18 replies to this topic

[souvenir]

Hey guys,

It's been a while since I've posted here.

Anyway, I've been thinking alot recently about my skin. Now, I'm not saying that I have really bad skin, when I was in my mid to late teens I did have bad acne, but now I'd get bad breakouts every now and again and I'd have the odd spot most days.

Well, I've been looking at my face and it's only now it's sunk in that if I didn't touch and pick at my face so much, I would have way fewer spots. If I see the smallest little blemish I work at it, until it's bleeding or it would then become infected and I'd have a big pimple.

The worst part of my face is my right cheek area. My left cheek is OK because I have a slightly lazy left eye and this makes the left side of my more difficult to focus on. The right side is easy to focus on and it's my worst side, probably because I'm always inspecting it in the mirror.

Does anyone else feel that they wouldn't have as many spots if they didn't work at their face? For some reason, I seem to work at my face alot at the start of a week, then I realise I've missed it up and I then leave it alone. By the end of the week things have improved, but the cycle starts all over again at the start of the week. If I could only break this habit!!!! Anyone got any tips to stop others from picking at their face so much?

[A-Shizzle]

I never tounch ed my face with my hands but I would squeeze things with qtips and a good set of tweezers. I did notice that when i popped one with qtips it would seem to aggrivate my skin causing more pimples around that area.

I have major issues with germs and stuff so touching my face was never a problem. I do believe popping really does aggrivate the skin causing even more pimples though.

I can;t really think of anyways to stop touching so much..especially if you happen to be one of those people who touches without realizing it.

[souvenir]

Yeah, that's interesting. I see some people's picture in the galleries and they have yellow spots that look as if they'd come out easily when squeezed, but they don't seem to squeeze them. I could never do that, if I see a spot with a head on it, I have to squeeze it. That's probably my biggest mistake.

[BeautifulDay]

I agree with the first post and I have always had a problem with picking at acne and I'm sure that I am almost always making things a whole lot worse for myself. I have gone through good and bad periods with this, and right now I would say that I am getting better with keeping my hands off my face. Basically I am working at recognizing my moods, and tendancies when it comes to this... like if I am in the bathroom doing my night time routine, and it has been a stressful day I know that this is a time when I will turn to obsessing over my face in the mirror... so I make sure I just leave the bathroom asap and avoid mirrors for the rest of the night.

Another thing that has helped me is that I found a regimen that I want to follow, so I just focus on getting the best results possible from that regimen. That way I can convince myself that I don't want to ruin my progress of clearing up by picking at my acne and making it red and inflamed when it wasn't in the first place.

I think that when I was previously really obsessed with picking, I easily made my acne look twice as bad as if I had never touched it. I'm just lucky that I didn't cause myself any bad scarring over the years, although I do have a few scarred pores over my cheeks.

[dejaclairevoyant]

I definately never touch my face besides washing it or applying makeup. I wish the problem was that simple but for me its internal.

[Aghaigh Dearg]

Ive gotten better at the staying away from the face. I used to be terrible but now my only downfall is having to pop a whitehead. but I do let them come to a point where they pop at the slightest touch with I think is less irritating to myskin anyway. I know I know its still bad but I cant go out with a whitehead on my face I just feel gross

[souvenir]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm trying hard to stay away from the mirror and it's been OK this week as I'm off work. Back to work next week though, so I'll probably be more stressed. Fingers crossed I can keep from working at my face.

[angelsmomma]

oh boy i swear im never gonna touch or pick my face again but i do it without even realising sometimes...

why is it soooooooooo hard NOT to pop a zit??

and it really does make things worse and longer to heal...

hmmmm starting from now we should all try and NOT pick touch or pop anything on our face OK?

well i will try anyway

who's with me?

[JeNNa86]

I'm with you starting now (I popped 2 this morning) I need to quit picking.

[souvenir]

I actually squeezed a thing on my chin tonight, it's quite red now so I put some Sudocream on it to try and calm it down a bit. I shouldn't have done it.

As you guys said, picking your face is something you do without even thinking about it. We need to keep on trying though!! Never give up, guys. If we can break this habit for one day, the I'm sure we can do it for another and another and another.

[dnoune]

i think you're absolutely right. i only developed mild, but annoying acne in my 20's (i'm now 28) and i know for a fact that since i developed it i've become a "picker" even when i don't realize it. and i analyze my skin in the mirror like never before in my life! it's also so true about stress! i pick more when i'm stressed and/ or feeling down, even though i know that if my face looks worse (which it always does after picking) i'll feel even more down. it's crazy. i notice that when i don't pick, when i don't care, i break out less. problem is that when i get one or two pimples, say from hormones, stress, whatever, and it's after a period of not breaking out, that alone stresses me out, so then i'm down...so then i pick. i'm really gonna make more of an effort starting today...i really just want to ignore my face!

