'Dr Pimple Popper': Can Dr Lee help Austin get rid of his 'booger eye'?
Life has been anything but easy for new father, Austin. Growing up with a visible birthmark as Austin explained in his introduction video, was quite a traumatic experience. He has been called names like 'scarface', 'booger eye' because of his birthmark all his life. The mark on his eye left him with very low self-confidence and extreme insecurities. Austin turned to Dr Sandra Lee aka 'Dr Pimple Popper' for help.
In his introduction video, Austin explained how he has been called names because of his birthmark all his life. The birthmark which is located right below his eye and near his upper eyelash might be small in size but it had had a huge impact on his life. He never felt loved until he met his current wife Courtney. He shared how he feels secure and good when he is with her, and the couple recently welcomed a baby together. Austin is beyond ecstatic about being a father to his eight-month daughter, Penelope. He was to be a very involved parent and be happier while raising his toddler, however, he feels that his birthmark is getting in the way of being a happy father.
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When it was finally time to meet Dr Lee, he wasted no time in explaining to her how his birthmark was making him extremely conscious of his appearance. Dr Lee asked him if he saw any doctor and got a diagnosis before. He replies saying that the doctors told him it was just a birthmark. He also adds that it started off really small and looked like a tiny coffee stain on his face, but it continued to grow over the years.
Dr Lee then began examining it and gave him a diagnosis. She explained to him that she thinks his birthmark is a condition called 'epidermal nevus'. Medline plus defines epidermal nevus as, "An epidermal nevus (plural: nevi) is an abnormal, noncancerous (benign) patch of skin caused by an overgrowth of cells in the outermost layer of skin (epidermis ). Epidermal nevi are typically seen at birth or develop in early childhood. Affected individuals have one or more nevi that vary in size." Dr Lee too echoed similar thoughts by pointing out that Austin's birthmark is not life-threatening but is definitely emotionally scarring, as it ends up becoming a person's identity.
After examining his birthmark Dr Lee reveals that there are two options to tackle it. The first option is removing it and then stitching back the area, but she points out that the downside of it would be it causes too much tugging and pulling at the eye. The second option is to shave it off, so that about 75% of it is gone and looks visibly smaller. While she admits that shaving is a safer option, the downside of this option is that the birthmark could come back again which means the whole thing would have to be excised later on with the surgery.
Dr Lee tells him that she will see him in a bit as she has to mentally prepare herself for his treatment. So will Dr Lee shave his birthmark or go with surgically removing it? We will just have to watch the show to get our answers.
With Dr Lee's track record of treating unusual skin conditions, we wouldn't be surprised if the TLC host manages to remove Austin's birthmark safely without any complications.
'Dr Pimple Popper' Season 6 airs every Wednesday at 9/8c on TLC.