Acne~Face Pickers~retired Pickers ??

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higster

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I have been picking as long as i can remeraber and reading this thread among others on this site has made me realize that i aint the only one with this obsession/disorder.

I started off picking as a genetic habit (mum and uncle etc are bad for it) when i was 3 and had stitches in my head i picked them out when i was in the bath, the habit has went into an almost obsession to the extent that i cant watch a film with my gf without trying to find something to pick and the worst times for touching/picking spots etc is at night just after i wash my face and then face the mirror.

having read this thread among others i am going to try and limit my picking and see how i go. Thanks to everyone for their input on this subject, at least i dont feel alone in this habit.
 
Hi there!
I am trying to find people who WERE or are "Face Pickers" I as of yesterday have decided to stop Picking my face which I have through my own stupidity picked and made a mess of my face! scabs and soreness , I am intersted to hear if people do really overcomes this....

I am 34 and have had proper Acne (during pregancy that was hormonal and then after birth was like acid was thrown at my face it was bubbly and like full of stinky green puss, I had to go on a perscription (had to stop nursing ) I never saw a proper Dermatologist, was too erabarassed silly I know!

It cleared up (but left marks where it was really bad) I then tried Proactiv then stopped and my skin started to break out (not like before) but more thna jsut the occational zit..jsut enver seemed zit free.....(not all over my face jsut areas where the same ones would come over and over...


_ I have a clearer face when I use a tanning bed then its is better,think tan hides them better mostly . Well I have recently stopped doing that and well I think now I am paying for it !

I cant live on a sunbed all year around I generally go on a few months before Summer to actually hide a birth defect and mark on my leg (all over another long story but hence why I tan sometimes ) it helped my ACNE but dont want to have to be on now!!!! and now see that I probably blocked all the Pores and hence why I am getting it bad again?

so yesterday after a picking session :( then feeling crappy, I found this Healtrabroadoard and signed up, I felt like GET A GRIP just stop picking your face! thats what I have decided to do! is quit , I am using Proactiv a friend of mine is in the CLub, and she had a spare kit , I am hopeful it will help me!

I havnt picked my Face since yesterday, I really want to stop! and hope some people will read this and give me hope and encouragent

having bad skin can really strip away at your confidence, I am 34 and I joke with my husband I am gonna be 60 and still have bad skin (not funny) but I really just want to have nice skin.......thats all is it alot to ask :) but I realize pixking is the worst thing I ever did! and often it was no real big zit just something Minute!!!! so silly.....so avoidable! but once you get into a stupid habit like 'PICKING" its hard to stop! some people I ahve read have deeper reasons for doing it a payoff? I dont feel I get a "payoff" like High from it, for me if was something to do as stupid as it sounRAB!!! now I need to change it for good!!!

Thanks for reading!

:)
 
uklady,

I feel like I am in the same boat as you, at least for today. I go through different phases of how bad my skin is or how much i like it, or at least don't mind it. Today, it is very icky, and have started thinking, once again, that I need to stop picking! However, I don't know if my picking habit is because I've had acne for so long, or if it's an anxiety thing. (I have recently started to think that I might have a little bit of an anxiety problem.)
All in all, reguardless of how I'm feeling today, or how I may be feeling tomorrow, or next week, I know I need to stop picking (not only my acne, but also my fingers! which I have been doing for almost as long as I can remeraber...it is also another reason I believe I may have an anxiety problem).
I hope that we may be able to support each other in this task, and maybe other people will be able to give us advice on how to stop.
Thanks for posting!
I'm qutting picking..right...now!
 
Hi everyone! Hope everybody's having a good skin day. :angel: That there is the good skin fairy. Apparently s/he's easily conjured simply by clicking on the angel emoticon in the handy menu to the right of the 'reply to thread' box.

mmhampton4418--you say face picking is an impulse control disorder, which is new to my ears, and which I think I'll bring up with my therapist. I just started an OCD group to help me control my own face picking, which I sometimes do for many hours, sending whole days swirling down the toilet (figuratively, though the whole process certainly does generate a lot of used tissues). Then of course there's the hiding, missed social events, total lack of confidence, and shame that follow. I'm almost 36 now and have lost lots of time to this. I hope, mmhampton4418, that you are able to salvage more time for yourself than I have been able to. You too, Henry in Nigeria! Hello uklady, llees, higster and everyone else!
 
