acne picking

[Roon]

I need help to stop doing this. I am getting married in 7 months and I am so worried that I won't stop in time & I'll have blotchy red skin from the squeezing. I've realised now aged 33 that I've caused permanent damage after doing this for 19 years. I tend not to realise I'm doing it till half way through then I get angry with myself and start trying to stop all the redness forming by using alcohol gel. It never works. I always end up giving my self spots and I don't get them naturally, my skin was always clear. But now I can see all the pores are damaged and I have scaring on my chin. I'm so grateful I'm not alone in this and finding this site will be a great help.

[Katie15]

hey.!!! im 17 and i have been picking for about 5 years now,, and the truth is i hhave nothing to pick! its so sad that i go through life looking like this. sometimes i cant handle the fact that i do this horrible thing to my body, it has taken over me so much that i have started picking my arms to, until the point were after im done picking i feel so much pain inside of me,, it has forced me to stay out of public activities because i cant bear look at my self, when i know i could be so pretty, i mean i know that im athletic, smart, friendly, outgoing. but whats sad is my friends dont know the real me.! the person does this, is the person im hiding. i really feel im starting to become addicted and its a crazy rush for me to feel that every time i start to pick. i have tried to stop in the past but could not bc of forceful habbits. i feel picking is like an addictive habbit and im the user.,. i cant explain how i feel to let out my feelings bc i cant explain them to couslers or doctors bc im too afraid of what their going to say. if someone wants to talk ... talk to me on this!!! see ya ;D

[Anonymous]

This is very enlightening. I'm 43 and have picked for years and had no idea it was so widespread. My problem is that my skin tends to feel itchy when I have breakouts. I have combination skin that is oily in some areas and dry and a little flaky in other areas. After reading all the comments I am going to really start thinking about why I'm doing it and what the triggers are. I know it is stress related. But I know that if I keep my hands off my face it will heal up and look much better.

[pickerhawaii]

Hello. I too am a compulsive picker. I hate it, It ruins my life. I am on vacation in Hawaii and last night I had the room to myself. After being GREAT for almost two weeks with very little picking I completely DESTROYED my face. I got at the tiny pores above my upper lip so my lip is even swollen today. I look like a f*in train wreck and I have three more days left that will now probably be spent in isolation in my room rather than on the beautiful beaches. I don't get it. I go through phases where I feel very in control, then all of a sudden BOOM. Last night was the worst I've done in years. I literally squeezed every pore on my face and I am now feeling the pain. I always thought that I would grow out of this but I am 25 now and it hasn't stopped. I have missed work, school, etc...due to these crazed sessions. When will it end, and HOW!!

[pickingforwaytoolong]

I have been a picker for way to many years. I am 34 and can't stop, it just gets worse. I used to just pick in the mirror, but I don't need a mirror anymore, my hands are always picking. My face, back, shoulders, legs, head.

The people closest to me know about my problem, how could they not, I am always picking, I just can't stop, even when they say to me stop picking, I remove my hands straight away but then without even realizing it I am picking again.

Its a shame too, I am a pretty but I have ruined my skin. The crazy thing is I don't reckon I would have pimples if I could just stop picking.

I went through a stage of filing my nails really really short, to the point where they hurt, this helped for a little bit, but then I figured out how to pick with short nails.

It's so f''ken horrible buy I don't know how to stop, it is an addiction.

I so don't want my kids to follow in my footsteps!

Just thought I would share my story with you all, and it is good to know I am not the only one with this problem.

[Anne R]

I didn't start picking at my face until I was 20 or 21. I don't even remember when it began or when it became a compulsion but for at least a year my skin looked horrible. As many of you have mentioned, my skin would've probably been clear had I not picked. I realized fairly quickly that scars were beginning to develop and I was ruining my skin. This began what I call my face picking rehab. I want to share a long list of things that have helped me. Today, after several years, my face is clear and I just need to wait for the scars to fade. NO MORE PICKING! -- that's for me just as much as it's for you : )

So here are my tips:

1. Have a bedtime. Unless there is an event or social thing, I try to be in bed by 10:30. It sounds early but my body/mind needs 8-9 hours sleep and this allows me to get it. I feel less stressed and more productive throughout the day. I also can't pick for too long at night because it's bedtime.

