Cringeworthy 'pimple popping' videos you can't tear your eyes away from

Odd obsessions abound on the internet, but this might be one of the oddest. Millions of your fellow humans love nothing better than to watch streams of creamy, waxy sebum worming out of someone else's skin.

To many, this sounds disgusting, but for "popaholics" around the world, this stuff is addictive. As are videos of boxes being opened and glue being peeled off vinyl records.

What is this about? Intellectual decay, boredom, or just ancient fetishes being fed?

Those who watch Californian dermatologist Dr Sandra Lee popping pimples on the web say the extractions leave them feeling satisfied and relaxed. Some even find the videos of oozing pustules sedative.

Lee has become a social media hit, gathering over four million subscibers on YouTube.

It started with short videos on Instagram of her popping zits, blackheads and cysts, then graduated to longer pieces on YouTube, some of which have been viewed upwards of 40 million times.

One video, which has racked up nearly nine million views alone, is a cringeworthy but fascinating clip of blackheads being removed from the large nose of an elderly patient nicknamed Mr Wilson for his resemblance to the character from the Dennis the Menace cartoon.

Rivulets of oily matter pour from his clogged pores - and then out of Lee's tiny metal loop, called an extractor.

It is hard to look away, even while your stomach churns.

WATCH | Dr Pimple Popper remove some of Mr Wilson's blackheads. WARNING! Not for squeamish viewers

A survey of popaholics on Reddit gave some insight into why people subject themselves to this. "Life is hard, so hard. The only thing that makes me feel OK, even for a short period of time, are the videos," said an American mother who works two jobs.

"I watch them every single night. It's my only escape right now. So, if you can, please thank Dr Sandra for me, because I would probably be in a psychiatric hospital if I didn't have her videos."

Others said they found the videos soothing, mouth-watering, sleep inducing.

In an interview with New York magazine, Lee said she thought it was the surprise factor that kept people coming back. "It's like gambling. You never know when you're going to hit a big one."

Lee certainly has created a new revenue, er, stream, with the explosive videos. YouTube pays popular posters for garnering views. And she has created a line of merchandise for fans, not that anyone buying her stuff should admit to it in public.

OTHER SURPRISING YOUTUBE HITS

Surprise has a role to play in YouTube videos made for children, which are amongst the most watched on the platform. Children's hands playing with playdough. The money maker is "surprise eggs" or Kinder eggs, which show adult hands unwrapping plastic eggs to reveal a toy inside.

Tens of millions of views equate to profitable nonsense.

For adults "packaging porn", or unboxing, reveals tech gadgets.

Obsessive compulsives love the Tumblr blog Things Fitting Perfectly Into Other Things, which, as it says, fits things into other things that are not necessarily related, like Oreo biscuits slotting into a cardboard tube, or an oven knob slotting onto a car's airconditioner dial. The symmetry is calming.

Obsessive cleaning is a good search term if you're into perfection. There are channels dedicated to before-and-after shots of high pressure hosing. Driveways and roofs are the business.

For a psychedelic fix, watch wood glue spin onto a vinyl record. Then peel. It. Off.

A new one for lovers of the gross: tiny cameras inserted into the ear, to document the removal of impacted earwax.

Hollywood beware. This stuff is good. Weird, but good.

• Youtube numbers have been updated since this article was originally published.