i have picked my fingers/nails and pimples long enough. for me, its all about perfection. my skin need to be perfectly smooth and i will do whatever it takes to do so. i have picked my fingers for over 10 years and with a recent pimple breakout, have mae my acne SO much worse.

there, i said it.

man its so nice to see everyone helping each other xD im soo in im a chronic picker sadly and i cant go a day without it T_T i feel like a crack head without his crack when i dont do it lol i usually do it in the morning or before i go to bed or sometimes through the day when im stressed ;/ i feel as if im doin my skin a favor but after im done i realize what i did what effing wroung so starting now NO MORE i shall post back in a few days :3

Ok so i had these two pimples that never seem to have come to a head even tho the rest of my skin is finally now clear YEAH! ok these two spots were starting to grow and grow from i guess me sweating and moisturizing. So i went after the little devils. FAILED unfortunately so now i had those nice squeeze marks on my face and 3 days later they continued to stay there. So i said F$#@@ it im going to get that bastards this time. so i finally popped them and its was absolutely crazy each one had like a secondary burst and a spray... I was like WOW wtf. I WIN. so i sleep on it after doing my night wash and moisturizing my spots finally start to heal...... So why would my skin not heal when the pimple wasn't popped but start to heal when its popped. Anyone have any idea ?
This is always the case with my pimples... If its not popped it wont heal :[

so frustrated over my skin condition. from time to time, I have acne popping out one here one there. Not really a big deal until this past 9 months. I moved to a place where the climate is more hot and humid, while going through some stressful personal things. Then my face started to break out 5 or 6 at a time

They always shows up as a tiny little whiteheads, looked almost harmless. Then I was always tempted to pop it. JUST ONCE, squeezed out a little bit of white stuff and my skin is left with dark scars... For me, it takes roughly 3 months for the scars to fade out, and then the new one comes.

Last week, I was ok with my skin. not that it's scar free, but it looked almost perfectly spotless after a 30min of make-up, as in my profile picture. Then, yesterday I found this tiny bump on my forehead, which isn't even that visible (I only felt it with my hand, and see it under bright light). Of course, I picked it, nothing even comes out. Turns out to be a big disaster I hope that this scars comes fast and will go fast too. finger crossed

Right now I'm only happy with my left cheek, even it's not even perfect. and the only comforting fact is that, except the new scar on my forehead, the rest of the acne scar isn't that visible on a full frontal view, and easily concealed with make-up.

here are some depressing pictures to share my pain...

Ok, so I am basically at my wit's end. I have been picking since i was 18 or so and am now 22. The past year my picking has gotten increasingly sever and has really started to affect all aspects of my life. The past few days i have really destroyed my face...I just don't know how to deal with this so I figured I would reach out to other people stuck in this miserable boat. I am making a small goal- not to touch my face til Tuesday. I am going to document this on my blog, so please stop by to find out more.

I've been doing this since I was in middle school. Not only on my face, but on the eczema on my body, and recently, even ingrown hairs and everything. It's gotten pretty bad. I sit at my mirror forever, searching for any zits or blackheads, and end up trying to push things out of pores that have nothing in them in the first place. The result is a face and body full of red marks and scabs, and most recently I've noticed some ice pick scars forming around my nose/eye area from trying to pop the tiniest of blackheads. I threw out my magnifying mirror, and put my extractor where it's less convenient for me to get at it, but what else can I do? I've been trying to quit this for like a year or more. There have been times that I've stopped for only a few days, but my skin is already looking pretty good, since I don't have much acne, just a huge problem with picking. Will it help if I try some kind of blackhead minimizing wash? Or will that make the rest of my whiteheads worse, and encourage my picking?

I'm sorry this post is so ridiculously long, and I know there are worse problems out there, but I'm so desperate, so scared that I won't be able to stop and will have bad scarring, and just downright distraught at the moment. So I really appreciate any help. Thanks so much.

Whenever I see a whitehead I always have to pop it, even though in my mind I know I'm going to make it worse I still have to do it. I've told myself every time I did it that I wouldn't do it again and I always do, I just can't take my mind off of it if I don't. It's horrible because I end up making the pimple so much worse and then I have to deal with a nasty scab for weeks. It's ridiculous. I really don't know what to do, it's a horrendous habit.

the pressure building up is just too much (and i just started getting these deeper red pimples...nodules?...so i'm not used to tender spots on my face and it SUCKS). i was clear for like a week, too. lame.

anyway, i'll hold back. i know i'll hate myself if i do it.

heyaa everyone, ok so I have decided to do a diary type thing on here because my skin picking is out of control! First i will tell you abit about my life and picking lol.

