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amgoingtochange , 19 Jul 2011

i am going to stop

hi i am 26 and have been picking at my skin especially my face for over 10 years. i have alot of scars and post traumatic hyper pigmentation scars and cant go anywhere without make up. i only discovered that other people have this problem a year ago and i am determined to stop. i have started using a mixture of jojoba oil, lavender and tea tree oil as my bedtime moisturiser to help heal moisturise and prevent breakouts. i just want to post on this forum as this is going to be day 1 no picking (did a little this morning cos am stressed at the mo). i used to pick alot at night but most of the time now i only use dim lighting wen going to bed and this helps but wen i put on a big light i spend hours in front of mirror. i get so upset! but i am goin to stop right here right now no excuses i can control this! i need to be strong. u have to do somethin for 30 days to make it a habit so if i can replace picking with something else healthier for 30 days den mayb that wud end it. any ideas any1? anyone else ready to stop???
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destroyx
July 19, 2011
YES HUNNIE I am going to stop too!! I use coconut oil on my face (I'm 20 btw and my face and upper arms are just horrible) and I can't take it anymore. I stopped for 2 days and then relapsed but I haven't today and am trying to be mindful of what I'm doing all of the time. I keep a tiny little jar of coconut oil with me and whenever I want to pick or feel like my skin needs to be "FIXED" I rub the oil on the spot I wanted to pick at and it helps because you still feel like your doing something. It's hard especially with the light I only use candles now and got rid of my bathroom mirror. The only one I have is when I first walk in my apartment. It's such a bad habit I don't even know how it got started!!
amgoingtochange
July 19, 2011
good we have to stop no ifs or buts ok and if we feel like picking we can just go on this website or clench fists and punch the air a few times!!just be careful with the coconut oil cos it can clog pores according to some sites. apparently jojoba oil doesn't and some essential oils are good for skin too but need to be mixed with a carrier oil like jojoba! i know i remember wen i first started and i just wish i stopped myself back then. wud have saved alot of hasssle wit tryin to cover scars, scabs etc!!
destroyx
July 19, 2011
I just picked at an open wound I have on my face but put a bandage over it so I can't do it again. I'll definately come back to this thread if you will and we can do this together like seriously. I haven't left my apartment in weeks luckily I have enough saved so I don't have to work until the end of August. I quit my last job because I couldn't bear to be in public it was getting so bad with my face. I always wear long sleeves because my upper arms are just covered in dots. I keep running my hand over my face because I have two cysts on my face but I'm not touching them. This is embarrassing even to talk about over the internet it's just so weird.
amgoingtochange
July 20, 2011
you're ok. thats it though that is the last wound u will ever pick at. keep remembering this forum every time u are tempted and just keep typing til da feeling goes away. take down the mirror in ur hall or cover it all in toothpaste and let it dry so that it will take ages to get it off next time u feel like picking. only take the toothpaste off wen u need to look in the mirror 5 mins before u are going out k? i haven't picked since cos i am not going to! i am fed up with it! we wil both be finished with this habit tomoro and u can go out looking for jobs by the start of august cos ur wounds wil be healed by then k. be serious now - thats ur goal!!. u are not picking anymore cos u are strong and its not worth wasting time on it. i'll be here if u need to talk. i am determined and i know u are too!! good luck and no more picking we can do it:) go out tomoro for a bit of fresh air and dont stay in ur apartment cos bein on ur own is not a good idea k
destroyx
July 22, 2011
How've you been doing girl? I picked at two blemishes but that was it I stopped myself! I'm clearing up I just have 3 blemishes on my face so I'm hoping they go away soon. I've been working out too and I think that's helping my arms (because they are all scabbed up) to heal faster.
