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My treatment so far - 2 weeks
A small recap on my key findings/steps that are helping me on my "road to recovery".
I started officially a treatment in this website - with a therapist - sept. 30th... hopefully this is helpful to others...!
Step 0:
- Admitted to have a problem. And actually want very hard to change... Support from family (in my case, my husband) is important
- To look for professional help (in my case... skinpick.com)
Step 1:
- The minute I decided seeking for professional help... I focused too much on my skin, so tended to pick too much some days. It only made my skin worse and I got sad and depressed
- My husband even offered me "a massage" (...which I love!) if I ever get through at least 1 day of 0 picking on my diary... for the past first weeks, this was impossible :(. I reached 5-6 hours a day the first week! Getting lower now
- Started though analyzing my urges, triggers, etc... getting to understand it from a more rational view
Step 2:
- Researched new techniques and products on skinpick.com forum from users that share the same problems! Thank you guys :)
- Ordered/bought and tested tea tree oil and hydrocolloid bandaids (which work pretty well). Used bandaids as a reminder "not to pick" and leave the area "protected"... smart/genius thing. Trying also Mederma for scarring at night
- Important to realize what helps my skin "look better", so I don't pay too much attention to it and can move forward. The more it breaks, the more I obsess... I have mild ocd (and an exaggerated sense of perfectionism)
Step 3:
- Convincing myself on a daily basis that my skin will never be perfect, period. And thay I need to be ok with it. I don't have to be flawless, and I have many other qualities
- Learning how to do my make "very well" (and in a natural way). I subscribed to some "talented youtubers" for updated techniques/tutorials. I was actually quite outdated! I am even getting compliments from friends and in the streets :). A great thing for my self-steem
- Changing my beauty routine: I now wash my face with a small sponge (so I don't feel my skin with the tips of my fingers), then moisturize, prime (pore minimizing), put foundation (with a wet sponge for a natural look), concealer, blush, and a light eye-make-up on (do my brows, some light eyeshadow and mascara). I the. spray a product with a "natural mist/glow" on my face in the end so it looks fresh and natural...!
- I found it much easier to put on my make-up foundation when my skin is free of scabs... so I actually feel encouraged not to touch it...! It still shows some scarring, but I still look well presented and chic. And having such a long nice make-up done, it helps since I don't feel like "ruining" it
Step 4:
- Picking has diminished already - a couple of minutes per day, mostly only mild urges or dry skin peeling off...
I don't think this is anything definitive - too soon... but I want to give myself these 2 months of trial - with this program - to see how it goes.
Amazing to hear you doing so well and putting in all the necessary steps to minimize this habit. Its all about self compassion, self care, mindfulness, and repetition. So once the positive habits are set in stone, your mind might start easing up on the urges to pick. I am going through most of the steps which you talked about (including researching products, washing face with a sponge, and using a makeup setting spray). I also recommend Clarisonic brush for washing the face...it removes all of the makeup which can otherwise linger and clog pores. For a more affordable option, Olay makes a smaller version of a cleansing brush which works quite well too. Its also very pleasant to feel the bristles massaging the face, which might be some sort of sensory relaxation technique for us skin pickers. Anyway, please keep us updated with your progress!
Thank you!!
Will buy the clarisonic - a friend of mine has it and I tested it last week. Indeed it felt really relaxing... what a coincidence :)
This blog has useful tips:
https://www.google.bg/amp/s/www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/annaborges/skin-pi…
Some of those tips are quite funny. Have you tried putting on acrylic nails? I have never had those but am tempted to get them if it will stop me from picking. The way I stopped nail biting after 23 years is by keeping my nails colored and meticulously well taken cared of. So maybe I can now implement the fake nails (even though its no my style) just to curb the desire to pick. What I hate is the thought of having to constantly go to a nail salon in order to keep up with the maintenance. I remember also being at a nail salon and hearing a girl cry out in pain when the nail specialist tried to take off the fake nail. It seems a bit scary...but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Hi serene - I did try the fake nails, it helped for 3 days, but I got really frustrated with their unnatural ugly look and clicking/plastic sound, so I removed them. I have semi-gel nails that are a bit thicker but still don't help - even because I have needles / tweezers etc that reach the unreachable.