Hi there!
I was wondering if anyone was going to reply I see so many threaRAB with lots of people looking but nobody writing anything and thats the point? Heehee! anyways! Thanks for taking time to write me back.

yes you gotta stop Picking!!! right now! :) I know its very difficult TRUST ME! I would go in the bathroom and sit up on the counter (yes put my feet in the sink) and I would sit there for sometimes 20- 30 mins! I would find any tiny blackhead anything! and pick at it...I ahve even used a finger nail file to poke at blackheaRAB used to be good and the blackhead would come out and I would think YEah awesome but lately all its been doing is like leaving red marks in my head!!!! what a mess!!!

I am 34 and I think at my age I would know better right?????

I think it really did hit me yesterday....like how pathetic I feel, not being able to not pick my face like HELLO jsut walk away! dont do it!!!! but when I am doing it (was ) heehee
I would tell myself to STOP STOP but I didnt! like common!!!! jsut stop!!!!!

but I have gotten so fed up with trying to go to the gym with marks and feeling oh god people are looking at me (trust me we all think that way) but mine isnt that bad, when I see People who have proper Acne I feel wow you are stupid to get all silly about what I have look what they have to deal with everyday and I almost want to go to them and say I understand how you feel but think man I might get hit in the nose! but yes I do understand.........

but anyways waffling here LOL..........really try not picking your face do you think you do it at certain times? you metion you think pick when you feel a certain way...well when you feel that coming on make a decission to go do something else.......

go have a cup or tea (I am english sothats why I say tea haaha, water whatever!)
umm or read? or watch Tv....I tend to touch my face but trying to keep my hanRAB away from my face now!!!!!

I also do not go to bed and then wash my face else I KNOW I will stand there so I changed when I do it...and then later when its bedtime I clean my teeth and get right into bed!!! I thought about taking the mirrors down but you know not practical! haahaa

I have gotta learn to just to control myself (we both do! right!!!!!)
the main thing is your not alone ok!!!

well have a goodnight (I cant wait to use my proactiv again!) I am treating it like its a medicine 'Healing mt face" I hope this works but I am going to stick at it a few months to know whats going on then I might HAVE to go to a Dermatologist!

ttyl I hope :)
 
hey,
i am living with ocd its so hard to go to school every morning adn every day. when people see me they stare, they make faces, they get wide eyed, and they stare sometimes evily. i have been living with ocd since i was 7 i have had a minimum of 2 scabs on my face every year since i was 6, but its prgressing and getting worse and worse its the worst its ever been right now. i have 5 scabs on my face, yes thts rite 5 2 on my forehead 1 on my left cheek 1 one my rite and 1 on my chin. but i didnt always have scabs this year (09) i had 2 in summer 08 and i tried hard to get to stop before school started because i was going to a new school and i did i had clear skind until about 2 weeks after chiristmas then i bagan to break out and thats when and how they all start i dig at pimples and zits tell my skin is swolen and red then a scab forms and i pick it tell its huge and i cant get it to go away.

i pick all the time, in class when im laying in bed falling asleep getting dressed on the buss all the time. people without any problems like ocd don't understand i tell all the closest ppl about my problem and all they say is well then don't pick. but they dont understand its not something we can give up and say we don't have ocd anymore and poof its all gone it takes a lot of self discipline and conscious efert to stop i have tryed so many things but they never work idk what to do anymore, i guees its just comforting to know that over 4 million people suffer from this.

it also helps to have someone help you through it my best friend knows about my struggle and helps me through it when she sees me pickign she tells me to stop. when someone calls me something she says somthing back and sticks up for me. i know that if i could get theese scabs gone than i can learn to conrtol my acne and not pick at it but as of for now i just started on the road to recovery.

Abbigail.
 
Hello Claire,

Thanks for the last tym, got your advice and I'm trying hard to stop picking.

I've been on Tetracycline and Clearex 10 for three weeks now and its doing nothing more except bringing out more outbreaks. I complained to my Dr. last week who told me to continue with the medication for like more three weeks as that is a good sign (more outbreaks during the medication). But then, I just hope it works as I'm not missing the course for one day.

