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Bird12 , 30 Aug 2012

Creating my own acne

Hi everyone! I guess I'll jump straight to the point. I am SO obsessed with my skin. The thing is... my skin is absolutely wonderful. I don't get breakouts, and rarely do I even get a pimple. I have a few blackheads around my nose... but that's about it. The problem is, I create my own acne...seriously. If I have even one small blemish on my skin I will overly wash my entire face (which I know leads to drying out, creating excessive oil production, which creates breakouts.) Then I start picking. I will spend a long period of time an inch away from the mirror finding ANYTHING to squeeze at. I will even use tweezers to pluck out blackheads from my nose. I end up with scabs, red marks, and a torn up face. I feel like if I have a pimple on my face, it needs to be popped to get rid of it faster. If I dont touch it, where does the pus go? I feel like it need to get rid of that pus in order for the pimple to heal, and I guess that's my biggest problem. There have been many times where I have left my face alone for a good 2 weeks and my skin is FLAWLESS. Others can't see what I can see when I have my nose pressed up against a mirror. After leaving my face alone for a while (when I'm doing really great at not picking or obsessing) I get right back into that habit of picking again. Why can't I stop! It is completely taking over my life, and making me feel so low about myself. So my questions are... 1. Do any of you have any suggestions for me to stop? 2. If I leave a pimple unpopped, where does the pus go? Thank you guys so much, and I hope to hear from all of you soon so I can get rid of this horrible habit.
5 Answers
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makeitstop
August 31, 2012
I'd love to see an answer to this, I have the exact same problem. I literally sit on front of my mirror looking for problems.
sm123
May 21, 2013
I have the same problem apart from having mild acne. It's so embarassing to have to cover up scabs from picking all the time it's getting me so down. I had a week of coming on the forum almost every day and stopped picked for 7 days. I then went away for a few days and fell back into old habits. Now I can't seem to stop picking again. I was so proud of myself and felt so different when I stopped picking for the short amount of time. The things that helped me were, covering mirrors or part of the mirror, keeping the light in the bathroom off when washing my face, cutting my nails as short as they go, coming on this forum as soon as i felt an urge or started thinking about picking. I also marked every day that i got through without picking, if i picked at all i would have to go back to 0 days. I think that part of the reason i failed the first time was that I thought that without picking my skin would be almost perfect but as new spots started forming I became really depressed at the fact that i would still get spots either way. I have started on a course of lymecycline which has cleared my skin on one cheek, the other is yet to completely heal from all of the picking, i have some quite bad hyperpigmentation which is slowly fading. I really feel out of control.
newperspective
August 31, 2012
Hello! First and foremost, you MUST get rid of the tweezers. If you are in the habit of using tweezers to pick, then it's a habit that won't be easily broken (I know from experience) and they cause so much more damage than picking with your fingers alone. As far as the blackheads on your nose go, I don't know if you have ever used Biore strips, but they are AMAZING! I used to use them when I was a teenager and hadn't since. Recently I purchased a box and have used them 3 times in the past 2 and a half weeks and I don't have not one visible blackhead on my nose. :) As for the pimples, I try really hard to leave them alone and let them run their course, but I too find it really hard. The few that I have left alone have dried up over time. If you absolutely can't resist popping a pimple, just make sure you wait until it's ready. ie: It has a visible whitehead. When you pop it, you should be able to hear a little "pop" sound and typically the pus will just shoot out of it followed by blood. If it immediately starts bleeding, this is a good sign because that means you got all the pus out - It's very important that you leave it alone after you have popped it and after a day or two, it will appear as though it never even existed. :) I hope this helps and the best of luck to you! XO - newperspective
ar9802000
August 31, 2012
I have a similar problem. I had a really good period (several months) and recently had a very bad spell where I've scarred my face overly using a salicsidic astrigent. Now, I have scabs and scars on my face again. It's horrible and embarrassing. I was so glad to find this site and realize I'm not the only one. I'm 50, and have been picking since I was a little girl. Started out with scabs, graduated into pimples, etc.
Laura0273
May 21, 2013
ClearPores Acne Treatment - http://www.clearpores.com/ct/99781 great results in quick time. this helped me reduce the signs of my acne in time for my brothers wedding!

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