Overview

• Alisha Monaco popped a blemish in the danger triangle with a pimple poker, then experienced ear-popping, dizziness, severe swelling and right-sided facial weakness hours later.
• Urgent care clinicians treated her with four medications before discharging her the same day, and she recovered at home without any signs of intracranial complications.
• Her TikTok recounting of the incident has amassed over 7.8 million views and spurred widespread media reports that reinforce the medical warning.
• Experts emphasize that veins in the midface connect directly to the brain’s cavernous sinus, creating a small but serious pathway for infections to spread intracranially.
• Dermatologists advise against squeezing pimples in this zone, recommend gentle skincare and topical acne treatments, and urge immediate medical evaluation for fever, worsening pain or neurological changes.