13 replies to this topic

[girl11]

So I picked and squeezed at a pimple on my lower cheek that is all bright red and raw and inflamed now. The worst part is I don't think I even got everything out. I put polysporin on last night, and there's still some white pus looking stuff on top, but I can't squeeze it anymore because I know last night I already did a lot of damage and what's there now has to heal. I'm just going to keep polysporin on it yet again for 3 days and hide and hope that helps it look better. Any tips on stopping myself from trying to get the rest of the gunk out now while it's healing? I would imagine polysporin would help kill any infection in there since it's an open wound now, right? I can't tell you how much it drives me crazy when I didn't get everything! It's like all that ruining my skin for nothing.

I just hate having bumps on my skin But really, the bumps are better than what it turns out looking like after I've picked it. I can't spend my life doing this anymore where I have to feel like I can't enjoy life on the days it's healing, wondering if it's going to scar, wondering if the bump is going to flatten out. It's exhausting and driving me crazy.

Edited by girl11, 23 April 2011 - 08:35 AM.

[squee]

The way I stopped picking was by putting a cover over it (so, for example, if one spot, a band-aid) whenever I was home/not around people. I never pick my skin when I'm around people (because seriously, who wants to see someone picking at their skin?) but being at home was fair game. I just leave the band-aid or whatever on if it's not in an obvious place, but I take it off if it's my face or something.

This might sound ridiculous but when my forehead was breaking out like mad and I had serious problems preventing my fingers from touching/poking, I straight up took gentle paper tape and taped a section of clean gauze across my entire forehead when I was home. People in my house laughed at me. XD But it prevented access and after a while I just stopped doing it.

[girl11]

Thanks for the tips. I read about people putting a band aid on. I should do that next time. I did end up squeezing the pimple again on Saturday and popped out whatever was in there. But it looked so horrible after! The skin surrounding it was nearly purple. I kept polysporin on it for a few days, and now the skin is at least closed and almost flat. It's just a matter of the skin still being red and pigmented, but I guess I can't expect it to not be red considering what it looked like 5 days ago. Hopefully that fades. I've learned not to put polysporin on a pimple unless everything is out of it because if you put it on an inflamed pimple otherwise that still has the gunk inside it, it makes the pus come to the surface and if you're a picker, there's no way you can go on without messing with a pimple when you see that. I have to let my skin just resolve itself naturally. And remember that a pimple is not so bad on the face compared to a weeping open sore. :/ I seriously should have taken pictures of my skin a few days ago so I could look at it in the future when I'm tempted to pick.

[girl11]

Is it bad to pick at a pimple if there is an actual white head to it coming out? Like squeezing it gently with Q-tips where the white stuff comes out really easily? I just did that today, but I feel like on these, they cannot heal until the stuff comes out. When we try to quit picking, should we cease all picking or is squeezing in instances where there's an obvious head okay?

[Seashell12]

Put calamine lotion on your face! It might even help your acne. I don't think it does much at all for me, but just having it on so that I cannot see my acne makes me not think about picking because I can't look at my face and obsess. Of course, you'll be pasty white/light pink, so it can only be on at home. But you can leave it on for long periods of time and it really really helps me not pick

[girl11]

I'm really struggling with this lately Over the weekend I finally was not thinking about my skin, even the new scar I have from an extracted pimple that's kind of red. But then the other night I squeezed at a blackhead that looked harmless. And I made the area red and irritated looking. Tonight the scab looked so dry and the skin actually looked cracked, so I peeled it and I think I did it too early. It didn't bleed or anything and the skin's not raw, it's just the area looks bright red. There's another blackhead that looks even more inflamed in the same area that I just want to squeeze but I know that'd be a bad idea since the skin in that area just needs to heal and be left alone.

It's just like, why do I create this anxiety for myself in the first place? Yes, there was a blackhead there but I'm sure it wasn't noticeable to anyone else but me. And now I have this red irritated looking spot. It upsets me so much when I do this to myself. If I get pimples, it sucks but it's not my fault. But if I pick at a spot and make it worse, that's what makes me so upset! I don't know how to stop it.

[girl11]

This is causing me such anxiety that I couldn't sleep last night. I keep panicing that I caused permanent scarring since I took the skin off too early. This morning I just squeezed the other blackhead (with a tissue on my fingers) just because it was more obvious now above the red area, but it came out easily without having to squeeze hard and didn't bleed so I think it's okay. I figured if this area's already having to heal, why not just get that over with so I don't have to deal with it later. Now there's just two tiny red holes where the blackheads were which isn't so bad, it's just the area around it is red probably from squeezing hard the other night even though I tried not to. Ugh, I need to control my anxiety. And sleep deprivation is not helping!

I guess in 3 days I'll have my answer as to whether it'll look better or be a red scar that'll last for awhile because that's usually enough time to tell how something's healing. But this has to be the last time because I could have been dealing with a pimple-free week if it weren't for this.

[OmgZep]

Picking messes up the skins own natural healing process,
your skin also wants whats best for you but you gotta give it a little time.
Think about it like this, If you had a pretty bad cut on your face would you pick and scratch at it so it would "heal faster"?

[girl11]

I know. I have to just leave it alone right now. I can sort of cover it with concealer but it's still bothering me. I keep having obsessive thoughts about whether it's going to get better or not. The scab did come off easily but I guess still too early. At least it wasn't like bleeding raw skin underneath but still, I might have caused a red mark now that will last for awhile. It looks like probably another thin scab is going to form over it. It's just so hard to have patience because now I'm going to be anxious for the next couple days. NO MORE PICKING after this. I can't take the anxiety that comes with it. I think everytime I have the urge, i need to come back on here and read this thread.

I just can't stop beating myself over it.

And I think I have to not let myself look at my skin after 9 or 10pm anymore because that's usually when I'll see something and go for it. I never do it in the mornings or during the day.

[Ghost08]

Skin looks better when not picked, so every time you pick just think, "I'm making it look worse.".

[girl11]

It looks like that area of skin healed, a little pink but easy to cover up with makeup.

BUT now on the other side of my face I feel a pimple bump coming on that might turn into a nasty one with a head. I hate getting those

[girl11]

Thanks for the tips. I'm on Day 3 of no picking, I officially started this week. It looks like I might possibly not have just one but TWO pimples on the right side of my face that look like they have potential to turn into big ones. But I will NOT pick.

The thing is, when they turn into big inflamed pimples that end up forming a head, how can it even go away without leaving a red mark? Usually they will pop on their own too. That's why I HATE those kind of pimples. I'd rather have the blackheads, no one ever notices those. You don't see them when you're standing 5 feet away from the mirror.

[meanmommy]

I feel your pain! I'm a HORRIBLE picker. Ever since I started getting acne I have this crazy need to feel smooth skin under my fingers, cause if I don't, I'll try to get rid of whatever bump I feel. I do it without thinking about it anymore until I hurt something. I know it's a bad habit, and I'm trying to stop. I take it one day at a time.

[DNA5]

I've got the same problem. I just want to get whatever shouldn't be in my skin out. When I was on a 4 day trip for cheer camp, my skin had no acne marks whatsoever, and I could go around without makeup on. But as soon as I get back, I start picking again. It's now been 6 days since I got back and I have 3 marks on my face from where I went picking.