Thank you for all the congratulations on my wedding 
The talk with my mom wasn't long at all-- and she didn't elaborate on how she stopped picking. I don't think it was as big a problem for her as it is for me. Or, maybe she's afraid of talking about it...she's from a generation and a family that discouraged discussing any and all flaws-- whether the flaws be physical or mental. Although, she did mention that she would pick her cuticles so much that she left scars. I didn't ask her how she stopped. I think she would probably tell me that she "grew out of it."
Anyway, yeah...that Dr. Phil episode...I don't like it. She is a victim of her own anxieties and so she picks. I agree with Kim-- I think the way that they highlight the picking as such a weird, freaky disorder is SO wrong. I mean, she's still a normal girl. Lots of people do things that aren't necessarily good for them because of anxiety-- like over-eating or drinking alcohol. This is just another way to cope with the everyday hardships of life that lots (LOTS!!) of people do. It's episodes like this that make people afraid of telling other people that they have a skin picking problem...because they're too embarassed to be grouped in the same category as someone with a "CRAZY OBSESSION." Ugh. Thanks for posting it though, it's great to talk about these types of things!
My new years resolution is to stop picking my skin.
Im constantly feeling my skin for any roughness or bumps. I cant help it.
I plan to stop for good this year and get my skin back to the state it used to be, picking my skin is the cause of my acne i think
Hey check this out. Dr Phil actually talked about this on Thurday's show. It's the first time I've seen anyone talk about this on TV.
holy f**king shit! that is bad. I thought i was bad, but that really is sad
her before and after is insane.
this has scared me to death.. I think i'm going to watch this video again and again when I feel an urge to pick.
but I also realise help is a must.
dr phil said
"The good news is that neither of you have disfigured yourself to the point that you can't return to completely normal in terms of your skin. You haven't gone too far, but you're getting close,
really? i would have thought that sort of damage is irreversible?
further more dr phil says "What you need to do is be able to identify your anxiety, alleviate your anxiety and take away the need for the ritual," he insists. Both girls accept the help.
so ok my anxiety is the redness/spots.. and hating them and pretty much exactly what that girl said, getting what ever is under there 'out', so surely i cant be healed because we all get spots and i seem to break out a lot even at 26 .... so what do I do? argh
tbh that video has been an EYE opener for me.. its weird how seeing someone else can impact me personally so much. Like when its your own face you don't really think.. seeing this really has spun a whole new perspective on it for me.
Jack - I was mad at that Dr Phil piece too. My picking has everything to do with acne and black heads. if i didn't have them...i wouldn't pick. Maybe her situation was different. i felt sad when she didn't realize that it is anxiety / stress based. I know when my mother pisses me off i tend to pick more and around my period (sorry TMI lol).
I found myself nodding in agreement when she said 'all i want to do is get that stuff out. Then there is a short period of relief and than OMG what have i done.'
Dr. Phil is right though....I heard this from my therapist too. You cant just break the habit (it will come back), you have to replace it with something and the habit will slowly slowly melt away. I find that 10 minutes of yoga and breathing in the AM helps before i get in the shower. and when i feel my anxiety building, i stretch and breath right in the bathroom. I don't think we'll ever be "cured", we'll just learn how to recognize and deal with the stress.
hang in there. do you see a derm for the acne? and have someone to talk to about the picking?....professional or not...it helps to vent and breath.
Hey check this out. Dr Phil actually talked about this on Thurday's show. It's the first time I've seen anyone talk about this on TV.
holy f**king shit! that is bad. I thought i was bad, but that really is sad
this has scared me to death.. I think i'm going to watch this video again and again when I feel an urge to pick.
but I also realise help is a must.
dr phil said
"The good news is that neither of you have disfigured yourself to the point that you can't return to completely normal in terms of your skin. You haven't gone too far, but you're getting close,
really? i would have thought that sort of damage is irreversible?
further more dr phil says "What you need to do is be able to identify your anxiety, alleviate your anxiety and take away the need for the ritual," he insists. Both girls accept the help.
so ok my anxiety is the redness/spots.. and hating them and pretty much exactly what that girl said, getting what ever is under there 'out', so surely i cant be healed because we all get spots and i seem to break out a lot even at 26 .... so what do I do? argh
tbh that video has been an EYE opener for me.. its weird how seeing someone else can impact me personally so much. Like when its your own face you don't really think.. seeing this really has spun a whole new perspective on it for me.
