Nick has a problem. He cannot stop popping his own lipomas. This has Dr. Sandra Lee upset and refusing to let him leave her office without surgically removing about three large lumps.
You might wonder why Nick is compelled to do self-surgery and take risks with scarring and infection.
The show is a fly on the wall POV that gives insight into the world of Dr. Lee, where common skin lumps and bumps become out of control and have people scrambling to rid themselves of the unsightly protrusions.
People have primal urges to pick and squeeze, and this causes nightmares if the spot becomes infected. Dr. Lee wants people to understand the risks, see medical professionals for help, and learn how to care for their skin over their lifetime.
In the video clip below, we see how Nick decided he could handle a lipoma extraction.
Lipomas are not blackheads or cysts filled with dead skin cells. They are slow growing and usually benign. Rarely, they can be cancerous. People who usually have them can have more than one. Lipomas usually are found just under the skin and move easily when pressure is applied on either side. They can occur in the “neck, shoulders, back, abdomen, arms, and thighs” according to the Mayo Clinic.
Treatment for a lipoma is usually considered cosmetic and not covered by normal insurance unless it becomes medically bothersome, painful or grows in size.
Nick is impatient and has come to Dr. Lee after his last do-it-yourself lipoma removal gave him a nasty scar that looks indented like a depression in his skin. He says he has seven lipomas, and he removed one without lidocaine.
“Oh my god I am having anxiety…that’s an Exacto knife!” says Dr. Lee as she watches a YouTube video of Nick removing his lipoma in his shed of all places. “I think Dr. Lee is pretty upset with me,” says Nick after she watches his gross video.
She adds, “I am not pleased with Nick right now.”
Her medical practice and her “Dr. Pimple Popper” YouTube channel grew so large from people watching the videos she posted that TLC became interested and tested the waters of viewers and their interest too.
Dr. Lee’s first televised special last year was such a ratings juggernaut that they bestowed a series for the medic who does a hefty bit of pro bono work alleviating people of their unsightly growths, along with the popular and lucrative fillers and botox that are part of her cosmetic surgery practice too.
Dr. Pimple Popper airs Wednesday nights at 10/9c on TLC.