2. I struggled with two different types of face picking: absentmindedly feeling my face throughout the day and actually digging out my pores in front of the mirror. Both are bad and it's important to be mindful of both.

3. During the day, put lotion on your hands often. Preferably something with a scent. When my hands are a little greasy I don't want to touch my face and if they get close, I can smell the lotion and remind myself not to touch.

4. I would tell myself during the day, "Don't touch in public, wait till you get home." On the way home I would be anxious to pick (especially in the beginning) but then I would do other things once I got home and that anxiety lessened with time.

5. When you get home, focus on work that needs to be done. You'll feel productive as you check things off the list (homework, house work...whatever it is). And you won't be stressed about not having done them or having too much to do.

6. Floss.

7. Take a shower (for those occasions when you just feel greasy and bleh) I'm not saying jump in the shower 4 times a day but every now and then this will revitalize your energy and washing your hair will make you feel better.

8. Switch to natural products and then don't change. Switching products too much can aggravate the skin. I use uncoated asprin to wash my face. (4-6 tablets dissolved) It's cheap and it's a great exfoliant so it feels good to wash my face. Sometimes I am gentle and sometimes I need a good scrub and this works for both. I use this at night and sometimes in the morning. But usually, i just splash my face in the morning. Pure tea tree oil is great at night. Lotion only in the morning.

9. Use less makeup. It clogs your pores and gives you a reason to go to the mirror. It will keep you in front of the mirror longer in the morning and you'll return during the day for touchups. Less product is better for your skin. Also, wash your make-up brushes often and don't use old make-up.

10. Use natural light - especially at night when you're tired and skin has been exposed to the elements all day. You're skin is not going to look good in mega watt lighting. Ever.

11. Keep a camera by the bed and just as you're about to turn out the light take a picture. Then, in the morning before you get out of bed or look at yourself, take another picture. This is a way of logging progress. At night, if I was in a picking session I would always find myself thinking "I just need to get this zit popped." Often it wouldn't be pop-able or it wouldn't be ready to pop and I would draw blood. And of course it didn't stop at just one. As I made my face puffy, red, and bloody I would think "it'll heal while I sleep, the swelling will go down, and the redness will fade." The things you say to justify the picking....this photo log really stops that. By looking through a week or a month of pictures I saw the cycles of picking. My face would be clearing but then the next picture would be suddenly worse. You remember zits and you see how the picking affected them. Look at these often and you'll want to stop. When it's too hard not to pick, choose one zit and let it be. Pick the others but NOT that ONE. In the pictures you'll see how that ONE zit heals while the other worsen because of picking. It'll help to break the habit.

12. Keep nails short.

13. Definitely (someone mentioned this before) go out after a picking session. Even if it's to check the mail or go to the library just get out there. It WILL make you want to stop picking.

14. Read these blogs. Definitely a good support system and much better way to spend you're time than picking.

15. Focus on a new or old hobby. Juggle, play guitar, do Zumba, paint, garden...

16. Leave encouraging notes for yourself. On the mirror. On the door. Wherever it's most helpful.

17. Try to be out for most of the day. If you need to study do it in the library. The more you're out the less you'll pick and the less you'll want to pick. By the time you get home, you'll have less time because you need to finish housework or cook dinner. Then...Bedtime : )

18. Changing my hair helped. Brush it differently or tie it back when you feel the urge to pick.

19. Playdough. It keeps your hands occupied then leaves them smelling like playdough which I don't want on my face.

20. One day at a time. Actually, for me it was one half-day at a time. Nighttime was my weakness. I wanted to clear my face for the next day, I had more time, and I wouldn't be in public for 9 hours. At night just wash your face and tell yourself you can pick in the morning. Then when morningtime comes you'll be surprised at how much better your face looks after a good night sleep. And you won't want to pick just before you head out the door. Get through the morning then get through the night.