Jack - I was mad at that Dr Phil piece too. My picking has everything to do with acne and black heads. if i didn't have them...i wouldn't pick. Maybe her situation was different. i felt sad when she didn't realize that it is anxiety / stress based. I know when my mother pisses me off i tend to pick more and around my period (sorry TMI lol).
I found myself nodding in agreement when she said 'all i want to do is get that stuff out. Then there is a short period of relief and than OMG what have i done.'
Dr. Phil is right though....I heard this from my therapist too. You cant just break the habit (it will come back), you have to replace it with something and the habit will slowly slowly melt away. I find that 10 minutes of yoga and breathing in the AM helps before i get in the shower. and when i feel my anxiety building, i stretch and breath right in the bathroom. I don't think we'll ever be "cured", we'll just learn how to recognize and deal with the stress.
hang in there. do you see a derm for the acne? and have someone to talk to about the picking?....professional or not...it helps to vent and breath.
thanks for the reply nancy, I have calmed down a lot now too after seeing that video.. basically I totally forgot that I was picking because of spots.. i wasn't picking at nothing or imagined flaws.. my picking obsession is also black head related.. vis a vis if i didnt' have clogged pores.. I'd never have picked however *
*what gets to me a lot is that I have never had BAD acne... just persistent spots here and there... and i've never learned to just leave them be.. if it wasnt for me trying to make my skin better i.e moisturised/cleansed/ trying to prevent spots in the first place by using oils/cleansers/ etc (which always clogged me up... which stressed me out... which led to me squeezing FAR to hard sigh) then maybe I wouldn't have these small marks and indentations. I remember I picked at times of high stress/ exams was one time and the other time around 2 months ago at a work do. sigh. its pissing me off thinking about it. I couldnt help myself, and now i've got the damage. I wonder if it can be healed.
Sure some marks are not that obvious but when you know its there.. and how it got there... thats what eats away at me I feel ugly in public like I really do have the worst skin ever.. but i don't..
so I must have huge insecurities.. for a guy..
I saw my gp. here in England you cant just see a derm, you have to be referred, once referred you can see one. or go private and it will cost about 800 dollars for an hour consultation. He (the GP a.k.a Doc) gave me a prescription of dermolotion... which is an emolient. It is anti bacterial and he said to use it after a shave to stop irritation and spots etc. I used this, and it worked so well i hadnt seen my skin look so good. My confidence came back. However after a few weeks it clogged up again.. and then i squeezed out the black heads, and had enlarged pores and pock marks ever since.
I went back, and told him I had no luck. This time he gave me 300mg tetralysal to prevent spots coming up in the first place, but in the past although yes antibiotics have cleared and prevented them, they always come back afterwards. and they are just not good to be taking are they?
I saw a derm a few years ago (4-5 years ago) and he said I have light acne, clogged pores, and Acne excoriee... which comes the term comes from france, its apparently what young girls often do/did to purposely make themselves not attractive so that they wouldn't be sexually assaulted by men...
anyway sorry for the long post. Hopefully you can relate? is there anything we can do? I am getting professional help after 1st jan 2014 through private health care, i'll be seeing someone who specialises in CBT and BDD. I think if that helps at least i'll stop picking and maybe over time if as long as I dont break out much, then the skin will heal and go back to an even tone. then perhaps once the mental behavioural side is locked down then maybe look into dermapen and try and fix the light/mild damage caused over the years?
what do you think guys and girls
Hi everyone, Merry Christmas Eve!
Thanks so much for inviting me to this thread, it's so nice to know I'm not alone!
I actually haven't picked in a few days and I'm so proud of myself. I just took a bath and exfoliated my face and all this dead and dry skin just sloughed right off. I have a lot of healed pink marks on my face, and a couple open picked spots that the scabs came off of on my forehead. I'm so happy I can look normal for tonight, I'm going to my friend's church with her for this candlelight midnight service (me and my family are all agonistic so we don't go to church) and I'm excited to dress up and look pretty tonight.
I'm still biting my nails but I'm working on the picking before I open up that can of worms. One compulsion at a time!
I think I'll join this...have a habit of pooping anything that comes up...making my face look very bruised and irritated.
Haha, that typo is awesome. Anyway, welcome to the thread. We all know what it's like to over-pick your face, so join in and hopefully you will be motivated to see the improvement you're hoping for! 
Hi everyone, Merry Christmas Eve!
Thanks so much for inviting me to this thread, it's so nice to know I'm not alone!
