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How do I stop skin picking!

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(@oliviajade64)

Posted : 11/03/2016 9:56 pm

Hello all, this is my first chatish thing in here so I hope I'm doing this right. I'm fourteen years old, female and I have quite mild acne, not cystic or anything like that but some blackhead and maybe one or two pimple on my face. Here's the thing though, I CAN NOT STOP PICKING. I know how bad it is and I've been trying to stop, using a variety of methods. For a few days I'm able to not pick and almost everything goes away but then I look in a mirror and I can't help myself. I know I'm just making problem a for myself but it feels so good even while I'm telling myself to stop. I'm not sure where this stems from, anxiety disorders and depression run in my family but I've never been diagnosed with anything. Maybe it comes from my mother who is an obsessive skin picker, but she never seems to make problems for herself. I don't know what to do because I desperately want to stop and not scar myself but I don't know how. Does anyone have any advice? Please.

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(@clareabella)

Posted : 11/06/2016 5:18 am

Hi, you are so young so I think you have a good chance at being able to nip this in the bud quickly before you create any lasting damage. First of all I really advise going to see your doctor and explaining this issue as it can be a compulsive disorder that with the right help can be controlled. I wish I had done this all those years ago but back then I just thought I was being normal and these kind of issues were never highlighted by media or mental health experts.

Another good thing I recommend is to google scars caused by skin picking, there may be a lot of pictures of severe cases that have caused lasting damage which you can look at every time you feel the need to pick, see it as a deterrent if you wish? This part may not help but I tend to look atpictures when I feel the need to stare at the mirror and obsess over all my imperfections and for a moment I will think back to what I have seen and think oh no I'm not doing this and just walk away.

I do highly recommend the doctor route though first. I wish you all the best.

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(@Anonymous)

Posted : 11/07/2016 3:39 am

I used to pick all the time too, and it always ended up ugly. Started picking when I was 15, and finally started doing it less this year (I'm 25 now.) For me, the best way to stop picking is to avoid mirrors and to go out or stay busy, cause then I'll have less time to scrutinize and touch my face. I wear makeup every day (except weekends if possible) so I just wash off my makeup and put acne stickers over my spots so they are covered and I won't touch/pick at them. They usually go away fast if I don't touch them, comparing to having to wait a week for scrapes to heal if I mess them up.

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(@acnenewbie16)

Posted : 12/07/2016 2:45 am

I'm 15 and have the exact same problem. I have to physically stop myself. Something that helps is talking to friends. My friend who has very severe acne and I (who has very minor with only a few pimples) formed a pact and are holding each other to it. This helps because I let down someone else not just me. I've also started putting small bandaids on once I get home from school because that's when I'm most likely to pick. Not sure if you have anxiety but I do and this is an outlet for me that I'm trying to replace with stress balls and putty and other things. Good luck!

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(@acnescarsgone)

Posted : 10/02/2017 4:47 pm

I'm going through this now any tips how you get on

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(@vihk)

Posted : 10/27/2017 7:43 am

I used to pick my pimples all the time for like 10 years long. I had pretty mild acne and got on and off antibiotics for a while. Eventually it got so bad that i had to go on an accutane cycle. I think my acne was a lot worse because i kept picking my pimples (because of irritation and dirt getting intro the bloodstreams infecting the skin). Nowadays if i have a whitehead i don't pick it and it will dry out itself. I won't get a red mark from it (or just a tiny one for couple of days).

If you don't pick a whitehead it will look bad for just one/two days, but that's a lot better then a red mark for one or two months. Also you won't risk getting more pimples because of infecting your skin.

Goodluck!

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(@tania-crowe)

Posted : 11/02/2017 8:21 am

Track your behavior. The first step to stopping behavior like picking acne is recognizing what you are doing and when you are doing it. This helps you to identify the triggers for your bad behavior. Whether it's looking in the mirror or watching TV, you can be more aware of those times that you are most likely to pick your acne and be ready when those triggers occur to direct your attention elsewhere.

Second, find a picture of yourself with clear skin, and carry it around in your pocket as inspiration to not pick your acne. Since picking your acne only makes it worse, when you feel the urge coming on, take out the picture and stare at it until the urge goes away.

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(@jlopez)

Posted : 11/04/2017 9:22 am

Hi there @oliviajade64! Quitting skin picking was one of the hardest parts of my journey healing my skin. You are definitely not alone! I started a thread some time ago with some tips that helped me... Hopefully some of them can help you too:

Mild exfoliation
My skin leans towards being quite dry, which means I can suffer from some skin flaking, which always results in picking, becauseif I find something to pick at, I am going to pick it until it's "gone."I have found that very gently exfoliating twice a week has helped to improve my skin cell turn over and decrease the amount of flaking skin I suffer from. I also feel that it is important to keep to some kind of very gentle skincare routine, as itsatisfies the urge to touch the skin in a gentle, healing way,rather than through the act of picking.