I don't really remember when I first starting picking or why, but I'm a 21 year old female and my acne/picking is terrible. My problem is that i get spots I wouldnt say badly but I pick at every single thing i can find on my face until i look awful, red and scabby. I can't stop myself although I really want too. I don't really have a good regime for my face, I have simple wipes and a moisturiser but I tend not to take my makeup off at night! Bad i know. Another thing is that I want to stop picking but im finding it really hard because I put make up on to cover where i have picked so end up picking more whilst i put makeup on... and so on!

I'm thinking about maybe going to see someone at my uni because i feel like theres an underlying cause as to why i keep picking, anxiety and stress and everyday things, maybe it might be easier to talk to somone along the way!

Ok so there you have it, any help or tips or anybody who has successfully stopped picking who would like to give me advice i would be v grateful!

Once I buy a few things for my face and start a regime I will start my stop picking challenge! I'm looking for organic cleanser etc, and maybe the dermalogica clearing gel?

Soph. x

A special thanks to Dan for giving Skin Picking a special place. I've been trying for years to get it out there so there's more awareness about it. There are so many people struggling with it, including myself.

I've been around on the forums a lot for a while but I just decided to finally register, mostly to say thanks but lately I've been having a lot more trouble with it again. I've never been able to stop and I've tried all kinds of things. It's caused me such emotional distress and self-esteem problems that I didnt leave my house for more than twice a month for several years.

Im just now working on going out a little more than that even though I dont like the way I look...just accepting it. It's hard and a struggle everyday. I figure, I cant wait for myself to stop picking because that may never happen so I might as well work on learning to accept myself for the way I look right now. Its unfortunate but I'll get to have a better quality of life that way.

Good luck to you all. I hope you can find peace as well.

I have some mild obsessive tendencies that during times of stress can intensify. In this case, for the last 24 hours I have picked at my face; pimples, blackheads, any slight bump or irregularity got scraped or poked at with a blood lancet.

I was so aggressive in cleaning my pores that I created larger holes and tiny gashes around some pores that I'm sure will develop small crater scars. I picked between my upper lip and nose, spreading out toward my cheeks, chin and forehead. In my cheek area the skin is thinly scabbed and pink/brown. Above my lip I did the most damage and it is now scabbing and red/brown.

In some areas around my face, I can still see some of "gunk" I was after that got me going to begin with. There is major inflammation and irritation. And it hurts/stings/throbs a little.

please help! i have done irreversible damage i'm sure and now need to try to minimize scarring. should i concentrate on the inflammation, or trying to prevent bacteria/infection or should i just leave my poor skin alone?

Prior to this, I used the Obagi program as well as supatret sparingly, and metronidazole for my many broken capillaries. I got compliments on my skin pretty regularly.

Is it insane to think that I should have dermabrasion? It just seems like it would be better if all of this peeling/scabbing that is going to occur were more uniform and controlled?

I would be so grateful for some good advice. Many many thanks.

Hi! I'm new to this - but I decided to give it a shot. There's got to be someone out there who can help. So I have mild to moderate acne - sometimes..rarely...I do get cysts. I use Proactiv and I also use RetinA cream about 3 times a week. I cleanse my face with Cetaphil and I always protect my skin from the sun. 4 days ago I noticed a deep zit - you know the ones that seem to go on endlessly under the skin. I KNEW I shoudlnt but I squeezed it BEFORE it was really ripe. What resulted was an ugly mess. Blood, pus and a wound. This morning I KNEW everyone was staring at the red mass the size of Texas on my cheek. My skin was thin anyway because of the retin A..and now I feel like I've really damaged my skin...I just put vitamin E on it. Been afraid to use anything else. ANy ideas on how to heal it? Its going to be a nasty scar isnt it? SHould I put my Proctive lotion on it? Should I put the retin A on it? Please HELP.

Thanks!

the number of pih marks was enough to make me stop. wasn't that easy when i quit biting my nails, though! haha that took about 15 years. just don't do it to yourself. PLEASE!

I don't have any pictures for you...but it was by far the most crazy thing i've ever done. I have dreams/nightmares about picking that pore! Being attacked by a big worm of gunk!

