A few items that can help

It's been a while since I posted/commented on here, but I still check the forum once in a while to see if anyone has found the miracle cure to our picking "issue". While there's been no such luck, I figured I might as well share some of the products I have used that at least help a bit with the healing process.

So my problem is picking on the face. It started with plucking hairs with a tweezer and turned into......well u guys can only imagine. So at first I would use good ol Neosporin. Then I realized it started giving me like little pimples/bumps around the area I used it. I think it was too greasy. After I had my son I tried Lanolin, which is the cream you can use on your nipples if you breastfeed. It's to moisturize and heal a sensitive part on your body AND it's even safe if the baby sucks on it so I figured it would be gentle enough for the face and sure enough it helped a lot! It was thicker than Neosporin So it stayed in place and didn't clog my pores (as it doesn't clog the nipple area either) and it doesn't have a scent. Also it's 100% one ingredient. When it ran out I was going to buy it again when I discovered aquaphor. So I tried it, and again another great product. Limited ingridients so it's great for sensitive skin, no scent and didn't clog my pores. It feels between Neosporin and vaseline.

THEN I discovered hydrocolloid bandages aka advanced healing bandaids. The bandaid brand is pricey, but helped. So I bought the Target brand and they were cheaper, bigger, and I felt they worked way better and faster! Well like someone else posted on here, I felt like I became dependent on them and stopped buying them as a way to force myself to stop picking, but as most of u know it's not that easy. But about a month ago I went to buy them again and couldn't find them and when I checked the Target website, it says no longer available. So holy.cow. I'll take that as a sign that I need to stop picking......if only it was that easy......

SO, about that other post about calamine lotion....when I first read about so many people swearing by it, I immediately went and bought it. I did not have the same results. I felt like it made my picking areas worse. It settled into cracks/dents and even after washing my face there was white/pinkish residue that wouldn't come off. It was drying, not at all moisturizing. It was bad. That was a couple years ago but since that post still appoears on the first page and people are still swearing by it, I researched calamine a bit and eventually learned that zinc oxide is actually good for skin. It can help with healing and discoloration. Where can u find zinc oxide? Diaper rash ointment. Yea, read that again: diaper rash ointment. Yes so far i have mentioned nipple cream and diaper rash ointment as products u can use: on your face. Or well anywherw u need healing really. But i guess the way to think of it is that if these products are safe for intimate areas and are used to soothe and heal those areas, well then.....so after much "research" (aka: falling down the Google rabbit hole) the best products I found were Bordeaux Butt Paste Natural, because it has a short ingredient list and the ingridients are not bad at all. After that, both CVS and Walgreens brand zinc oxide were pretty good, they even had a higher zinc oxide percentage than Bordeaux. I personally chose the Bordeaux Natural because I myself have sensitive skin.

Besides those products, I've used moisturizers and makeup with limited ingridients and no fragrance. What a difference it makes. Also, products with licorice root help with redness. After trying a million face washes my search ended with Cetaphil. I've now been using it for years. The moisturizer I'm using now and I think I'm going to finally stick with it is from La Roche Posay and it's amazing how it helps with redness, doesn't break me out or make me greasy. It's $20, for some that's cheap, for others it's expensive. I've literally tried everything cheaper than that up to like $80 So I guess $20 seems decent. But just try to stick to limited ingridients and try to avoid fragrance so it doesn't irritate the picked spots.

I hoped this helped. I know I'm always looking for anything that can help so I hope this helps someone who's doing the same. I've been picking since 2009, I've tried sooooo many different things and ways to stop. I've tried therapy, I tried anxiety medication, I started yoga and meditation.....i still pick. I've gone maybe 2 weeks without picking and I'll feel great and since my face is healing I'll think I'm looking better but then, like an addict, I relapse. I don't know if/when/how this will stop. So I guess all I can do for now is just deal with it.