Mum-of-two Alisha Monaco immediately became dizzy before suffering horrific pain in her face and waking up five hours later with a swollen face and unable to smile
A woman who popped a spot in what has been labelled the little-known “triangle of death” on her face was rushed the hospital when she became dizzy and suffered “excruciating” pain.
Alisha Monaco was completely unaware it was dangerous to pop a spot in the area between the corners of the mouth and the bridge of the nose. This is due to the connection to the cavernous sinus – a region in the brain – with picking or squeezing pimples potentially leading to serious infections.
Alisha detailed the incident in a TikTok which has had more than 7.8 million views where she said it appeared to be an “average” spot, which she claims she is prone to getting several times a month. It comes after a man, 30, puts shoulder pain down to gym aches, then doctors ask where he’d like to die.
After she failed to pop it, Alisha decided to poke it with a sanitised pimple popper needle tool, with her ear popping at the same time before she became immediately dizzy. The 32-year-old, who lives in Michigan, said: “I knew I’d messed up.
“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 mum-of-three rang her husband and asked him to come home to be with their children while she went to get seen to. Alisha continued: “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 keep her symptoms at bay as well as stopping the risk of the infection spreading before being allowed to leave hospital. She has since been recovering at home and has taken to TikTok to share the dangers of popping a spot in the “triangle of death”
She said: “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.”