Hide the mirrors
The first thing I was worried about when I decided to take down my bathroom mirror, was leaving the house with food in my teeth, or worse, on my face. But I came to the conclusion thatI would rather have tomato soup in the corners of my mouth,than a bleeding scab on my face that I had picked the night before. I now have one mirror in my house, it is in the bedroom where the light is dim enough to keep me from assessing my skin too closely, but just enough that I can make sure I look presentable.

Take a step back
This tip is related to hiding the mirrors. I haven't kept up this tip because of the inconvenience over time, but it was a fantastic tool when it came to breaking the habit. I have a tendency to look at myself in the mirror, then move a little closer, then a little closer, untilmy face is 2 inches away from the mirrorand I can see every single pore. No one will ever look at your skin this close, so you don't have to either. Take a step back. For a few weeks I draw a line on my bedroom floor with fabric chalk (which rubs away with a cloth when necessary) about 5 foot away from my mirror, and promised myself that I wouldn't step in front of the line. It worked very well to remind me that there was no benefit in getting so close.

Occupy your hands
This is a huge one for me. I am a 'scanner,' so when I sit and watch television, or read or use the computer,I will scan my face with the tips of my fingers for something to pick at, and little bump will do, and then I will pick and pull at it without even thinking. Sometimes I don't even pick I just scan my skin for hours, because my brain has somehow learnt to find comfort in this physical action. It was important for me to create physical barriers to try to break this habit. One thing I have found a great help is using a Tangle Toy. I bought two on eBay and they have beenimmensely helpful in satisfying my need to fidgetand have my hands occupied while I am concentration. Another option is gloves, which I have used with good results, though I find that I tend to get lazy with them after a while, as I have to take them on and off to use my computer and cook etc.

Magnesium
I have no scientific proof of this, but I have personally found that eating amagnesium rich diethas helped to calm the frayed nerves that lead to my picking. I include a teaspoon of cacao powder in my smoothies and eat plenty of omega-3 and magnesium rich nuts such as almonds and cashews. Of course this is not to be taken as medical advice, but it is important to remember that diet can have a drastic effect on your skin, since food intolerances lead to inflammation in your body,and therefore inflammation on your skin.

Don't beat yourself up
Quitting picking is a journey just like any other addiction, and it takescommitment and determination.There will be setbacks andyou will relapse.You might have kept your hands away from your face for three whole days, until you finally crack and reach for that magnifying mirror. But please don't beat yourself up. The fact that you are trying to stop is a huge accomplishment! It is important to allow yourself to make mistakes as you readjust and learn to findnew methods of coping.

Throw away your tools
This was difficult for me. I had a picking 'kit' of sorts. A small makeup bag with a collection of picking tools and trinkets. Such as a magnifying mirror, a lance, 2 kinds of extractors (one for pimples one for blackheads) and some antiseptic liquid. I have come to understand thatI associated these tools with the feeling that picking gave me, which was some kind of relief.This was a very damaging emotion as I came to feel as though throwing away these tools would be throwing away this feeling that I thought was so precious. I know now that picking tools are damaging.The worst damage I have done to my face is with a magnifying mirror and an extractor,so there is no excuse. Throw the tools away, throw the temptation away!

Keep a picking log
For a month I kept a consistent diary of my picking habits. This meant that every time I picked, I would get out my note pad and write down the time of day, where I was when I picked, how it made me feel while I was picking and what I felt afterwards. This worked well for me in two ways;it helped me to identify the locations, emotions and time of day that I was most vulnerable,which allowed me to attempt to create effective barriers to avoid these situations as much as possible. Secondly,as my brain began to associate picking with thechore of writing everything downafterwards, I was less inclined to pick.

Try to understand why you pick
Throughout my picking-quitting-journey, I have come to realise that picking, for me, is a twisted form of self control and self harm. When my acne was at its worst, and nothing was working, I felt completely lost and out of control; I found a calmness and serenity in picking, becauseI felt like I was 'doing' something, like I was 'fixing' it.I also realised that I used picking as a tool to get myself out of situations I was nervous about; because I couldn'tpossiblygo to that party if I had picked my skin bloody an hour before.Identifying these triggers was integral to my understanding of my habit,and therefore my slow recovery.

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(@skyesthelimit)

Posted : 11/22/2017 3:14 am

Skin picking really does make things worse. You've got to try to control yourself nomatter how hard it is..Maybe look at pictures of those who skin picked and had grave results... I would sometimes write my goal on a piece of paper and post it to somewhere I can always read it to remind myself of what I need to do.

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