Thanks once again, with collective ideas, we can achieve this aim of getting rid of acne!

Henry Okonkwo
Nigeria
 
how can i know whether my picking is actually OCD? i had never considered that before....but it makes a lot of sense. my skin would be perfect, but any time i get any tiny (even skin-colored) bump, i pick at it until it becomes a huge swollen infection that scabs and leaves a permanent scar. is there some OCD medication i should be taking? or is this just a bad habit? i'm a smart girl and i KNOW that this is all in my control to fix, but then when i'm staring in the mirror, it seems like a good idea for a second to just scratch at something to pop something...
 
Yeah, im haveing the same problems as everyone else in this forum, i think the cure is just not picking at it, im sick of haveing to go places and introduce myself in front of people, my self confidence is GONE, especially as being a musician, self confidence is important, and now its gone, =((!
But it can be restored, if any of you guys know anything that could help, i will give it a try, thanks!
 
well i have a zit on my chin today :) so hope that cheers yo up heehee! no really I know how you probably are thinking I wish mine was clearing up, but it will..you have to think it will....what kind of ance do you have? it is all over or patches? ...whats your skin like? dry? oily? corabo?

I ahve never been to a dermatologist was always too erabarrased and ashamed to go
I knew they would know I picked my face...and felt stupid admitting that!

I said if after stop picking it doesnt help then I was going to go to one, but scared they might tell me to use all kinRAB of $$$ products...

are yours perscriptions? what else have you tried? I use Proactiv is that available where you live? its ingredient is Benzoyl peroxide but a small amount and still drys me out a bit as I am older LOL

I use it once a day or every other then a gentle Mild Cleanser...its going alright, I dont have Clear skin still but it has only been a few weeks and I still mess a little...not as bad as I was though which is why I think it is getting better...

and it is a struggle to not do it!!!! got so much of a part of my routine! its hard to stop
but I and we can all do it :)

Take Care

:)
 
Hi Henry
It is a hard battle with Acne, I am 34 and get fed up and think will this ever end? but I am doing really well since I decided to STOP PICKING and if you could see what difference its made to my face it would make you think WOW it does help alot...I think picking makes your face 'ANGRY" for sure and ok so you might get to something pop but then I think we spread that around causing bacteria and dirt to get into put pores and its a vicious cycle...

I had a few moments where I did get some black heaRAB but they came out and I ddint leave any marks ...but still a bit naughty!!!

I also had a set back with my Proactiv as I scrubbed too hard and my skin had a bad reaction and I felt like my face was on fire and had to run out to the store I found something called CaraVe and its a gentle Cleanser and it helps soften and sooth Skin without it getting oily I love it , I watched something interesting on OPRAH and it was about beauty secrets and about products there was a lady who had Acne and she was washing her face with like anti bacterial hand SOAP then putting some acne cream then slathering a greasy moisterizer as the crap she was using was drying out her skin (which again if your skin is too DRY it can make you break out its a myth only acne likes oily skin types ,mine is normal dry...some areas are Dryer and I break out , its definately about balancing the skin so its comfortable...and thats a harRAB task but I think I have figured mine out now, using the gentle cleanser once a day and mositerizer and then the Acne wash and treatment once a day...might go to every other day ...mine is Benzoyl Peroxide and it can be pretty harsh but its about using little amounts not like blasting your face with too much harshness...........

but then some people might benefit using stronger products to help control the oil but often we strip our skin down and what happens the skin makes more....

its a hard one to crack I wish there was a cure (it would make somebody RICH ) a magic pill and no acne wouldnt it be great but sadly I think it neeRAB corabination of products! and lots of patcience...thats ahrd too as we want it to work NOW....but sticking to something for a few months too switching products as I did is another bad thing I think for Acne....

I wish you luck and hope you see an improvement soon, but really I am not joking no picking is gotta be the top thing on that list :)

Keep me posted :)

Claire
 
Uklady

Stopping picking habbit is a measure that's really hard to irabibe especially when they pop out (which is an ugly sight). But then, it will be of a better attribute (as regarRAB fighting acne) to stop picking.

I'm a 19-year old boy and I've had acne for 1 year now, which to me is like a decade. My face is a mess; total mess, which is affecting a major part of me (self esteem). if stopping picking will really help me a lot as I've read many a times, I will give it a shot.