I ordered some NAC, more bandaids, a lot of products I have seen listed here to try out.
I even watched a hypnosis free youtube video - which from the comments, seem to help. I will watch it again today but really relaxing and with my eyes closed :)... first time I was too skeptical as this seemed goofy.
I have ordered the tca 15% and dermaroller online for scars. Did you ever use dermaroller at home? Tired of doctors... want to find my own cure.
My skin has calmed down (though yesterday I picked a bit). I am in the third week, more of "one good day" vs "one bad day". But I feel motivated. Thanks for your help, by the way!
If this is interesting to you, the hypnosis sentence the guy kept repeating as a "suggestion" was:
"Picking my skin is something that I used to do. Now I am free and my skin is healthy, for the rest of my life I am free". Powerful...!
Below the video fyi:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UZyqZte1ZHI
The hypnosis sounds very interesting. I like that sentence, maybe we need to repeat it to ourselves throughout the day as a daily mantra. It is how I now feel about my past nail biting habit. I can look back in retrospect and think wow that is something I used to do and now I am free. And it feels so liberating...ive also had severe OCD of various types since the age of 8...and after finally having it dissipate in high school I now look back with such gratitude. Im actually grateful that I can have a messy house and not freak out and want to rip my head off...or that I can read a book in peace without counting numbers in my head or rereading sentences back and forth. Maybe normal people dont understand...but when you go through so much emotional torment and then look back once its finally gone you tend to have a whole different perspective on even the smallest aspects of daily life. This is my goal for the skin picking, I truly want to get rid of it so that I dont have any more "bad days" where Im stuck at home, too ashamed to go out because my face is full of open wounds. :( The fake nails do seem annoying, they simply dont fit my laid back easy going personality. And I also have a social phobia of some sort which makes me uncomfortable to be in salons or to have people touching me in any way. As for NAC, it truly helps some people, but you need to be consistent with taking it on a daily basis and maybe upping the dosage if you dont see any improvement. Its certainly worth a shot to try. I did a peel on Sunday and now it has all peeled off,, so im left with slightly pink still slightly flaky skin...and no acne except for little tiny whiteheads on small pores which I picked off. It is somewhat refreshing, but I always want to do deeper peels...its hard to start off because you have to sort of build up to that point.
Wow! We have a lot in common. I think I have ocd, was never diagnosed properly but can relate much. As a kid I guess I had little control over me. I used to avoid stepping lines/cracks, had tricotillomania from 2-3 years old (stopped because my mom kept shaving my head until I got tired of waiting for hair to grow), wanted my shoe laces perfectly symmetrical along with the height of my socks. My mom had to make my hair for school and when doing 2 pony tails, I looked with a little mirror the back because the line that divided the hair in two had to be "perfect". Hence... I picked many things and "imperfections" growing up. My feet toes (still do - quitting that too soon, hopefully), my ingrown hair, my scalp (can still feel a scar under my hair)... but Acne/my face has been my longest and most dreadful obsession.
I also read book passages more than once - I believe to have also some add - so I would read it over and over to make sure I understood... then became a workaholic (of course), not sure it was passion or disease, good thing is that I got pretty good at and successful too.
Eventually during adolescence, university and even at my first job I had also some social phobia. Maybe related to people looking at my acne, maybe psychological... insecurities etc.
But I blushed constantly and at work it became a problem.
I solved it with years of experience and taking beta blockers for presentations. Very good tool.
At all these things... I look back and say "something that I used to do...". Feels great.
Now I am working on my list of things to do instead of picking and how to diminish stimulus overall. So have been quite busy, but motivated!
How old are you?
Thanks for all your tips!