I actually haven't picked in a few days and I'm so proud of myself. I just took a bath and exfoliated my face and all this dead and dry skin just sloughed right off. I have a lot of healed pink marks on my face, and a couple open picked spots that the scabs came off of on my forehead. I'm so happy I can look normal for tonight, I'm going to my friend's church with her for this candlelight midnight service (me and my family are all agonistic so we don't go to church) and I'm excited to dress up and look pretty tonight.
I'm still biting my nails but I'm working on the picking before I open up that can of worms. One compulsion at a time!
Ah, yes....I also bite my nails, so I understand the coupled compulsions...Funny thing is...I stopped biting my nails for a really long time, but ever since cutting back on my skin picking, I've started the nail biting again! Dangit...oh well, I'd rather have bitten nails than an inflamed, painful face. Isn't it the best taking a bath and feeling warm and soft and clean?
out of interest, how many people have small minute indents? and do they bother you?
I have small indents that I know no one cares about or can see....so they do not bother me. In fact, I sort of like them in a weird way. I think they remind me of my past and make me realize that I don't have to leave those spots anymore.
Skin Update: SO, I got a really massive cyst on my cheek three days ago and it ended up swelling up pretty big. I'm not sure what caused it, but I didn't squeeze it at all and it's going down now. Otherwise, I have pretty nice skin and I'm expecting to be nice and clear for my wedding..Unless something happens. We've had tons of people over for Christmas, including my fiance's parents, so....stress is definitely a factor. No picking binges though, so I'm proud of myself. 
well done H ! (: proud of you!
I've been using biafine recently and Its a very good skin healing cream, have you heard of it? what regime are you on atm?
Stress because of meeting people certainly triggers it for me... had the staff x mass party and i did a number on my face right before it.. only just settling down now. Been extremely careful with my skin for about a week now, so that feels good
Hey, I have a huge weird cyst on my cheek too! It's in a spot where I have not picked before (at least not during this bout of acne), which somehow helps me to leave it alone. Also it is the only really nasty thing on my face, so I am sort of enjoying it. But SHEESH, is it ever huge! And it has no sign of coming out - it's just like a little pillow of infection.
My husband-like person commented that my skin looked better the other day, which really helped. I think I am finally through the super worst part of this experience. I sure hope so, because it has been a hell of a last 4 months.
I also chew my nails, which I always was okay with because I play piano and need to have short nails anyway.
And I noticed that I have a hard time not picking at my lips, which are super chapped and peely from the Accutane.
Glad to see Rasine here! And glad that you are having a good day!
And yes, I have lots of little scars. I had terrible skin in my early twenties and a BAD picking problem, which left me with a lot of little indents and spots that never fully went away, but which aren't that bad and are easily covered with a little foundation. This time around it is hard to say what the damage will be because things are still healing, and coming up for that matter. Even though the worst of it seems like it will only last 6 months or so (compared to several years with my last bout of acne), I think I will have quite a few 'forever-scars' because my skin is older and more easily damaged, and I had a lot of breakouts on Accutane (and still having), which is hard on your skin.
The dents and red marks are still pretty bad now, but I have hope that it will get better than this. We shall see.
Happy holidays all!
Jack- I haven't heard of biafine, so I looked it up and I've used something like it before on my face. Zinc oxide is good for healing, and I think that's what is in biafine. Regardless, it's always good to put stuff on a wound that will maintain a moisturized environment for the cells. As for my regimen:
Morning: Splash face with warm water. Moisturize with Paula's Choice moisturizer. Makeup. Take Spironolactone and Vitamin D3.
Evening: Remove makeup with Cetaphil antibacterial bar, Differin .1%. Take Birth control. Spot treat with Mint Julep mask.
Weekly: Glycolic Acid 35%/Lactic Acid 35% Peel
Kim, that's exactly how my cyst was! No whitehead at all-- just a raised bump that literally never popped or anything. In fact, at times, it didn't hurt at all. Now it's practically gone, but I never extracted it. There's still a massive red mark though.
I play the piano, too! Long nails definitely get in the way of it, but overly short nails can be really uncomfortable while playing! As for picking lips, I chew on mine if they're dry and peel off the peely, dry parts. It's usually harmless, but sometimes I peel a little too much. I got some chapstick that I really like and it's helping.