amgoingtochange
July 23, 2011
doing very well fingers crossed. yeah i do have the urge to pick but i just stay away from any mirrors wen i feel it comin on and i literally nearly have to hold my hands down. got up this mornin and i looked in the mirror at the blackheads on my nose and rubbed over them with my nails. one just lifted out!! no squeezin or anythin but this was stupid cos it was so temptin and i cud have enjoyed squeezin the rest of them out for an hour. but i didnt. i jumped up and turned on the computer to post here instead. thats great u are doin so well too. we are done with this thing and it'll be so rewardin to have nice skin wen we heal up. workin out sounds great! wish i cud get motivated to do a bit of exercise:) and dont pick anymore at those blemishes just leave it now. dont be scared to take control of it and stop it completely. we cant even pick a little. some people who can squeeze the odd spot are not addicted to picking. but since we used to be (:)) we cant even pick once cos it is a trigger. just like peoople can enjoy a drink but if someone is an alcoholic they cant cos it just leads to more!! nt everytime but most of the time. we are doin so well lets keep it up:)
destroyx
July 23, 2011
Yea you are right about that! I haven't had a look in the mirror since I woke up but I have been washing my face like constantly. I'm amazed how fast I'm healing but I can feel the bumps and I just wish I could like flatten them out but I won't!! Everytime I feel like picking or wat to look at myself I start lifting weights lol but yes great job we are doing great!! No more picking our skin will heal itself!!!! YES TO GREAT SKIN WHICH MEANS NOOOO PICKING
amgoingtochange
July 24, 2011
well done destroyx ur doin great. i kept lookin at myself in car mirror today just lookin at how nice my skin looked. i have few spots and i dunno why but today i noticed that i was touching my face a good bit but i still didnt pick or squeeze and just ten mins ago i clenched my fist and decided to check this forum. its funny cos i just feel like wen i get the urge to pick i think on al people on here and i dont wanta have to come on some day to say i have picked so i am determined not too!!!!!! how did u get on today?? goin for shower now so i goin dim the lights again just to make sur i dont cos i can feel the urge a bit now. but my skin looks so nice without pickin! i really think it just habit and i am goin to break it!!
Stop13
July 24, 2011
I think the bit about picking one spot being like an alcoholic taking one drink is so accurate for us!! It has to be avoided at all costs. One pick or episode always leads to another. I have been picking for 13 years.. it scares me to think it has been that long but I only realised it is an actual disorder one year ago and have been trying to put a stop to it ever since! I hate how it affects the way I think every day and am trying extremely hard to take control. I don't want to waste my 20's obsessing about my skin!! So day 1 starts today.. Again
destroyx
July 25, 2011
I messed up :((( I picked at my face earlier today. I realize though that when I get nervous or just start thinking too much triggers it. My ex boyfriend lives right across the street so i was all looking out of my window and didn't even want to go outside. Last time he saw me my skin was perfect the last thing I want is to look like a train wreck way to go me. Ugh I'm so upset with myself but it was a lesson....I just can't pick anymore it ruins EVERYTHING
amgoingtochange
July 26, 2011
aw u poor thing it is so annoyin the feeling after but just think on it as a mistake cos at least u not giving up so u havent failed. i not picking at all n it does feel so good and my scars and marks have faded dramatically. listen will u try three things for me and let me know how it goes. First take a dry bit of tissue and put toothpaste on it and go and put it all over ur mirror. it wil leave a white scum that means u wont be able to see clearly enough to pick but u will still be able to see the outline of ur face. then i want u to take a pair of scissors and cut ur nails really short. and lastly change ur light bulb to make it really dim. will u try these things for me. cos after ten years of trying to stop with mirrors and light i have realised that i can control only those things!!! good luck:)
amgoingtochange
July 27, 2011
aahhh i so frustrated here!!! just had shower and i went over to main bathroom where there is a family mirror NOT covered in toothpaste and i squeezed out a few blackheads!!!gently but all the same i am annoyed cos den i searched legs for ingrown hairs and puled out a few on legs leaving me wit a few bumps der too!!! but i have to say that apart from a few red bumps der is no blood and within few mins i dragged myself away to post on here. sorry for disappointin but i prob havent picked anymore than a person without this addiction wud have picked. i have a few spots on face and i did not go near them!! just da blackheads that came out easy... but still like an alcoholic one is tooooooo many and i goin to go to bed before i do any real damage. i hope anyone reading this will get the strength that i tink i have gotten to quit this thing for good.....no more serious picking!!!!!!
