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nopick , 28 Oct 2013

Heavy picker needing help

Hi! I´m 24 and I have been picking on my skin since 13 when I developed very oily skin and acne. I´ve used a lot of topic medication and Accutane from which the last one helped me quite well and it also made me pick less but after finishing with Accutane the oily skin was back and also the pimples and blackheads and I can´t stop picking. When I pick one I need to pick anything else imperfect. Also, my skin is ridiculously complicated- can´t wash too often or it gets too oily and looses it´s power to heal itself, and if I don´t wash more than 3 nights the skin gets red, itchy and starts scaling. I´m not going to the dermatologist anymore because I´ve realized that the acne is not as bad as before Accutane and strong chemistry makes my skin worse. The best thing for me is sunshine but I live in northern europe and winter is coming and it´s the worst time of the year for the skin. I tend to pick more. Just today I googled it as something obsessive and somehow I´m happy to agree that I am obsessed and I need help. A few days ago I picked on my face and it looked horrible after and promised myself that I´ll let it heal because I need to look normal for school again. I let it heal for a few days and today after a wash there were new pimples all over the place and I couldn´t help myself again! And now I´m feeling really depressed. Even though if I won´t pick on the next days, it will take a long time to heal and I´m sick of spending an hour in the morning covering this all up. It´s sad and depressing. I will try to keep my hands off and I need support! Ps. I also eat the skin of my mouth (horrible I know) and it´s really hard to stop that aswell. As a person I´m actually really calm, too introverted perhaps and that keeps some anxieties inside, occasionally moody but I´ve been trying to be better but that doesn´t help me stopping picking. I´m obsessed with wanting clean clear skin.
10 Answers
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nopick
October 28, 2013
Also, having avoiding people in the worst times my relationships and social skills have gone way down. And I realized this just recently from feeling lonely. So... I´ve managed to make a mess of my life just because I can´t accept pimples on my face. Shameful.
nastyab
October 29, 2013
I understand how u feel. I get acne too and freak out when it pops up. I try to get my skin perfect by popping them but unfortunately that makes it worse. Try to avoid looking into mirrors and touching your skin. Keep busy and surround yourself with people. I'm currently on Retin-A (tretinoin) and am hoping it will help.
nopick
October 29, 2013
Hi! Thanks for the comment. I´m trying. The most difficult time is still ahead I think... I wish you luck! I remember using Dalacin and BP5 which helped with the big cysts and in general made the skin very sensitive and red. Later I realized that if anything at all, then I should be healing myself inside out whatever is wrong with me. Accutane helped a lot and now I´m just experimenting with my diet. More raw food, less dairy and meat. But I think my oily skin comes from some crooked hormones that I can´t really fix.
RosieK
November 13, 2013
Solidarity. I'm in a similar situation myself, so thank you SO much for sharing your story - I feel less alone now. I can share two things I've learned that have helped me: First, I've noticed that picking always gets worse when I feel criticised or threatened. So I think the first thing I can do is to start feeling safe in my skin and releasing all criticism. Plus, most people don't actually notice one's skin anyway...studies have shown that people actually notice your smile and your confidence before they notice things like skin. Second, I've gone into Ayurveda and found that people with a Pitta Dosha like me (warm, reactive, sassy people who have lots of yang or "fire" in their emotional and physical makeup) are prone to oily skin and acne. We need to accept our fiery, reactive nature as something beautiful and positive and stop suppressing it. We also need to cut back on "fiery" Pitta foods (oily foods like deep-fried food or peanuts, red meat and curry), and try and introduce some Vata (air) foods to promote drying out of the skin (fruits and veges, fish, crackers, chilli). Hope that helps! It is helping me.
nopick
November 16, 2013
I was happy to see your reply! I get those breakout waves and yesterday I got carried away again trying to "clean" my skin from some emerging pimples. BAD MOVE! Today I´m full of wounds and redness and came back to this forum to try to keep a clear head. I am a very, very sensitive person and an artist so perhaps I fit exactly into this Pitta Dosha. I would like to know more about it. I watch my diet and avoid deep-fried foods but I do eat peanuts, without salt of course and it hasn´t made anything worse I think. I take cod liver oil with vitamins which is helpful but nothing really really never ever has given me an oportunity to enjoy a clean face which I´ve accepted already. Please let me know if there is a good web-page about Ayurveda! I´m going to look by myself aswell.