Impulse control disorders such as body focused repetitive behaviors tend to occur frequently among people with OCD. Its frustrating and daunting to have to suffer with a whole slew of different afflictions for a majority of your life. I think that my OCD might have a genetic component but I also had a very stressful, traumatizing childhood which certainly did not help. I have read a lot of information on trauma and there is a theory that individuals who have been traumatized can manifest OCD as a coping mechanism. Here is a line from a book I read recently which describes the process briefly: "Flight or obsessive-compulsive types sometimes look more dialogical than other types, but if we do not steer them into their deeper, emotionally based concerns, they may remain (( stuck and floundering in obsessive perseverations about superficial worries that are little more than left brain dissociations from repressed pain. ))" And there are some people who are extremely meticulous (without necessarily having had experienced much trauma) and who can then use that trait to become workaholics...therefore deemed high functioning by society. So in your case maybe the OCD promoted your high-achieving behavior and therefore you get long term benefit from it. A blessing disguised as a curse? The thing is, even if we do beat this skin picking affliction, we have to be realistic in that we might get some new obsession or bad habit...this is how individuals like us function. When we suppress or expel one particular behavior, the brain can easily manifests another one. Therefore its important to be self-compassionate through this whole journey. I am 28 and am hoping to enter into my 30's free of this skin picking affliction. :)
Hi Serene! Sorry to hear about your childhood. Interesting book, what is it?
Being a workaholic - with ocd - is more of a curse disguised of a blessing. But now that I am not working, my picking became very intense.
So I guess the other bad habit I could deal with better (i.e. Working too much).
Agree that we need to keep ourselves busy, with my hands and mind busy. I moved abroad and am not working now.
Having much free time makes me feel very bored... and I like to be focused on something, since it helps me relax and think at the same time.
So I plan to e enroll in some activities - yoga, pilates, painting. Hopefully it will help.
Fyi: I tested dermarolling 1mm yesterday. Quite easy... recensions and comments from users are positive. Will see.
In the meantime I received the tca 15%.
Could tell me step by step how you apply it? I'd like to peel a bit but not too much... I know each skin reacts differently and yours is used to it, but any advice / tip you can share would be great :) :) :)
Read the other post: so basically, I will wait 10-14 days after this dermarolling thing to try tca15. It is advised for the 1mm roll to wait a month, but I used it delicately to try it (today it is not even red)... so 10 days should do.
Prepare the skin: do yoi need to disinfect it before or just wash it / rinse?
Application: a cotton ball is what you use, right? (Those make-up disks can't do the job?)
Once it starts frosting, I can leave it for a few minutes and then just wash it off completely? Any products to be applied afterwards?
Make-up would be ok the next day?
Let me know :)
Thanks!!
The book is called Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving: A Guide and Map for Recovering from Childhood Trauma. The frustrating part of skin care is that usually it takes a while to finally start seeing good results. The dermaroller needs to be used continuously in order to start seeing results ..same thing with the skin peels. Let me know how it works out for you, its an interesting process. Do you make sure to disinfect the needles after each use? I dont prepare the skin before doing a peel, although I have tried that in the past. I simply make sure to wash my face or normally I do a peel after a shower. I didnt notice much difference when I would use alcohol prior to applying the acid. You can use a special fan brush for peels, or a cotton ball. The fan brush makes for easy and quick application with an even layer of acid...but with a cotton ball you can vary the application strategy and increase the pressure as your skin becomes more accustomed to peels in the future. I got the best results on the deeper peels when using a cotton ball and applying some pressure throughout the application. For the first few times you can simply swipe the acid on without patting it in...but you can experiment with the application in the near future. I am not sure about using the makeup disks...the acid might break them apart quite possibly..im not sure what they are made of. You can try using it and seeing if the acid breaks the foam down or not. With the first application usually its all about the pain threshold and how you react to the acid. The stinging will occur, and I suggest you use something to fan yourself with, or stand infront of a fan...the air helps a lot in minimizing the discomfort. You can increase the time of the acid on the skin on the second peel and/or incorporate two layers of acid. You learn as you experiment. When you do peels for a while, the skin becomes more accustomed to the pain and its easier to do deeper peels (more layers, longer contact time). Im building up to that point again. Makeup is ok to wear the next day...but if for example you do a deeper peel....you might start seeing more wrinkling and dryness on the second or third day of the peel and makeup would be difficult and most likely pointless to apply. Usually the second day is ok...its the third day which starts to wrinkle/peel/flake. Did you do a patch test behind the ear? You can do a small test as is recommended on the instructions pamphlet just to rule out any rare reactions.