destroyx
July 28, 2011
Hey I did the toothpaste thing and put a small lamp in the bathroom so I can't see my face in much detail. I haven't picked anymore but I didn't cut my nails because I have really long nails it's like a thing lol I'm not disappointed it sounds like you didn't pick much at all and stopped yourself that's really good!! My face is almost clear except for some scars and a few spots because I scratched off a small pimple earlier...arrgh. I'm doing better than before that's for sure because my arms (which is what I used to pick at ALL of the time) are almost completely healed ...scarred badly but I'm SO happy they are almost healed.
amgoingtochange
July 28, 2011
Hi there. Aw i had fall back last nite n i annoyed this mornin. I hate the way this makes me feel. Hadn't cut my nails n found a little bit of my mirror wher i had no toothpaste so of course i stared in to see my progress and saw a black head. And i squeezed. Then noticed another etc etc same old crap. But today a new day here i go again. Two lessons. Nails short and mirror covered. How you gettin on? I am delighted u doin wel. Dont turn back. Feels great to see healing doesn.t it
destroyx
July 28, 2011
Yea it does feel great to not have so many spots everywhere. My ex is always next door to me so in a way that makes me want to not pick because I eventually have to go outside and risk him seeing me. I have blackheads but they are more like grey because my skin is sort of tan but I know they are so annoying. I put a picture up last night next to my mirror of a girl with clear baby skin- I didn't pick this morning or today at all because I just look at her skin and am like gah I CAN NOT pick!!!
amgoingtochange
July 28, 2011
thats great well done. it is so nice to have someone who has gone thru the same but is not saying that we are lost causes but instead is willing to give up too. well done u are doin great. havent picked today either and dont intend too after the way i felt this mornig. luckily the make up does a good job coverin it but i am just annoyed at myself.....but its a good lesson. mite try that and stick up a photo wher i look nice wit clear skin. goin on hols next wk for couple of wk in the sun so i want to look ok for that!!!!
destroyx
July 30, 2011
Oh that sounds awesome ^_^ I wear long sleeves in the sun and long pants and hats lol I've been obsessed with anti-aging since I was 16 I even wear sunscreen in the house because my curtains let the rays in. How've you been though? I woke up yesterday and had a white head grrr but I didn't pick it . I put a little lemon juice on it and today it's gone!!! I put some of the juice on my blackheads on my nose and they are actually disappearing you should try it. Oh 1 thing: I put a dresser in front of where my mirror is hanging so I can't get close enough to really see if I have spots. If I can't get all in the mirror then I don't pick because I can't see...just a tip.
amgoingtochange
August 01, 2011
hi there. Did lemon juice ting few wk ago but stopped and i tink i.ll start again wen get back from hols. Doin ok. Squeezed whitehead today and f my light wud have been brigt i wud have picked loads cos urge was der but wit it bein so dark it was great i couldn't pick much at all. Funny urge comes but wen i see dese damn spots on face tis so frustrating! Vicious cycle i suppose! Do you have spots?
destroyx
August 04, 2011
Yes I have dark spots that are scars on my face and it sucks. I also have many many many light and dark pots/scars on my upper arms that I don't think will ever go away :( It seems we're runnin out of room here lol if you want you can e-mail me it's xsvxo@hotmail.com whenever you want to talk. I've done really well and haven't picked at my face at all but I did at my arms ugh. Hope your having fun on your vacation!!
amgoingtochange
August 16, 2011
hi der i havent been on here in ages. hardly picked at anything when was away just the odd blackhead/whitespot but did not spend time in front of mirror.(sometimes had to drag myself away!!!) we are doing so well to have cut down so much i am so happy. scared of ever going back to being really bad but i tink i past that. how are all you guys getting on. destroyx u are doing fab wit not picking face and well done kay u are doing great too. such a success to be breaking this awful habit!!!

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