Breakout & picking again....

[ready2heal]

I have been a picker for some time now, and I only pick at my face. I pick when I feel flaky/rough/uneven skin or blemishes. After I took Accutane for about 5 months my skin cleared up beautifully. I maintained fine just by using a cleanser for sensitive skin and putting aloe vera gel on my skin daily. Sometimes I still got spots here and ther.. although it was way better than before the Accutane. Well, I guess I didn't listen to my dermatologist when he said that because I have acne-prone skin, I should expect to be much better now, but not COMPLETELY clear all the time. So, I went out and bought a bunch of new products to try to get rid of the few blemishes I was getting, and my face began to break out (I have very sensitive skin). Because of the new products my skin was irritated, which caused my skin to become flaky. When I tried to apply make up I could see all the flaky skin... so I thought I should get a moisturizer. And of course... the moisturizer also made me break out!! So now, I've gone back to the routine I had before I needlessly messed everything up... and I'm prayed for it to heal without scaring. I have been picking at my face.... but it's starting to heal now. I'm putting neosporin and aloe on the red spots... Is there anything else I can do to prevent it from scaring? It's very disheartening to look nice and then ruin it by doing something I didnt even need to do in the first place...

[anonymousartist]

I don't know if it will prevent scarring (I don't seem to scar too much on my face) but I find that Desitin Creamy helps heal spots. You put it on overnight (because it's white you don't want to go out looking like a freak. It will mostly soak into your skin but you will need to wash it off in the morning too).

Since your skin is so sensitive you should spot test anything you use. This product is generally used on baby's diaper rash so I don't think you will have a problem with it (the regular product may make you break out from the greasiness). It sounds like a bizarre product to put on your face, but my family has been using it forever, including on cuts and scrapes.

[JL]

I too took Accutane and resumed picking when some acne came back. I have now scarred my face up because the Accutane made my skin so soft, so it didn't heal correctly. Left de-pigmented areas when the scabs and redness finally went away. It really makes me feel like crying. I'm afraid to try dermabrasion for the scars for fear my face will scar even more. I didn't even have any scars on my face before the Accutane. Others, please get behavioral treatment before using Accutane, because if you can't stop picking, it will just be worse in the end.