Hi Serene! Some updates for you :)!
I did the allergy test friday... no visible signs of irritation and no redness ocurred.
I had some recently picked scabs and some active acne on my face, but still decided to go forward and try the tca 15% home peeling on saturday afternoon.
Ps: this week I felt anxious before my period (my skin gets oilier and breaks out a bit this time of the month), so I picked quite a lot this past week. Sad but true :(...
Anyway, I cleaned my skin with cetaphil, put some rubbing alcohol to remove all oils, then applied the acid with gauze with some pressure.
I did also a second pass on my cheeks, nose and chin - the t-area where I have some scars.
My skin tollerated it quite well and the stinging was not bad at all. The first pass I let on for 5 minutes, then the second pass I washed after 2-3 min. since it was burning a bit (and i preferred to stay safe).
I used a fan, though it was not even necessary.
The redness disappeared a couple of hous later...
My skin today (sunday) is already tight, the acne has diminished, and the scabs are super dry / already peeling off.
I am moisturizing and using neosporin.
Question:
- what % do you use now? Curious!
Will let you know in a week the results :)
For the dermaroller: I will alternate with the tca. And yes, I cleaned it both before and after with 70% ethanol alcohol...!
The highest percent I have used was 20%. I think anything more than that can get a bit scary. I have had really great results with 15% depending on the application, number of layers, and amount of time the acid was left on skin. Try not to pass over any open wounds when using the TCA...it tends to halt the wound healing because it damages the wound all over again & the red hyper-pigmented spots remain longer afterwards. So you feel that you can do a deeper peel next time? Also be careful around the eye area, I tend to avoid it because the skin under the eyes is most delicate and if the TCA gets on it it can lead to some swelling under the eyes. Since your skin tolerated it well this time you can do a deeper peel with more layers and more time of contact next time. Also leave any skin which is flaking or peeling to peel off on its own. I prefer to simply use my hands to wash my face when its in the process of peeling. The cleansing brushes can easily strip off skin which is not ready to be peeled off yet. And try to abstain from peeling or flaking other pieces. I say this from personal experience of getting cellulitis (a bacterial inection of the skin) after I vigorously tried to peel off the skin which was drying up. Did you know that its easily possible to get cellulitis even from regular pimple popping and picking? Any open wound can introduce bacteria into the deeper layers of the skin and then swelling along with some tenderness can occur. This is why skin picking is such an unhealthy habit. Let me know if you experience an acne outbreak after doing this peel. Sometimes there is an increase in acne following the peel. I also want to mention that I have been using Neutrogena Rapid Clear Stubborn Acne Daily Leave-On Mask which contains Benzoyl Peroxide (2.5%), and it has been helping my skin soo much. Unlike other acne clearing products with higher percentages of benzoyl peroxide, this particular leave on lotion is awesome at keeping skin clear without drying it out. Ive been using it in between my peels and its truly making a difference. It dries quick upon application and has a smooth matte finish. Just something that I would recommend you to try in order to minimize acne breakouts. Another product I purchased recently was a sulfur soap. Here is the link to that product --- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R31J4H4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_…. Its working well so far.. I havent used the ointment but I am having some hope in the soaps. Need to use the soap for a longer period of time in order to see the results. The only downside is that it somewhat irritates the eyes if it gets in them. Its always exciting to find something new that works, so Im constantly on the lookout for new favorite products to try.
...My skin is thin and glowing already :):)! So happy I did this. I have a party next saturday and the peel was right in time. This is also the reason why I still did it even though I had some open wounds. But those immediately dried up and were the first "flakes" to fall off. My skin is now only micropeeling, I am keeping it hydrated so it hardly shows.
