I started picking around 14-15 years old. As is the case with some of you (I read posts before I joined) I was obsessed with having "smooth" skin. Anything that I even perceived as a "bump" I instantly picked off in order to smooth out my skin. I knew what would happen if I picked but I HAD to do it anyway.
I was a real bad picker and have many, many scars from the nearly 30 years of doing it. Unfortunately my scars are on my face, neck, chest and arms so they're totally visible and there's no way to hide them.
The scars are smooth but have no pigment and look extra horrible because I have freckles all over the scarred areas. The whiteness of the scars really stands out in comparison to my well-freckled arms and face.
I managed to stop the picking (probably 90+ %) when I turned 40 but now deal with VERY embarrassing VERY visible scars. I walk with my head down all the time, try not to look up at people when I talk to them, and avoid all social situations because of this problem.
I'd love to find some kind of way to hide the white scars so I can increase my self-confidence enough to the point that I stop hiding in my house as much as possible.
I have years of experience with this problem so I hope I can help others as well as getting help from you.
I've only been picking my skin since I turned 17 and I'm just about to turn 18 and I scar easily so I know how ugly they can be.
Baking soda works as a scrub it'll make the scars more visible right after you scrub but put vitamin e on after and by the next day they should be a little lighter.
I do this maybe 2-3 times a week depending.
I usually put a huge globe of neosporin and vitamin e together and sleep with it on at night they drastically go away in a few nights.
Try lightly scrubbing all your scarred spots, scrubbing hard really can hurt the skin especially with baking soda I've done it before and my face was dry and bumpy from small scabs.
I hope this helps.
In terms of cost or if there's a location nearby you or anything, I'm not sure how practical this will be.
But there's a laser called the ReLume laser. It's supposed to repigment light colored areas (from old stretch marks and acne scars and whatever else). Just google, "ReLume repigmentation phototherapy." If you're feeling self conscious about your scars, it might be worth looking into.
Congrats on getting the picking under control!
I know this thread is so old. But how did you get your picking under control? Luckily I haven't done any severe damage yet, but I am having a hard time not touching or picking my skin. I can not touch my skin for a week, but then something happens and I pick again and it looks horrible again. Thanks for any help.