34 replies to this topic

[ifknhateacne]

Unfortunately I am a serial picker as well..

I will try to ensure;

- my hands are under my pillow at night or occupied during the day and
- avoid mirrors
- cut nails short so no damage can be done

I will try to go on youtube/watch something to keep busy and mind off it

Otherwise...

Edited by ifknhateacne, 14 October 2012 - 01:20 AM.

[goied]

Something that works for me is forcing myself to do 20 pushups everytime I pick or touch my face.

This works mainly for the times when I find that I'm by myself and I "accidently" start picking without noticing it. Starts working within a day. The problem is that it requires you to force yourself to keep doing it....

It also has a noticeable, but lesser, effect on my urge to pick after looking at the mirror.

[Tootsler]

O my gosh, I love this. Really love it. I actually love doing push ups but it IS work... and 20 would be a lot for me. Thank you -- excellent tip.

[goied]

I'm glad you like it!

And if you really can't do pushups anymore, you can always change to situps haha. Even though they are very short exercises, they also seems to give some of the stress relieving benefits from exercising which is a good add on.

Of course, this is not really mean't to be a license to pick as long as you do pushups afterwards, so its good to tailor it somewhere close to your limit and to a point where it starts becoming painful for your muscles. I find that I end up going to 40 pushups each time after a few days. The pain is an important part since its meant to work as classical conditioning. But don't do it too far, because then its harder to keep going if you really can't do that many pushups.

Let me know how you go as well! I've never heard of how well other this works with other people. I've always found that I tend to fall out of routine after a few days, or at most a week (but then again I'm very lazy and unfocused), but when it works, it's fast and effective - for me atleast.

Good luck.

[aberry89]

RID YOURSELF OF CLOSE UP MIRRORS!!!!!! They are the scourge of pickers, they were the scourge of my picking. And the only way to stop being tempted to use them?? Go Phantom of the Opera on their asses, and GET RID OF THEM!!!

Remove them from your house, purse, hands, collect the lot, and throw them down into the deepest darkest hole. Literally, remove your access to getting them. I can tell you from experience, you will break down and use them if you can access them.

You cannot, and will not cure temptaion. It does not happen. Temptation is always going to be part of you, what you have to do, is remove the thing that tempts you. In my case, seeing pores and pimples. By removing mirrors, wich will lessen your picking, wich will lessen your acne. You are taking away the stimulation that leads to temptation. And if you have less to tempt, you will be far more succesful.

[Kristina4ever2008]

I just tell myself that no matter how bad the zit may seem, if I pop it... I'll just end up with 5 more zits on my face!

[OCDpicker]

Personally, I don't need a mirror to pick. 75% of my picking goes on without a mirror. I've only been able to come up with one strategy that works for me, so I'm happy to read all of yours.

Mine is: Keep track of how many times a day you touch your face.
Then I assign some sort of punishment that goes along with that, but the act of recording the number of times I touch my face (and recognizing when I am touching my face, hopefully before I start picking) gets me to stop doing it as much just out of a shock of how much I do it. I just do hash marks of whatever piece of paper I have around for the time period, and add them up at the end of the day. It's usually a frightening number, but that's why I'm here.

[kailaruth]

I use only candlelight in the bathroom- also helps me with self esteem!!
I cut my nails shorter
I have a positive affirmation on my mirror
I limit the time I am in the bathroom at night (biggest picking time) or go through my night routine with my partner in the bathroom too
I limit my use of make up- so if I DO pick I know that I can't just "cover it up"
I have been using eye lash serum (fysiko) which actually worked! It allows me to focus on something other than my skin to watch my eye lashes get longer
I practice yoga and meditation
I wash my face as early as possible (if I get too tired it tends to be a trigger)

This has been working out well for me- of course I do pick from time to time but I am much better.

[Cassie88]

Not sure if this has already been posted but I find it helpful if I feel a bump and wanted to pick/squeeze is cover it in a thick ointment and think about how it is helping the spot a lot more than picking and you don't see the blemish. Alas for the cysts that I get just get into a frenzy because I know its going to take ages to get that crap to the surface so still working on that one lol

[vyvan84]

Not sure if this has already been posted but I find it helpful if I feel a bump and wanted to pick/squeeze is cover it in a thick ointment and think about how it is helping the spot a lot more than picking and you don't see the blemish. Alas for the cysts that I get just get into a frenzy because I know its going to take ages to get that crap to the surface so still working on that one lol

I have the same strategy. Putting something on my face makes me feel relieved.

1. Morning: I put my Spot treatment concealer right in the bathroom. So after I wash my face, I immediately put it on my acne. OK, then I cannot mess it up by picking up my acne since I do not want to ruin my make up.

2. Night: I have a yellow spot cream, which is quite mind. I don't know it can do anything beneficial for my skin but at least, I am sure it do no harm since I use it quite a long time. After washing my face, I immediately put it on. Hence, my face is now covered with a yellow mask. Again, when I put a single finger on my face, I have to put down due to fatty cream.

3. I give the pimple extractor to my Mom. Anything I need it, I have to ask her for it. The first question I require her to ask me "Which pimples you wanna pick?". Then if I can point out the visible whitehead, she will give it to me and monitor me closely. She will prevent me from doing harm to my skin if I start messing up my skin.

However, if you have picking habit, I suggest to have an extractor in hand. At least it is much better than using your 2 fingers.

[Helton]

If a pimple forms and it itches, then I would wash my face. And usually the itchy feeling would go away so I wouldn't pick it. It's the itchy feeling that makes me want to squeeze it out.

Edited by Helton, 09 February 2013 - 08:12 PM.

[kyou]

I normally pick my skin in the morning.

I guess i'm just sad that my acne didn't magically go away.

 

Its depressing. I literally can't stop.

[CrazyIceCream]

Hmm..I always find myself picking on my face when I'm zoned out and my hands are free.

So, I'm trying to book bind, reconstruct my clothes and other crafty stuff. Mainly just to keep my mind and hands busy.

But the thing is...once, I was zoned out when I was slicing up some papers for book binding and ended up cutting deep into my thumb. Bloooood.....and ouch!

Poor thumb. Maybe I should find something safer to do 

[mango1]

For me what finally worked was Manuka honey! I just dab a teeny bit on any blemishes that I'm tempted to pick at and then rub it in so it's not shiny, but it's still a bit sticky. The honey helps heal scabs and make pimples go down while it's on there too. When I try to pick at it, it's sticky so I can't and so I stop trying. 

 

Manuka honey is so good for skin that I had been doing honey masks instead of using cleansers, and that helped my skin so much that I tried this to make me stop picking and so far so good! It's been about 2 weeks now and there's such a difference. 

[Ries]

Here's mine

-I avoid mirrors
- I play video games