That's thanks to your cavernous sinus, a network of large veins located behind your eye sockets. Through this sinus, blood drains from your brain. An infection in the danger triangle - like from a picked pimple, or a nose piercing gone wrong - has a small but not impossible chance of travelling from your face right to your brain, without much distance to cover between them.

"There is the possibility for a facial infection to become an infection that impacts the rest of your body."

Dr Vij further added: "Thankfully, it's relatively unlikely, but whenever there's a violation of the skin and interaction with bacteria, there's always a possibility for infection, which can lead to greater health concerns."