[~ Dee]

I honestly think I got acne in the 80's by wearing cover girl powder makeup to cover my really oily skin. Once that ball got rolling...

I wish I could stop picking. I'm trying. I've actually considered getting hypnotized, except I discovered I can't be put under. Something in me desperately wants that pressure/infection out of there. But, maybe there's more to it for me. It's become habitual.
Somebody had posted this website on this forum, & I bookmarked it. I can't remember who. You just reminded me to read it.
http://www.stoppickingonme.com/

Maybe I won't be the only one reading it.

[little labbit]

i know for a fact that 99% of my acne is exaggerated by my obsessive picking! i spend hours and hours in the bathroom picking at my skin! my arsenal of skin tools included:
3 different blackhead/blemish extractors, 2 sets of tweezers, q-tips, latex gloves and special mirrors! however, if i was especially stressed out i would simply use my fingers to attack every single acne lesion on my face (and chest) and thus causing way more harm than i should have ever inflicted on myself. obsessive skin picking is psychological. i actually become fixated and cannot stop! as silly as it sounds, it relieves a great deal of stress for me! although, the next day when i see the damage i feel very guilty.

recently i prooved to myself that i can have clearer skin if i don't touch my face for a while (for a few days-even better a few weeks). when i first met my guy a few months ago i was so preoccupied and happy. i spent alot of time at his place and less and less time at my place in front of the mirror picking. within a week of NO picking what-so-ever my face began to clear up dramatically. i was also washing my face only 2X a day when i was with him instead of 3 or 4 times when i was picking (to prevent infection). less frequent washing and no picking REALLY improved my overall complexion-being in love also made me less stressed out!

it is now a month later-
i am STILL in love with my guy - BUT the picking has resumed. WHY? maybe because it really is an obsession that is too hard to break on my own. i have my own silly anxieties about falling in love and getting hurt (again)-i have alot of stress regarding school (i am a graduate student) and have fallen behind in a few classes this term.

so, this past weekend i really went to town on my face and then proceeded to my chest. i will spare you all the details. consequently i ended up tossing every skin care tool i owned in the trash. however i still need to keep my tweezers or else my eyebrows will sprout all over the place! (and it really doesn't matter how many tools i toss out, i will always have my fingers/nails). however, i read on a skin picking internet info site that a good way to avoid using your nails to pick is to get a manicurist to apply acrylic or silk wrap tips so you can't. (i have had tips before and it really does make it totally impossible to pick your pimples).

going to get LONG nail tips TODAY! (will make me feel a bit more pretty despite my skin).

[benne237]

I used to be an obssesive picker but I have been able to get alot better at it. For me it was just having better self-control. But especially as adults everyone knows how humilitaing it is to walk around at work or wherever with a giant whitehead on your face. For me, having a red spot is one thing, but having a big old whitehead is just impossible not to pop.

[JBHK]

Hi! I too was an obssessive picker when my skin was really bad. But, honestly I think its a really normal reaction. I don't think the underlying problem is the picking but the acne - when my acne was clearing up, I automatically stopped picking.

That said, picking is a bad idea - you are much more likely to scar. Try not to beat yourself up to much about it. Work on clearing the acne and, if you are like me, the picking will stop. Good luck.

[Lexica]

Somebody had posted this website on this forum, & I bookmarked it. I can't remember who. You just reminded me to read it.
http://www.stoppickingonme.com/

Maybe I won't be the only one reading it.

THANK YOU for posting this link. I've only done a quick speed-read through the site, but have already learned things that are helping me resist the urge to pick.

I'm definitely going to go back to the site to read it more carefully and take notes as I do.

[kt_a]

I second Lexia. That's an interesting website.

Goodness - face picking. It is such a hard lesson to learn. Every time I go to squeeze a zit I tell myself I shouldn't because it's just going to get red and angry, and every time the spot gets red and angry. I dunno. I guess there is just something inherently satisfying about squeezing a pimple that makes it hard to stop, almost like I think I'm doing something proactive to make it go away.

[Siouxsie]

Not picking didn't clear up my acne, but it made a difference in how large a zit got & how well & fast it healed. Now that my skin is clearer, when I do get the occasional zit I leave it alone. That also keeps it from spreading to the surrounding area.
So not picking at your face does make a difference!

[ksand]

I notice that I like to pick when they are healing. That little piece of dry skin on top annoys me. I hate trying to put make-up over it. I try not to pop because for some strange reason when I pop...another pimple forms underneath the area I blamed myself for a long time for my scars because I picked. Then I read this thing about how scars form from acne and learned that---pitted scars are caused from thinning tissue and raised scars are formed from too much tissue.....aha...not all my fault