Picking Breasts

I don't really have a solution, but I just wanted to tell you you're not alone. My chest/breasts have been my main area of picking for a few years now...it really sucks. Sometimes when I have something I really want to get clear for, I use these strategies: turning off the light before I go into areas I am mostly likely to pick, not allowing myself to look at my chest at all, counting the days I have been pick-free and imagining how much better I will look when I hit a certain number of days. Good luck! and go to your ball regardless. Don't let this skin deep thing stop you from having a good time.

Glad to know I am not alone!

Ohhhh...I wish I'd found this site when I was 16. I just registered today, and I'm 26. I know exactly how you feel...every formal occasion I've ever been to has been a cause for worry. How low cut will my dress be? How long before the dance do I have to REALLY stop picking so that there are no marks? Will anyone notice? The worst was my WEDDING. I did a pretty good job (and thank god the photographer used the "skin smoother" in Photoshop for our wedding pictures), but the day after my wedding, I ruined all the progress I had made. I feel like it is impossible not to stop. I guess I'm surprised to see that other people pick their breasts. I thought I was sort of a freak. I tried therapy once and the therapist was completely clueless - what a waste of time. I've tried all sorts of things to stop picking. I used to take all the light bulbs out (when I lived alone) and only use candles, and I covered my bathroom mirror with magazine cutouts of women in bathing suits and empowering phrases. (Oh, how I'd love to just put on a bathing suit and go swimming without worrying!) Unfortunately, my husband needs light AND the mirror to shave and stuff, so that doesn't work so much any more. Do you have to see what you're doing in order to pick? I do. If you're visual, I recommend covering your chest with something. (This is hard to do AND keep your clothes clean.) I tried packing tape once but that felt really annoying. Writing or drawing designs with a non-toxic pen or marker helps too. I also went and bought a henna kit. It's great because you can kick back and concentrate on covering your chest with beautiful designs, then pick the dried henna stuff off. Then voila! Your skin is no longer bare and it lasts a while. I think I might try looking for some sort of body paint that's safe to leave on. I hate to say it, but maybe try tanning? (I know, tanning causes cancer.) I have fewer visual cues when my skin is tan. Be careful not to burn, though...then you'll probably pick the dry skin when it peels. Keeping your nails short helps, but mine grow so fast (and I've gotten so "good" at picking) that it doesn't fix things completely. I've tried the acrylic nails a few times - kind of a pain in the ass - and they make EVERYTHING awkward (like eating, not just picking) unless you're used to them. You could also try bandaging your fingers for a while and just tell people that you accidentally grabbed a hot pan from the oven. I hope you're able to stop. I hope we ALL are able to stop. I look ahead to my 30s and the fact that in a few years, my body - and my skin - will start to show signs of aging. It makes me so depressed to think that I haven't taken advantage of the years when I SHOULD have been able to show off my skin. What I'd give to wear a low-cut shirt with confidence! (Or leave the house without makeup, for that matter.) I'd love to keep in touch with you. It's nice to know that there are others out there that struggle with this too.

Leann's comment was beautiful, almost heart breaking. I've been picking since I can remember, atleast ten years. And the only thing that has worked for me has been moisturizer. I pick my lips, hands, and feet. So long as I have chapstick on my lips and have put lotion on my hands and feet, I can't pick. The skin is too well hydrated to be marred. I hope that you can wear a wonderful dress at your dance, dear. Please take our forum posts and use them to your advantage. :D

I do focus on my breasts but in the last year have been diminishing it seriously because of how thin and sensitive the skin there is. I find them easier to resist than my arms because I can cover them. My main advice is this - at times when your skin there is bad and youve felt a lot of temptation to pick there lately, wear your bra for as long in the day as you can - because then you can physically see far less of the problem. I would put my bra on as soon as I got up in the morning, and then when having a wash or a shower, take off my bra just before and have it be the first thing I put back on. I tried to avoid baths because i'd be lying there for longer just not doing anything. Also, try in bathroom type situations just staring ahead of you at the wall when youre in there - or resolutely looking up at the ceiling - i honestly think that with the breasts, if you dont look at them theres much less temptation to pick, because theyre covered up for most of the day. I avoid looking at them when im tired and less likely to have the will to resist, and if I feel like I want to check a spot or something out closer - I try my very best to ignore it because I know i'll see a pore I want to unclog, and then another, and then another...

I've noticed that I pick when I'm really stressed and it has really scarred my breasts. They have started to leak and I'm worried because I'm not pregnant.