'Dr. Pimple Popper' Sandra Lee had a stroke last fall. Here's how the TV doc is bouncing back

Last fall, “Dr. Pimple Popper” abruptly became a diligent herself.

Dr. Sandra Lee, the world TV dermatologist and surgeon known for tackling ick-inducing tegument situations connected camera, had a atrocious time a week earlier Thanksgiving 2025 portion she was taping caller episodes of her amusement astatine her Upland office.

“I had what I thought was a blistery flash. I got ace sweaty and didn’t consciousness similar myself,” she told People successful an interrogation published Tuesday. She said she finished the sprout and past headed to her parents’ adjacent home, wherever that evening she experienced shooting pains successful 1 limb and aboriginal had occupation navigating down a formation of stairs successful the mediate of the night.

When she awakened the adjacent day, she said, her near broadside wasn’t moving decently and she was having occupation speaking clearly. It was decidedly much than a blistery flash.

Her doc dada — besides a dermatologist — told her to get herself to an ER, wherever she had an MRI that showed grounds of an ischemic stroke, wherever a vas supplying humor to the encephalon gets obstructed. The diagnosis was a shock.

“As a doc I couldn’t contradict that I had slurred speech, that I was having weakness connected 1 side,” she said, “but I was like, ‘Well, this is simply a dream, right?’”

Lee, 55, said unmanaged cholesterin levels and precocious humor unit were apt contributors to the stroke, positive the accent of balancing her real-life signifier with the demands of “Dr. Pimple Popper.” She returned to accumulation successful January, she said, though she was much than a small freaked out.

“I don’t similar that I don’t person full power of my near manus oregon the grip wasn’t arsenic strong. If I consciousness similar I’m not astatine my champion — it’s precise scary,” Lee said.

Her neurologist told the outlet that Lee’s symptoms are beauteous overmuch gone. Lee said she inactive notices flimsy differences erstwhile she speaks.

The TV doc is connected humor thinners present and is inactive doing immoderate carnal therapy aft spending 2 months post-stroke moving done PT and occupational therapy. Lee had to marque definite her near hand, among different assemblage parts, was functional and that her equilibrium and question bounced back.

She does, aft all, bash precise procedures connected camera for the Lifetime audience.

And with caller episodes of “Dr. Pimple Popper” acceptable to debut Monday for the archetypal clip since 2023, Lee remains fascinated by the radical who walk clip watching her bash extractions and excisions, some connected the amusement and online.

“People ticker the videos implicit and implicit again due to the fact that it helps them spell to slumber astatine night,” she told People. But, she added, “Others ticker it similar it’s a scary movie oregon a roller coaster.”