RosieK
November 19, 2013
Lovely to hear from you! Thanks for your positive feedback. I've found some Ayurveda websites, and I'd also like to add some thoughts. It sounds to me like maybe you are a Vata (air) type (actually I would argue that there should be a fourth Dosha for sensitive artistic people like you - the water Dosha). If you are a water Dosha, you are probably most at ease when people are responsive and take time to interact deeply. Details are important to you; comfort and beauty are important to you, and you like things to happen as you expect them to happen. You like to plan ahead and to think deeply before committing to things. People feel understood and accepted by you. If you're an air Dosha, you are most at ease when people are spontaneous and direct. Change and newness is important to you and you like adventures and fun. You think quickly and are spontaneous. You are most comfortable when you are given space to be inspired and when the environment is fun and full of possibilities. People feel invigorated and inspired by being around you. Here is a link to an Ayurveda website which discusses the three Doshas and foods and lifestyle elements to promote7support (aggravate) them, as well as foods to reduce (pacify) them (if you reckon there's too much of one of them in your life). http://ayurveda-foryou.com/treat/doshadiet.html. Here is a link for the Chopra Centre site, where they discuss Doshas and some other central ideas. http://www.chopra.com/community/online-library/tips/ The idea is to eat the foods that promote the energy of your Type, and cut back the ones that go against your nature or that seem to be in imbalance (e.g. an oily, inflamed condition arises from too much fire, a deep-seated infection arises from too much earth etc.) Since there isn't a conventional ''water'' dosha, through knowledge picked up in lectures and books I would suggest Water foods are dairy-products, fish, seafood, duck. Also had an interesting discussion with some friends this weekend, and it was suggested that "picking" ones skin arises from "picking" on oneself -not honouring one's true nature. So I would recommend loving and appreciating your gentle, artistic self, and giving your sensitive nature some space and tlc in this fast-paced world.
nopick
November 19, 2013
I´ve picked myself into wounds... It´s horrible and I cant stop because i keep seeing all those pimples. I don´t know how to stop.
brwnidgrl86
November 21, 2013
I feel your pain. Something that has helped me is Sunflower oil. I know it sounds strange but I have naturally oily skin and it somehow keeps the sebum oil from producing in excess so my face isn't really that oily when I use it. It also has a lot of vitamin E in it which helps heal sores and scabs and prevents bad scarring. My ground zeros are definitely less prevalent. The only thing I've noticed and not liked about it is that I have to make sure I exfoliate every 3 days at least (my skin is very flaky because I pick so much) because if I don't, I will experience an excess in blackheads. I also use the store brand of the Proactive kit. Walmart sells an Equate version of it that is very comparable to Proactive. I wash first then pat dry, then apply toner then let air dry, then apply lotion then apply a thin film of sunflower oil. When I exfoliate, I use a battery powered exfoliater that has a spinning brush. I wet the brush and dab a little bit of my face wash on it and exfoliate away. Then rinse, then pat dry, then follow up with the toner and so on. Also, from what I've read when I researched dermatillomania a while back, the reason we do it is because supposedly we subconsciously feel we have no control so we pick our skin and try to make it perfect because it fills that hole. It could stem from an early childhood experience where we felt vulnerable or had no control. That's why therapy can be a useful tool. A therapist can pinpoint an event that could have caused this and help us overcome it. Or so they say.
nopick
November 22, 2013
I think I´ve tried with jojoba oil since they say it doesn´t clog pores but I find it hard to get used to this thicky unfresh feeling after because I don´t feel my face has got rid of all the dead glued cells. I noticed more pimples. But I put the oil on a cotton and then cleaned like make-up. I´ve been afraid to use the oil more.. Should give it a try. I´m also thinking about a clay mask. But in my experience, the less products on skin- the better- mine gets damaged ph fast. And in another reply I mention I will take photos of myself every day to prove myself that just pimples here and there is better than a red destroyed face.... I would love therapy but no money for it.... Thank you for sharing this. I would love to see someone here managing to forget what skin picking is... is it possible at all? It would give so much strength.

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