I was inspecting my nose la la la la la and then I noticed this one pore that was pretty gnarly. I remembered this pore from a while back from when i was in the eighth grade. I guess it never went away or cleared itself! That was four years ago lol! In the 8th grade instead of squeezing my nose pores I'd run plain floss down my nose (put pressure on it) and I have to say it works pretty dang well....

So I attacked the sucker. It took me about ten minutes but then all of a sudden all hell broke loose. For about 10-15 seconds a huge wall of white stuff comes barrelling out of my nose like a big tube of nastiness in the shape of my pore. It was really hard too and when it fell from my face it made a noise hitting the counter!! Well now I have a gaping hole in my face. How can I shrink this or is it forever? Funny....i've recently looked at my dads face and he has the same EXACT nose pores as I do, all in the same places and this big old monster one! maybe it was a right of passage to have squeezed the infamous Pollock pore (my last name)

For those of you with the hellish problem of picking, OCD, body dysmorphic illness, et cetera . . .

For pimples, try covering them with something really good like Manuka Honey and putting little round bandaids on them at night. RIght after you get out of the shower -- while the mirror is still steamy and you can't see yourself and get attracted to examining yourself -- just treat them, cover them up and put on a long sleeved high necked shirt so you can't stare at your chest or shoulders, etc while you're watching TV or reading before bed.

I've been doing this a long time, and it's helpful. The idea is to cover up as much as possible so you can't compulsively run your hands over your skin, looking for trouble.

Don't give yourself time to think, don't look in the mirror. Just do this.

You'll feel good knowing that the spots are getting treated, and every time you compulsively reach for an area -- it's not available!

Stay away from mirrors -- have them removed from your house if possible. Also, start doing things with other people a lot so you don't have time to mess with yourself. Stay very busy. Stay out late and work late. Don't give yourself time to stand in a bathroom alone at night making trouble for yourself.

After a while, the OCD will lessen, and you'll see the improvement in your skin.

Reading the skin picking stories has been very helpful. Thank you to everyone for sharing their stories. I am 36, single and I believe I've been picking my skin for almost 20 years. As a result I've had about 20 years of really bad skin. I think that I am single because my skin has greatly impaired my social life. There have been so many times that I've cancelled outings with friends because I was ashamed to be seen with such horrible skin. I have even called out sick from work several times when my skin was extremely bad.

I know I have BDD, and it is very difficult for me to stop picking. I think the picking just makes my skin worse and makes pores clog even worse. Has anyone stopped picking and found that their pores were able to unclog WITHOUT picking? I think if I knew it was possible for pores to unclog with manual extraction it would be extremely helpful.

I've been browsing Acne.org for I think about two years now...hoping to find the "cure" for my adult acne...when in fact I've known what will help me the most: MYSELF.

I'm a compulsive skin picker. I've actually been diagnosed with OCD and have tried the types of anti-depressants that are meant to help people who are skin pickers/hair pullers. (Those didn't work). I know me venting on this site isn't going to solve my problem, but I figured since I read about other people's struggle with acne/picking...I may as well post myself.

After having pristine skin for all of my life, at age 19 I became a new person...one who became afraid of the world, and who always felt like she needed to hide. Proactiv had miraculously stopped working after 3 years, and I began getting new kinds of acne in places I never had it before. My immediate response to it was to pick at it and thought that would make it go away. Not exactly. I ended up with deeper pimples and I noticed that the days following a "picking episode," lead to new zits in places surrounding the areas that I picked at before. And so goes the vicious cycle that is my life: I break out, I pick, I think it's "all better" and then I break out even more. Not to mention the scarring/scabbing and all of the damage that I've done over the past 6 years...I've never seen myself "clear" since age 19.

I've been to dermatologists. I hate them all. Most of them just treated me as a normal acne patient...even though I told them that 90% of all the marks on my face and inflamed pimples were bad because I HAD DONE IT TO MYSELF. Here's my list of prescriptions from over the past couple of years:

Tazorac
Retin A
Retin A Micro
Differen
Renova

Doxycycline
Minocycline
Blue Light Therapy
Ortho Tri-Cyclin

Those Derms just LOVE prescribing retinoids...each telling me I'd see my skin get clear in a few months. Yeah right. Any good dermatologist would know not to prescribe a retinoid to a compulsive skin picker because they're going to RUIN their face even more! While I was on the birth control...my skin was A LOT better which led me to believe that my hormones were completely out of whack. I got off the pill because I couldn't take the nausea anymore, and I had panic attacks and got scared. I wish I had tolerated it better.

