Could acne patches cure your pimples? We try them out (and talk to a dermatologist)

In a house with a teen and a 40-something-year-old mother, acne is, frankly, a fact of life.

And that means that households like mine are rushing to find various remedies to resolve the spots that are popping up across our faces. My bathroom includes all manner of creams, gels and face masks. But the most recent addition is acne stickers.

Say what, you might ask?

These acne patches have grown in popularity over the last few years, but come from something that's been used for decades to treat wounds - hydrocolloid dressing. Here's the skinny.

A growing number of brands are coming out with their very own acne patches, but basically these small, cloudy stickers made of hydrocolloid dressing are shaped like a circle and coming in various sizes to fit the particular pimple that's dotting your face.

"Hydrocolloid bandages are well established wound care," he said in an interview. "If people have leg ulcers or bed sores, hydrocolloid is a good protective sheet that's flexible and you can put over it to help encourage healing."

"It helps protect it, and it lets the acne lesion evolve like it wants to," Morrell says. "As the lesions come to the surface, they put off fluid and hydrocolloid looks like it helps to absorb some of that."

But, he points out, it doesn't help with blackheads. And it doesn't really seem to help with cystic acne, a severe form of acne. In my experience, these are best for those annoying whiteheads that emerge on your face. And it's best if they are at least partially broken open. (I know ... gross!)

Place the sticker over the whitehead and let it sit overnight. In the morning, take the patch off. You typically will see some white goo on the patch that's been sucked out of the pimple. The spot will still be reddish, but it's usually not as bumpy as it was the night before - and a lot easier to hide under some makeup.

"It doesn't prevent your acne," Morrell says. "I wouldn't put a whole sheet on your face to try to prevent acne from happening."

Well, in my experience, they make whiteheads go away more quickly.

Morrell, as a pediatric dermatologist, has another take. If it has any benefit, it keeps kids' fingers off of the acne lesions, he says.

Just be careful that you don't combine it with too many acne treatments, such as a retinoid cream, salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide.

"Whenever you occlude something, you always have a chance that you're going to intensive the effect of the medication under there," he says. "So if somebody is already getting irritation from a retinoid medication, you don't want to put a sheet there to push it in more."