21. Don't start picking your arms (or your scalp or back or legs or chest.....) to stop picking your face. It's the same habit and leaves the same obvious marks.

22. Find something that makes you laugh. My current site is www.damnyouautocorrect.com.

23. Go for a walk outside.

24. Eat avocados, sweet potatoes, salmon, spinach and other delicious, fresh, natural, skin-enhancing foods. Drink water. Lots of it.

25. Change pillowcases often.

26. Lotion the rest of your body. Rubbing the lotion in will feel good and it will help to keep your skin healthy.

27. Have sex. (or masturbate if you are not yet sexually active/don't have a partner). The intimacy, as mentioned before, makes you not want to pick and makes you feel like you don't have to pick. The orgasm releases that stress.

28. Focus on the future. Plan for something that you want to work toward. This will distract you, keep you motivated to move forward in your life and with your face picking.

29. Make plans with friends and follow through even if you've had a major picking session or just don't feel up to it.

[klauder87]

Hi. This blog has been out for a while but I just feel like I need to share my story too. I am 24 years old and have been an obsessive face picker since I was about 16. I learned the habit from my mother. She, in fact, did not encourage me to pick at my skin nor did I ever see her pick at hers, but rather she encouraged and aided my brothers to pick at theirs. I did not have face or back acne so she left me alone. Somehow though, I felt left out, so I began to pick at the black heads on my face. Doing this lead to all of the skin problems that I now face, especially that of scaring. And, among other things, the habit annoys my husband. I have tried multiple times to stop but always go back to it, especially to relieve stress. My addiction has gotten a great deal worse in the last year.
I have found that real motivation comes from researching ways to clear my skin condition up, specifically how to treat the scars that I would not otherwise have. I have broke the habit in the past by creating a face cleaning/care regiment and noticed that I only go back to picking when I stop that routine or stress out again. It is my goal to create a new routine using the information that I have researched and to find better outlets for my stress (another topic to read up on).
Another thing that has help me gain the determination to stop the habit was talking my problem out with a close friend who has mild acne. I was horribly mortified to let anyone know my secret but did so anyway and I found out that she is also a compulsive picker! By sound-boarding off each other and using each other as motivators we plan on breaking the habit together! Its been encouraging to know that I am not alone!

[yodelismydog]

You are absolutely right. When we get stressed out, we break out, and then we tend to "pig out" by destroying our beautiful faces. I'm seventeen years old, and about ready to graduate from high school. I have friends, but not even close to the amount that I could have if I wasn't so well you know, socially abnormal. It's hard to walk around school with makeup plastered all over your face, trying to hide a problem that everyone knows you have anyway. The solution that my parents had for getting me not to pick was to take away my makeup. A natural consequence for a "disgusting and embarrassing behavior". It makes sense, but it irritates me to a point where I just want to go and pick at myself again. When I have makeup on it's like I find myself in this alternate reality, where I think I look pretty when everyone can see the darkened marks behind the one color face. Regardless it really hasnt helped. Talking seems to be the only way to prevent it because it's embarrassing for me. But if it's embarrassing then I don't want to talk about it! So I guess all I have to say is stay strong, be proud, and never forget that there are people out there who want to help you just as much as I do.

[Katheryn]

Hi my name is Katie and I am a skin picker.
(Applause and "Hi Katie"
It has been 2 days since my last "big pick", I have been picking for, well since I got the chicken pox as a 4 year old, (I still have scars) I am now 30. I must admit my picking is a stress reliever and I finally figured this out 2 days ago when I stumbled onto this site. I'M NOT ALONE! Stress level has strangely gone down and so has picking. I'm not perfect (yet), wait no I will never be perfect and I"m coming to terms with that too. So let me rephrase: I haven't reached my goal yet.
I have slipped up and picked one or two small white-heads, but the big scabs and zits and blackheads I (proudly) haven't touched.