I pick mostly at night...after I wash my face. Sometimes I do it in the morning. All I know is that it's a cycle that won't stop. I'm on a modified version of the regimen now...I'm on week 2.5 and right about to get my period so my face is very broken out and very picked on

I guess I'm just looking for people who have this problem to tell me if they have found that NOT PICKING has actually helped their face not have future breakouts in the same area. The way my OCD works, I feel like I'm "helping" my face by getting rid of a blackhead/zit...even if it's not ready to be popped. Then of course I just make it worse and the cycle starts again. I think you get it.

I'm completely hopeless. Thoughts?

This is something that has been very, very hard for me to stop. When I get a bad breakout, I'll clean and wash my face but I cannot stop touching the acne. I feel that when I pick at it I'm getting rid of the imperfections, and I'll pick until I see a tiny streak of blood on my finger, then I'll stop, until it's stopped bleeding.

I think I'm a little OCD and it's contributing to this, as well as my depression. I know picking makes the acne worse but it is SO hard to stop...sometimes I keep a hairtie on my wrist and snap it whenever I catch myself picking, or I'll say out loud, "I won't pick my skin today" but even that doesn't seem to help. I'm really upset and I don't know what to do.

I've always had nervous habits, ever since I was a little kid. Now my biggest ones are pulling at my super-curly hair and messing with my skin. I know that the oil from my hair can irritate my skin and cause more acne, so I'm trying to stop both of these habits at once! ^^v (I hope that's a good idea...)

Good luck to all of you who are working on nervous habits! ^^

I did a bunch of research into what they call “self-injurious skin picking”, which is a big problem for a lot of people around here. Picking at your skin is really irritating and can cause ongoing breakouts.

I made a page about skin picking, and put together a “Chill Out Program” which incorporates cognitive behavioral techniques as well as some other good stuff. I wanted to see if some of you guys wanted to BETA test the program with me before I made it live on the site. I’m going to be doing it with you because it turns out that skin picking is pretty much identical to nail biting, which I’ve been doing since second grade! So I’m going to start the program on Monday. Want to join me!?

Since I went through puberty I've had acne, mainly on my face but also on my shoulders and upper back. I used to watch my mom pick and pick at her skin for sometimes an hour at a time so I thought (being 12/13 at the time) that she was doing something good for herself.

So I started picking at my pimples too, and found I got great satisfaction when I successfully popped a big whitehead or got the black gunk out of a blackhead. So I continued picking, only on my face. I thought I was helping by getting all the stuff out, but of course now I know that I was only setting myself up for worse things to come.

When I was in high school for some reason my acne was extremely mild, and my shoulders and upper back stayed almost perfectly clear. I didn't have a reason to pick my skin at that time but I had other OCD tendencies that crept up .... mainly picking at my eyelashes and compulsively cleaning (I mean to a point where I'd spend an entire day scrubbing one room)

In my early 20's I started developing the larger cystic type acne, which is what my mom has I later found out. I didn't know what to do but pick at it, literally to the point where if I couldn't get anything to come out I'd take a tweezers or something else sharp and dig and scrape until I couldn't take it anymore. I again would get satisfaction thinking I got all the dirt and muck out.

When I turned 25 I realized this was a problem and wanted to rectify it. I vowed to stop picking at my face and literally shouted at myself if I started picking. Once I became aware of what I was doing, I was able to stop it. Now since I stopped picking my face it's almost completely clear with the occasional whitehead or a couple blackheads on my nose which I can cover.

Unfortunately since I stopped picking my face I've started picking on my back and shoulders. Although not as serious as when I was doing it on my face, it's causing me to break out more on my back. I just can't win, and I've tried to stop the same way as with my face but it seems the compulsion is stronger and I can't stop even when I'm aware of doing it. I also still sometimes pick at my eyelashes without realizing it, and when I do it's hard to tell how long I was doing it.

I'm embarrassed to wear anything sleeveless now and it's really taking a toll on my self esteem. So that's my story.

Sorry so long, just had to get it off my chest.

It's hard, but after changing my regimen, I'm seeing improvement. It seems the tube of BP I had expired a few years ago, so between getting a new tube of it, taking niacin as another poster suggested, and cleaning with Cetaphil, I'm seeing improvement. I have one odd one right around my temple that's sore, but with the BP it's shrinking. I keep trying to remind myself that it's hardly noticeable (indeed, I can barely see it in the mirror), but if I go at it, it's going to get big, red, and possibly bleed. I had one on my chin that went away nicely with the BP, so here's hoping I can keep it up.