Once again, thanks for the advice, I promise to implement it as I'm stopping right away...
 
Thanks a lot Claire,

I"m really trying my best, as u know it's not easy and it will never be easy. I am still on my medication and no improvement yet, but like you and every other person will say, I will stick to a particular course for sometime.

I will keep trying.

RegarRAB

Henry
 
It depenRAB! Do you have other behaviours that might be considered OCD-like? And by the way, no--there is no medication for OCD. Just therapy, and being self-aware, which is perhaps the hardest thing of all. I personally pick because it's a way to extend bathroom time--time in which I am safe, in a way. Time in which I don't have to think. I lose myself in the "field" of my face, and am free, also there's the seductive, cathartic idea of cleansing, purging, digging up by the roots everything that's wrong with me, and so on.
 
Hi Abbigail-
I definitely know how you feel....that's really great that you can talk to your best friend about this and that she's so supportive. What I've started doing the past few weeks (and it's not necessarily helping, but at least it's making me more aware) is I'm keeping a pad of paper in my bathroom, and every time I pick at my skin in any way, I write it down. Writing it down makes it seem more real and makes me realize what I've done...it's the only thing I could think to try for now, since "just stopping" isn't really realistic.
 
Like the title goes, "the worst ENEMY of an acne surferer is the MIRROR"

I want my face to clear;
You want your face to clear;
He wants his face to clear;
She wants her face to clear:
Collectively we want our face to clear;

Mind you, this cannot be achieved when you still have your worst enemy lurking in the shadow.

You have to stop looking at him (Mirror) so as to conquer many things. you will understand that when you stop telling yourself of how bad you look the better your presentation to the public and your well being as a whole will be.

I've heard many peeps talking about their self esteem being affected, mine wasn't an exception. But it (self esteem) is affected only when you tell yourself of how bad you look. I know some of you out there understand what am saying especially when you have a severe acne like the case of mine, which presently am still battling to unravel its mystery.

And so, in a bid to stop picking which will in a long way help improve the state of your face, you have to stop looking at the mirror more often.

It's definitly hard to try but, like my you (Claire) will say, "no picking is gotta be the top thing on that list of getting rid of acne"

So my dear frienRAB, "Stop Looking at the Mirror so as to stop picking"

Henry
 
I'm so glad you started this thread. I have had a terrible picking problem for years and have written about it a lot on these boarRAB. My acne isn't that bad, or at least it wouldnt be, but every morning and every night I scrutinize every last bump or red area on my face...and then I start picking with this "pore cleaner" metal loop thing...every once in a while, I feel like I pop something and it really does help it heal faster. But 99% of the time, if I had the self-control to just do nothing, I would save myself so much time and sadness. I literally create my own acne, my own scars, my own infections...all because I can't stop myself from picking. I need to learn that a small red pimple is much much better than a huge inflamed red area that will take weeks to go away and will leave a permanent scar. It's just so hard to remeraber that.
 
Hi there!
yes Picking is easier to do than NOT but its something WE control :) nobody makes us do it, thats what has made me feel so sad is my face is a mess due to my own doing...not all of it...but the messing and causing my skin to rip off to like a graze weaping...thats my doing...acne doesnt like being played with I am sure of that

I know its hard I really do, and yes I am 34 and yes fond going out sometimes not fun if I have a huge mess on my face (ususally big scabs drying out) I can apply Make-up at least...but its better not too!....

just really try to not pick it just wash your face then leave the Mirror :)

what products do you use????

Happy Halloween!
Claire
 
i don't think i really have other OCD symptoms...i mean, i'm a neat-freak and perfectionist, but not to the extent that it's a disorder i think. but what you said about purging/cleansing as cathartic- i think that's a big part of why i pick too. it's a corabination of 1) wanting to make myself look perfect and 2) feeling satisfaction at getting the dirt out of my system. of course neither of those goals really ever work out...
 
Tips on how to stop picking:

Stopping picking; a big deal as it may seem can be curbed. This can be achieved if and only if the instruments that enhance picking is brought to book.

Some of these instruments include:

(1) Fingernails: Make sure you have your fingernails cut so you don
 
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