Day 9: I almost picked today because I was very upset with my skin (I know that doesn't make any sense...). I can now see that I've done more damage to my skin from picking than I thought I had. I'm still really hopeful though that peels will be able to take care of it. My clogs are also very bad right now. I've got lots on my cheeks and around my nose. My sebaceous filaments also look huge right now and I think it may be because of the salicylic acid. It looks like they're coming up to the surface or something. It's just a bad skin day

Well...I tore apart my face today and got all those nasty clogs out. I swear I've never seen so much come out of my nose it was disgusting. I think I'm gonna make an appointment with a derm soon to see if maybe I can try retinoids. I am pretty afraid of trying them because in the past they made my skin more oily. I'm not sure if I stuck with them long enough though. Can I hear about some retinoid experiences? Does the extra oilyness pass once the skin gets used to the retinoids?

Today is day 3 of not picking again. I went through all my skin products to see if any of them had clogging ingredients and I found out that my prescription sulfur lotion had a ton. I stopped using it three days ago and my skin already feels so much smoother and cleaner. I'm wondering if the salicylic acid was opening up my pores and letting more of the clogging ingredients in. I don't even know if that can happen, but it may explain why my skin got so much more congested looking. I've been using just salicylic acid wipes and wash since my major picking episode and I think they're helping too.

Hi Paigems

Just wanted to wish you the best of luck with stopping picking, don't beat yourself up for picking, you've still come a long way and everyone trying to break a habit has setbacks, it doesn't mean you're back to square one.

I am a picker too. I used to pick everything, now I tend to leave spots alone (unless there's a very obvious yellow head) but I can't leave closed comedones alone. My hand is constantly going to my face to feel for bumps and to scratch stuff off my skin and if I know there's a comedone I just imagine what it'd be like to squeeze it and get stuff out and it's like an itch that needs scratching. I have one on my cheek right now that I want to squeeze and I'm doing my utmost to ignore the thoughts and urges, it's hard because it's all I can think about!