As for acne, so far I noticed maybe 2-3 micro spots, but it is under control. I feel like the tca killed it and flattened some weird bumps.
I can definitely do 2-3 layers next time and increase the time too!
As for the eyes, I passed a bit around it, taking off any dripping excess before time. I have some fine wrinkles worth trying to "erase". The skin around my eyes is a bit tight, but not flaky.
I will try that product/line you suggested. Though until today, benzoyl peroxide always irritated my skin and my acne maybe developed some resistance to it - if this is possible. I feel like salicylic and lactic acids are nicer and better for me... I have also used teatree oil and it kinda works, but then I have to let it aside for a while... feel like my acne only responds positively for a while to everything.
So change is good...
I tried this tonic p50 from Biologique Recherche - did you ever hear anything about it? It is more expensive, I started using it and I think it helps reduce acne and hydrate at the same time, but it is supposed to be a tonic, quite confusing. Research about it... it is known to be "Jesus in a bottle" :).
Some questions: how long after the peel should I experience eventual linked breakouts...? Would it happen right away?
How long after a mild peel like mine would you start using acne products? (I read 10 days somewhere...)
Do you think these lighter peels help erase some acne scars or mostly dark spots?
I confess I peeled off some tiny crests that were already pretty loose today.
But thanks for the infection notes!! Will refrain from doing this. Must stay away from mirrors... :-/
...oh, and you are right! Those scabs/wounds that peeled off did leave some brownish/red spots behind. But these are easy to cover with make up. I am happier for now with them... vs acne bumps/ wrinkly ugly skin.
I want to do another one in 15 days, is that too soon?
Light peels you can do frequently, they wont damage the skin. Light peels will not affect the indented acne scars...but they will help to fade pigmentation marks and smooth pores. The deeper the peel the better the results will be...thats always the rule. Even with deeper peels you need to do multiple peels in order to start seeing good results on the acne scars. Your skin might not break out with acne after the peel...some people have that reaction and others dont. It usually starts as the peel is peeling and soon after...but the breakouts stop probably a week after. Again, your skin might be different and might not respond adversely. You can do spot checks with the usual acne products that you use in order to see how your skin reacts. Skin might be more sensitive so you can experience more drying and burning sensations when using certain topical products. So this is something you have to delicately experiment with and see what works for you. I tend to start using acne products a week after a peel... once everything exfoliates. Again, everyone's skin is different and some people are more sensitive than others after a peel. Ofcourse there are different variants such as the depth of the peel itself. 15 days is plenty of time to do a light peel. With a very light peel you can probably even do it weekly...but it does get tiresome to always be in the process of peeling so its best to do it once every two weeks. I have not heard much about Biologique Recherche, will have to look that up. Which sylacilic acid products do you use?
Thanks for all the info :)
I use these two for acne spots:
https://www.amazon.com/Neutrogena-Rapid-Clear-Eliminating-Salicylic/dp/…
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004R0INWG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&q…
And the p50 toner also has both salicylic and lactic acids... it is said to cure "ingrown hairs" and cystic acne. Reduces pore size and improves texture after a couple of days. Whoever tries it loves it! I used it for 3 days - bought the travel size mini bottle to try first - but then stopped... as I was going to have my peel.
Read the reviews:
http://shoprescuespa.com/biologique-recherche-p50.html?___SID=U
As for the cleanser, I am using the cetaphil foam, very nice. Not drying/irritating, yet feel my skin super clean.
Then I alternate some teatree oil, and moisturize with the elemis sos cream (I read some post here that it was good. I love the smell, and it is not oily... feels fresh on the skin).
I bought the clarisonic brush... use a mask with dead sea mud (use it once in a while to clean pores). Bought a vitamin c serum as well.
Not stuck to a routine, trying out different things :).
I am curious about these products/lines:
"Paula's choice"
"Mario Badescu"
"Acne.org Regimen"
Have you ever tried any of them?
I am curious about these products/lines:
"Paula's choice"
"Mario Badescu"
"Acne.org Regimen"
Have you ever tried any of them?