Scars?

[cath]

Hello everyone,
I hope you are all well, I'm new to this site, but not at all new to picking my skin! I'm 22 now and I've been doing it on and off since I was about 14. I go through phases of it being really bad and then it will clear up and I'll think it was strange that I ever did it, then it will come back again. It mainly comes up when I'm bored or stressed.

But I was wondering if anyone knows how bad the scaring is from this, I generally don't pick too badly on my face and the scabs stay pretty small, but on my back and chest I have large scabs and it is all red and swollen.

The largest cuts are on my scalp but thankfully they are hidden by my hair, although I am starting to get bald patches around them! oh dear I'm such a mess! )

Anyway, so far i don't seem to have too many scars, and my skin seems to heal really quick, but what experience do the rest of you have with scars?

Cath x

[jules]

Hi Cath,

First of all I want to say that I am sorry you have to deal with this. I also have periods when I am "good" but then the picking always comes back with a 2-hour long session (after not picking for a while I have to "cleanse" more).

I have been picking since I was 14 or so (I am 25 now). As far as scars go, I do not have many scars where the skin is dented, but I do have a LOT of red and brown marks of varrying sizes. They are easy to cover up with make up, but without make up they are fairly visible.

Wishing you all the best,
Jules

[sunshinefunk]

I have some scars that I think will take awhile to go away. Do you know if the sun is good or bad for scars? I think the sun helps right now, but I don't want to look leathery later in life, so I wear sunscreen.

I have dark spots too. They suck!
-sunshine-

[jules]

Sunshine,

I think that sun is considered to be bad for scars. I heard that the sun might make them permanently discolored. After I had some abdominal surgery, my doctor told me not to expose the scar to the sun while it is healing (for about 6 months) because he said it will hinder its healing and fading.

So now I try to always put sunscreen on my face and avoid direct exposure. However, before I knew that sun was bad for scars I would do the opposite and try to tan my face more because it dried up any acne I had. I think the sun exposure contributed to my having permanent red and brown spots.

Jules

[cath]

Thanks for the advice Jules and Sunshine, I have some of those discoloured marks on my face I was wondering what had caused them!
I think i'll try to contain my picking to my scalp to prevent scaring, easier said than done though!