Here is how I did it:

1. I do not look in mirrors at all. I have a bf that loves to look at himself so I can't cover them or put them away. It's ok though, I can walk away from the mirror when brushing my teeth, I can close my eyes or leave the lights off while I wash my face, and I don't wear make-up, I'm sorry to those of you who do wear it, I don't know how to help with that.

2. I bought koosh balls and stress balls. I have one in my car and two in my house. My hands tend to get very bored and when my hands are bored they start to roam over my face. Now they roam over my new toys, have you ever tried to use your fingernails to pick one of the "tentacles" off a koosh ball? STRESS RELIEVER!!!!!!

3. When I start to get pulled to the mirror and literally say out loud to myself "You are in the bathroom to......." fill in the blank and don't waver from what you came to do and then LEAVE. Just walk away.

4. Proactive. I love it. It has helped with a lot of my acne the only reason I still have acne problems is because of my picking. I like the body/face scrub, the mask, and the lotion. It has really helped.

5. This one may be drastic but I hate sweat, I hate the feel of it, I hate how it makes me itch and then start to pick. I live in Florida so it's not easy to stay sweat free, so I shower a lot. At least twice a day and then lotion up. This may seem like a lot of shower, but I haven't had an urge to pick while sweaty yet!

I hope this helps someone and people are still posting on here. Thanks for all of the help!

[Jb]

Hey,
I never really had "bad" skin but Ive suffered with skin picking from age 15. I recently started the contraceptive pill.Since then I dont obsess over my skin at all anymore, the urge and compulsion to pick is about 90% less and when I do pick(because I do still sometimes) I can stop myself much easier then before & I rarely feel like Im damaging my skin or feel guilty/ashamed afterward.

I didnt actually start the pill for my skin and although being on it and finding the right 1 has brought its own problems I feel very lucky that Ive found something that has helped with my continuous internal battle with skin picking. (& please God long may it last)

Just a thought that I hope can help someone.

[DEEAA]

Hey, everyone!
I am a serious acne picker too. I just cannot stand to see any kind of white head or blackhead anywhere on my face. I swear I feel like they cast their very own shadows. I learned picking from my dad when I was around 12 and have been doing it every since. I never realized that picking could make acne worse!
I have been continually told that my acne is nowhere near as bad as some oter peoples but that never really helps. I am then examining my skin in the mirror which leads to....
After reading all these similar stories, I am hoping that I will have the strength to try and stop this bad habit. I am capable of having nice skin, I know I am, I just need to stop picking. I recently started a new medication and it worked well at first, no need to pick. But then I think I received a mini breakout and wala, I got worse once I started picking. As I said, I am gonna try and stop and see what happens>
Thanks all!

[Sam]

Hello everyone,

It's so reassuring knowing we are not a lone this planet, sometimes we feel so secluded for the rest of the world like something is wrong with us when in reality this problems we face many others are fighting as well. Thank you for everyone who has the confidence to share, from personal experience I know it is not easy. I am 21 currently and have been picking my face since I can remember. I used to be really bad, spending lots of time in the mirror picking at acne and still do today. It wasn't until recently I started really examining and researching this addiction that I realized it is an actual disease. Thinking about the long term effects scares the crap out of me and I am not beyond motivated to stop once and for all. Easier said then done of course. I still picking regularly even though I tell myself daily I need to stop. at the core, picking at ones skin is only a perpetuating cycle that makes your acne worse, while I know this it still seems impossible to quit. I believe it can be down but it's going to take a lot of will power and self control. For me I think getting rid of any skin products with lots of chemicals, stick to organic products such a tea tree oils. I recently bought the mia (look up online if interested) and loved it, that has helped a great deal. These won't stop you're picking habits but they might help, they've been helping for me. For me, being a Christian I have to remind myself that God (or whatever religion you may follow or if you believe in a high power, the universe...doesn't have to be God, just remember...)made us who we are, unique and perfect in his eyes, once you can accept this it makes it easier to stop. Also don't be afraid to confide in people you trust about your picking habits, if no one knows about your struggle no one can help you. Best of luck to everyone. Remember to love yourself and know that you are beautiful. Btw this forum just made my day, thank you everyone who shared!