How can this happen?

[rachaelskate]

I recently started taking prescriptions for my pimples, and I dont get anymore, but now I started getting bumps and my perfectionistic personality just picked them all to death!

Now my face is a giant tomato .

How do I get rid of these bumps without masacring my face?

and how do I make the redness go down faster?

any tips or advice would be so appriciated

[anonymousartist]

unfortunately, pimples aren't the problem behind picking So that's why you found something else to pick (there could be a chance you need to switch to another precription too, so tell your dermatologist. Your skin has changed so maybe this isn't the right way to treat it anymore).

Salicyly acid is an anti-inflammatory that could help take the redness down. I think nuetragena uses it in a lot of their products. (They even have make-up with it in it, and it does help my skin stay clearer, plus covers up bumps so I don't have to pick at them if I could stop. Look for their skin clearing line. Avon also has some products like this. I tired another brand but it didn't had lower than .5% salicylic acid and I didn't find it effective. Hypoallergenic is also a key word to look for in products. Read labels).

Or maybe you have an allergy and benedryl creme is your best bet. Maybe the bumps come from stress, or maybe they're a real medical problem?

I'm not saying quit picking cold turkey and hands off your face 'cause I know you'd do it if you could, but if you can even minimize picking your face for about 3 days I'm sure you'll see a huge improvement.

[rachaelskate]

thanks a lot
I went and got Nutrogena face wash

Its just so hard cause my bf just moved in, and he has never seen me like this before

I dont know what I am going to do when I have to go pick him up from work in 4 hours...

[guestguest]

how about leaving the bumps alone
not thinking about them
being thankful that you don't have acne anymore
how bout it
think about the other aspects of ur life

[rachaelskate]

I know it seems so easy huh?
just to leave them alone

but its that feeling of wanting "perfect" skin that makes me do it

perfect arms, perfect face,

I dont know how to overcome that

[pinto123]

hey rachael,

thanks for your very honest posts

i totally relate...especially to what you said about an obsession with "smoothness"...bumps are not allowed! they must be eradicated etc etc. do you also think, as i do (and wrongly so of course) that what we do when we pick at ourselves is going to make us look better? and then when it makes things worse we just get more depressed and tear things up even MORE and get stuck in this hellish loop? does any of this sound famliiar to anyone...or is it just me??

[Krib]

Yep, sounds like me alright...
No matter how f*ked up my face looks after each session, there's still something telling me it'll make it look better *this* time. Then halfway through you realise the truth...but you may as well pick more as your face is already ruined etc...

[pinto123]

does anyone have any thoughts on how we can forgive ourselves? i find myself, even when i try not to pick, feeling so depressed about past mistakes, mistakes which are real physical things i can see in the mirror...and then i feel so stupid and foolish. it actually didn't occur to me that i was doing permanent damage.

now on top of scars (from gouges and torn off scabs etc) i also have post inflammatory hyperpigmentation aka dyschromia...darker patches of skin that don't even look like skin

tips anyone?

[Wee One]

hey yeah i know exactly what u guys mean with the thinking that it'll look better after. Do u find that ocassionally it does make it better but like really rarely so that every time you do it it's like a gamble as to whether it'll be better or worse (and then yr always dissapointed!)

i've got exams right now so i almost feel like i deserve to be allowed to pick, plus i'm not seeing my boyfriend till about a week after my exams so i can worry about it then!

[rachaelskate]

Hey all that reposted

Yes I do that exact thing. I think I am making it better, but really I made it so much worse. Now I just wish I had those skin colored bumps back!

Oh well, once my skin is healed they are gone right? ha
I havent picked since 2 days ago, so things are healing, it just sucks, cause after I picked my face I picked my upper arm and two spots on my back, now I cant wear a tank top and its almost 90 degrees!!

Oh well any tips for "healing" faster?

[Froglet]

Sometimes I wake up and think 'hey, my skin doesn't look too bad today, Yay! But then I spot a pimple, and it hurts, and I think, 'leave it alone!' But sometimes, if I get the crap out of it 'cleanly' all in a one'er, then it does seem to heal faster. More often than not though, I end up going to far, making it into a weeping hole i can't even cover with make up. Its a gamble all right! Its also like pringles - once you pop you just cant stop! Im attacking all the little spots, and I look like something the cat dragged in! When will I learn?!

Something that has really helped me not feel bad about this is having a sense of humour about it. What else can we do? Its not really our faults, and we just have to bumble on ahead doing the best we can. We shouldn't punish ourselfs further by feeling bad about it. Im trying to love my self for who I am. My scars are part of me, and I don't hate them as much as I used to. (Although I'd still love to be all smooth and blemish free!)

[Froglet]

Ps, I like to look for make up and skin care that has Non-Comedoginic written in the small print. It means it won't clog pores. Again, neutrogena is good for this, but make up companies like revlon do foundations that don't cog either. Useful for those of us that spend much of our time hiding under layers of the stuff!
Oh, and sometime taking a nice hot bath with natural sea salt is good. I got the idea when on holiday, I noticed the sea drying up all my spots. i did get a little obbsessed for a while though- adding flaky skin to my list of problems! But one every while is ok. Hope this helps! X

[rachaelskate]

No way I think that same thing in my head
once u pop u cant stop

I know sometimes if I pop a zit it clears right up and i feel so much better
but other times i pick something that doesnt need to be messed with and BOOM I give up and pick all over

It wouldnt be so bad cept my bf just moved in, and Im not looking so hot right now!
ha!

Well, should I soak in the sea salt?

[Froglet]

I moved in with my boyfriend just under a year ago. My, he's seen me in some states! He used to come home from work early to find me in full pick mode, all red and weeping! Id throw a towel over my head and practically knock him ove in a stamped for the bathroom to make myself up! Its gotton a way of life for him now too. He's constantly hiding my tweezers from me, and I sneak about stealing them back. He took them all off me once and we actually counted ten different pairs! My flat mates are puzzled as to why 4 pairs of tweezers turn up in the washing machine when he's forgotton to take them out his pockets! Its so silly, I just have to laugh!

[rachaelskate]

oh man!

I dont really use tweezers, I am more the old fashioned way
hahah

if u ever wanna talk online my aim is
Tdrinkfairy

u seem cool, and we're the same age

maybe it will help?