Skin Update: I picked a tiny bit at my face yesterday, but just left it alone afterwards and threw a clay mask as an overnight spot treatment over any bumps. My skin's looking good this morning besides the big red mark that the cheek cyst left, but I can cover that with makeup. Hope everyone had/is having a nice holiday! I'm getting married today! And then I'm spending a couple days in a cabin in the woods! Yay! No more hanging out with my fiance's parents... -_-
The wedding was nice 
My sister took some photos and I'll post them when she gets them to me.
My husband (!) and I went to a cabin in Georgia for the weekend and it was nice and relaxing. However, we were both sick! haha...we picked something up from my cousin that was staying with us over Christmas. We still made the best of our little mini-honeymoon though. There was a hottub and we played music and watched movies. In the mornings, there were deer outside just watching us drink coffee. In the evenings, we could hear the coyotes howling. It was pretty cool. We're back now and just trying to not feel sick. I haven't exercised in what feels like a century, so I'm feeling a little weird and on edge. I need to be completely healthy though before I get back into it...running with a chest cold isn't fun.
Only a month until basic training and I'm starting to feel the nervous excitement. My skin is ruddy and my old red marks will not be faded by February. But I'm coming to terms with it, and I'm okay. I just hope no one makes fun of me for it. My husband got an interview for a Physician's Assistant program in February, and I'm really hoping he gets in! Lots of new things are coming in 2014! Happy New Years' Eve everyone!
Wow! Those pics are amazing. You look delightful. So glad that you are having such great results - it really gives me a lot of hope. Things are going better over here, but not quite where you are at. Although I'm taking the Accutane to try and fix the mess I made going off the pill, I am hoping being back on it (3 months now) will help keep me clear after like it did before. Gotta love those anti-androgens.
Congratulations Heitea!
I'm having a hard time not picking at the moment. I'm under pretty insane stress (last year at Uni, loads of work due in, interviews and tests and exams for post grad courses, sorting out the love life, family issues, trying to keep my social life alive) and my face is breaking out pretty badly. I've started a new topical (undiluted ACV, diluted doesn't do anything) which is making me purge as though my life depends on it. This has left me with tonnes of teeny tiny whiteheads everywhere, which are demanding that I extract them, right now. Naturally I'm trying to leave them alone and let them heal up by themselves. I just hope I'm a bit clearer for an interview that's coming up.
hey people, happy new year!
Seems overall people are getting stronger here, great news
me....I have grown a thick beard, so i've been doing better at leaving things alone. I just figured to hell with it, picking doesn't get me anywhere so I now leave it and let the spots do what ever they like.
over the past 2 weeks i've noticed a few things. The spots come and go, oddly even ones that go massive and puss right up will disappear after a shower and gentle exfoliant face wash.. with only the slightest of redness left. I have spot treated with tea tree oil and witchazel and that helps 10 fold. I had a big cyst on my forehead new years day which I dont ever usually get - literally cant remember the last time. anyway, i refused to let it get to me even though it hurt when frowning or raising eye brows etc, and yeah, spot treated it and its now totally gone.... no mark, no redness. nothing.
I also had a date and had terrible skin but it didnt stop me. It went well and honestly i just seem to have entered a new mindset of leaving spots well alone.
i hope that 2014 is my year to leave the habit well and truly alone
Thanks guys!
Anti-androgens are awesome! lol. Who knew I had too many man hormones all this time? Ehh...
Spotthedifference, I hope everything heals up soon! I'm having a hard time with my face picking at the moment, too. The night that I posted my newest photos, I ended up picking two spots on my face. They were skin-colored or just *slightly* pink spots, but for some reason, I had to squeeze at them. I'm still not used to the idea that they will somehow fade away on their own if I don't interfere...I have a blackhead that has come to the surface and I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it. My old routine would have been to squeeze it out, spot treat it, and then cover it with makeup in the morning.
Jack, I would love to grow a beard sometimes! haha...when I was in high school, I was so jealous of my boyfriend who could just not shave when he had a zit that he wanted to disguise. He's now my husband and will still grow the beard on one of his so-called "zit days." heh. Still jealous.
hey gang. sorry i havent written in a while. question....
Has anyone tried using rose water to help combat redness and minor acne?
Often my acne meds make me really irritated, depending on the weather and how much i use. i've cut back to every other day b/c it was too much. My big zits are clear but i still get dry patches and black heads, and small irritated bumps that i can't help but scratch at. i know i know BAD habit.
Any advice would be awesome! i just ordered a small bottle to try. if i dont like it, i can always use it as a bathroom spray LOL.
i was also thinking about getting my hormone levels and allergies checked. i have to go for a physical anyway. any thoughts?
thanks