Hey I'm new here, & this is my first post. Well ive been suffering from acne for a whileee now. I'm 16 years old & still with it -.- ok so I have a tendency to over wash my face..probably like 5 times a day & also picking at my acne A LOT. I've tried to stop but for some reason I just can't..well I've seem to notice over washing it & putting too much medecine like benzoyl peroxide has been making it worse & over drying/burning my skin :/ is anyone experiencing this? & if so how can I stop myself! From picking & over washing it..also how does it make it worse?..

Okay so I wake up in the morning and wash my face with warm/hot water. Sometimes I see a whitehead and I decide that I want to squeeze it out, so it isn't showing all day. Other times during my wash a pimple gets popped or whatever. Is it bad that I just squeeze the white stuff out until I see blood? I don't want scarring or anything, but I don't want that stuff in my face when I can get it out either.

P.S. What about a whitehead during the day?

So I've really messed up... my skin has been doing better, I actually had my skin more or less under control... then i got PMS, i was stressed about college and other stuff, and i have a boyfriend that is a real perfectionist about appearances.. a large deep-under skin cyst came up on my upper cheek, it was hard and painful and almost purple in color. After washing my face one night, i kept looking and touching at it, i could see a hard white head..that was all i needed, and i attacked! I squeezed, i pressed, i mashed.... I could see tissue fluid oozing and the thin layer of skin was getting peeled up, but i was in a white hot fury.. i couldnt stop... all of the sudden it popped, it sqirted, it oozed.. i thought that the worst was behind me, but then i noticed the skin was throbbing... it was extremely painful.. I applied a cottonball with alchohol..it stung and burned, it was extremely hot to the touch. I applied neosporin and prayed it would go away overnight. When i awoke, i could feel my cheek hot and swollen..i could see my cheek if i looked down, even the skin around my eye was hot and swollen.. the whole side of my face was hot and painful. When i looked in the mirror, i was shocked..a half-dollar sized wound, hot-red, half crusty-scab, half oozing.. swollen. I just wanted to die, cant go to school, cant go anywhere! I have been cleaning it with witch hazel and keeping neosporin on it...it has been 3 days.. the swelling on my face has gone down..the wound is slightly smaller and no longer oozing.. still hot-red and hurts. maybe it's infected? i dont have insurance! please everyone...dont be like me...DON'T PICK

I hate admitting that I do pick my skin....it make me feel like Ive caused my face to look the way it does and that makes me feel so stupid. I have pretty much no clear skin on my face just raw spots and painful red bumps and crap. Its soo frustrating that I have to live with this nightmare every day!! ahhh I really need some help, what Do I do??? IM on accutane so when I do pick since my skin is dry a big spot of skin usually comes off, which propably mean Im going to have sever scarring

Does anyone else feel it is hard to admit that you pick your skin??


I also feel whenever people are looking at me that think I have caused my skin to look the way it does (I seriously havent seen anyone with skin as bad as mine in real life Which sucks I feel so alone

When you stopped picking, did it help? To be completely honest, I left a nasty pimple alone for 2 whole weeks (14 days!) I did not touch it, prod it, pick at it, squeeze it, nothing. Hardest thing of my life, but after the 2 weeks you know what, jack all happend.

It stayed exactly the same, no improvement. I finally popped it and yeah sure it looked bad for 4 or 5 days after but now the red mark and stuff is gone, I am REALLY trying to not pick but is it even worth it?

So my question, did it help you guys?

I'm here because not many people take this problem seriously. My dermatologist frowned upon it, I went to therapy to see if they could help, and they ignored it, and my family won't really cooperate to help me, they say "just stop picking". As you probably know, it's freakin' hard!

I've been picking since I was in elementary school.
Now, I am 18 and my acne did get worse, however, I pick more than EVER. My face looks like a scabby, infected mess and I just obsessively stare at it and put lotions, gels, etc on the pick marks.Then, ritualistically cover the scabs with layers of make-up.

I'm dedicating myself to stopping this awful habit because I am starting to scar my face.
I've cut my nails short (helps a little) and covered the mirrors in my room (helps but then I just find a different mirror in a different part of the house..)
I want to find another way to stop. I'd love to know what anyone else has done to help end this vicious cycle.

Thank you in advance for any help,
Danielle