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Please help
Hi guys. I was active on this forum a little over a year ago. Fortunately i found a regimen that cleared up my skin and brought the light back to my life. I didnt have to worry about scabs and wounds and bumps for a whole year.
Fast forward to today. As soon as i got home from college for the summer my skin started breaking out..worse and worse and worse. and my picking is BACK. im trying so hard to control it.
I have 7 spots on my face right now that ahve been there 3 weeks. I keep peeling off the scab because it looks like its ready to come off and then it leaves raw skin underneath. Ive left the scabs on so long even so I dont know why theyre not healing. How do you guys get through this stage of peeling scabs that are actually not ready to come off? i am so lost. I physically cant return to college like this. I am so devastated and really really need some healing tips. I tried hydrocolloids for a few days and even that didnt work.
Hi...you could try a 2% salicylic acid and use it at night....and during the day after washing use an aloe vera product. I use aloe vera juice and put it in a spray bottle....but right off the plant would be good.
Whay moisture lotion do you use?
Put douderm patches on them they will heal within three days but you must keep them on and wash around them
@snipzie hi! i use 2% saliciylic acid on my face every day. i think its helping and i think it might be purging my skin a little and thats why im breaking out. idk. still trying to figure it out. my birth control is also weird rn and making my cycle weird whic could be contributing to the GIANT cyst that just grew in under my nose. I just cant win. I use rosehip oil as a moisturizer. well actually i just bought it and it arrived today. supposed to be very moisturizing, healing, and good for acne. Im normally use a blend of Keeva tea tree treatment moisturizer and Cerave SA moisturizer for rough and bumpy skin. Im going to see if incorporating an oil will help me 1. heal and 2. dissolve some clogging without turning into massive breakouts that ill pick at. any other suggestions? i think i might be leaving my wounds too moist. theyre just not healing. i feel like maybe try to just let them dry out. all my friends when they pick their skin it flakes away after a few days but ME im like two and a half weeks into these things. ugh.
@Abc1234 is that the same thing as hydrocolloid? my dad just picked me up some im gonna put it on the giant cyst that exploded but i dont think i can go to work for three days straight with 8 bandaids cut on my face lol. Would they still work at night?
Your scabs are not healing because you have created scar tissue which doesn't heal like normal skin. Scar tissue is condensed collagen that takes longer to repair itself. It is more dense in consistency than normal skin. Repeated picking will easily create scar tissue. The more you pick at healing scabs, the denser the scar tissue will become due to the body trying to compensate and repair the damage. Also, scar tissue can still have acne. Oftentime this is how comedones form, underneath the scar tissue. The only way to extract such comedones is to slice through the scar to reach underneath and be able to squeeze everything out.
I was in the same predicament as you. The only thing that helped me beat the cycle of repeated picking at healing scabs is hydrocolloid bandaids. The scar tissue will still take longer to heal....but hydrocolloids are your best shot at allowing the healing cycle to complete. The longer you leave them on the better. Try to restrain yourself from looking underneath the bandaid throughout the day. It takes on average probably 3 days for deeper scar tissue to heal if you leave the hydrocolloids on for the entire time or change them once a day or so. This is if you abstain from picking at them!
I feel that your predicament is that you are comparing the natural healing cycle of normal skin to scar collagen. Its a big difference between those two. Disrupted scar tissue is the most frustrating thing. When you are at work I would recommend you use New Skin Liquid Bandaid. After you wash your face allow it to dry and then apply either one coat or a few coats of the clear product. It glides on and disinfects wounds at the same time. It acts by forming a thin layer (like an invisible scab) over the wound. You can then apply makeup over it. This is what I do when I have wounds and have to be outside. Usually with one layer of the product its easier to hide it under makeup. It protects the wound from any bacteria that can get into it and helps healing...but not as well as hydrocolloid bandaids. Those are #1. I just use New Skin when I have to be outside of my house.