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using extracting tools to prevent picking
Has anyone here tried or even had success using extracting tools to prevent using your fingers?
Of course I have tried everything, but since I am pregnant I can no longer get some of the treatments I used to get. As a result my skin picking has gotten really bad. I thought maybe using one of those tools as an alternative to using my fingers to keep digging and picking. I have read the importance of preparing your face and sanitizing the tool. Thoughts?
Tools can do just as much damage, if not more. Tweezers and extractors can tear up the skin pretty bad...and tweezers are so tempting to use in order to tear off a scab. I do use both...the extractor tool is helpful...but its easy to get carried away and press too hard, thus causing inflammation and peeling of the skin. Tweezers are handy for being delicate around a wound, without using too much blunt force as with fingers and nails. Another thing that tweezers are good for is to pull out the white nodule cysts that are deep down in the pore..which usually prevents further inflammation in the area. Have you tried fake nails to prevent yourself from using your hands? Are you trying to quit picking altogether or are you looking for strategies in order to "safely" pick? But I guess the overall goal is to quit picking altogether. I dont think that there is such a thing as safe picking...picking at any imperfection increases chances of further infection, inflammation, and scarring. Having acne is like having an active landmine on the face...never know what will happen when you intrude on one of the pimples. So the overall goal should be to not pick at anything and go out with some bumps and pimples. I know that pregnancy can affect the skin due to hormonal fluctuations. Are you picking more because you are breaking out more than usual? Pregnancy also affects the psychological state..and I have heard that if you are a woman who has a history of psychological issues then those issues tend to intensify during your pregnancy.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I am sure I am picking more because of my hormones. I have been diagnosed with OCD and was doing quite well till I got pregnant....Love those hormones. ;) I am hoping things will get better as I get into my second trimester and not worse. One moment at a time I guess.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I am sure I am picking more because of my hormones. I have been diagnosed with OCD and was doing quite well till I got pregnant....Love those hormones. ;) I am hoping things will get better as I get into my second trimester and not worse. One moment at a time I guess.
With pregnancy and post pregnancy a lot of things can go haywire...including postpartum depression, anxiety, and even postpartum psychosis. This is the reason I personally decided to not have children of my own. Ever since I was eight years old I have had mental issues of all kinds and im fed up with them...worried that pregnancy would just take it to a whole new level of insanity. There is a great documentary on the subject called "When the Bough Breaks: A Documentary About Postpartum Depression".If you have Netflix its available on there. Just the reality of the whole process and how women cope with it, truly an eye opening documentary to watch.
I think using tools to pick will make things worse. Sometimes if I get frustrated because I'm not satisfied with my fingers, I go for a needle and that usually ends in a total disaster. I don't recommend. :(
Do not recommend! I bought an extraction tool thinking I would cause less damage but ended up causing much more. I would extract things that would of been impossible to pick with my nails, so if I didn’t have the tool I would have just let the blemish be. I ended up spending more time sitting in front of the mirror obsessively extracting the tiniest of things just because it was much easier!