Forum
Notifications
Clear all
IECT Group Discussion Forum
36
Posts
17
Users
0
Likes
403
Views
Topic starter
September 27, 2020 4:24 pm
&description=" data-social-href-facebook="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u= https://www.realsimple.com/health/mind-mood/excoriation-skin-picking-disorder%3Futm_source=facebook.com%26utm_medium=social%26utm_campaign=social-share-article%26utm_content=2020092 7">
What It’s Like Having Excoriation (Skin Picking) Disorder in Quarantine
My experience with skin picking disorder has spanned over a decade. Here's what I've learned to help control it.
×
?pubId=507936866&videoId=6151338327001&w=1280&h=720&q=90&c=cc" alt="" />
I can vividly remember my very first time at a school ceremony. I was in first grade, and a select few kids, including me, were all assembled on stage to receive an award from the principal in front of rows of students and parents. I couldn’t tell you what the award was for (or even the principal’s name), but what I do remember is the unreasonable amount of tension I felt from being in front of so many people. This experience is forever etched in eternity in my family album, wherein a photo shows my irritated, busted lips that I was picking the entire time I was up there.
Not long after, I was diagnosed with excoriation disorder, an obsessive-compulsive condition that causes the repeated urge or impulse to pick at my own skin. We all pick at a scab or a bump from time to time, but for those with a skin picking disorder (SPD), this urge is intensified to the point that it’s nearly impossible to control them. Whether I’m watching a movie or reading through emails, I'll often fall into a mindless trance doing this and lose track of time—it isn’t unusual for several hours to go by until I finally stop, and only because the area starts to bleed.
This condition is different for everyone. I’ve never really been a nail biter, but picking and peeling at the dry skin on my lips and face (or anywhere else my hands can touch) has just always felt so good. I become obsessed with each and every blemish, learning its contours and digging into it with a vengeance. I’ve suffered from the ugly habit for most of my life, but it really comes and goes. There will be times where the picking stops completely—with my longest pause being about a year. Being surrounded by people 24/7 definitely helps. But when I eventually relapse, which I always do, it's when I go through high levels of tension, anxiety, or stress. During finals in college, I'd have to develop elaborate rituals (and go through several tubes of concealer) to hide the incriminating marks.
When the quarantine first hit, it definitely felt a bit stressful, but it wasn’t until a couple of weeks into physical distancing that the anxiety really set in. Part of it came from the fear of my family getting sick, and the rest from the lack of control that I had over a problem that was only worsening by the day. As someone who likes (correction: needs) to be in control of my situation at all times, this was a difficult situation to accept.
So I started picking. The sheer boredom of having nothing else to do was definitely a driving factor. But the biggest reason for the repetitive, aggressive action stemmed from the fact that it was an empty distraction from everything going on—peeling away the dead skin felt like I was shedding layers of anxiety. The compulsion to dig into my skin can best be described as a soothing security blanket of sorts. When I'm not stressed, I can control it; otherwise, I can't. When life gets out of control, this is the one thing I feel like I can manage, so doing it makes me feel just a bit better.
Herein lies the bittersweet irony: the picking itself becomes something that you can’t control. If you suffer from SPD, you already know that it is not a matter of will—trying to stop is like telling someone not to have food allergies or high blood pressure. However, the good news is that there is therapy, medication, and dermatologic treatments that can help. Although no one treatment will be curative (you will likely go through bouts of remission and recurrence), utilizing the right tactics can help you squash the habit quicker.
First, and most importantly, know your triggers. It could be something external (i.e., acne onset) or something more emotionally driven (like stress and anxiety), but either way, you want to tackle the source. For me, my picking gets worse when there is dry, dead skin to pick at, so I slather myself in moisturizing creams and thrust my face into a humidifier whenever I feel the tight pores coming on. If your picking is triggered by depression and anxiety too, you should consult with a mental health professional with expertise in skin picking.
Although there is a bit of a shameful stigma that comes with SPD (there is nothing to be ashamed of!), tell someone that you trust and spend a lot of time with about the situation. My 7-year-long boyfriend, who lives with me, knows me better than anyone, and he is the best at catching the picking before it spirals. At that point, I’ll walk away from what I’m doing and distract myself by switching to a more engaging activity. I find that it's a good idea to wear gloves whenever you catch your hands doing the deed—that way, you’re physically incapable of continuing.
Therapy can also include stimulus control, which focuses on making shifts in your immediate environment that will soothe your impulse to pick at your skin. "Each time you feel the urge to pick, force yourself to resist for longer durations," says Sanam Hafeez, MD, a neuropsychologist at Columbia University in NYC. "If you are working, keep a squeezable ball on your desk. Meditation is also an excellent tool. If you have never done it before you can download meditation apps for beginners or go to YouTube. If small steps fail, consult a licensed therapist (even remotely) to talk through the process and help you understand this disorder and how you can conquer it."
While these methods help, by no means am I fully out of this—like any addict, I'll always be in recovery mode. Do I still want to touch my skin? Every single day. But the key is in feeling the urge when it approaches, identifying the issue, and being able to put myself in the mental state to walk away. When I feel myself falling into that trance-like state, I ask myself, "Why am I doing this?" This mindfulness is the first step towards recovery.
September 29, 2020 4:40 pm
I definitely pick at my face, especially right after i get out of the shower. Put a treatment in my hair, grab my tweezers and magnifying lamp and pick. I never thought of it at a disorder, but i have noticed that if i feel a blemish, i will try and pick at it at any time. Its nasty to do it out in public, but sometimes i dont even notice. In my head, i just want the pimple gone.
Topic starter
September 29, 2020 4:46 pm
Yes, some people pick all the time. It often is done without realizing it. It can leave scarring and it is hard to quit doing it
October 7, 2020 1:38 pm
I don't typically pick at my face unless i'm doing extractions any when doing that I am taking sanitary precautions. Now when it comes to my lips I will pick at them and I will bite them whenever I am feeling anxious or if my anxiety is just through the roof. I have always had this habit and I have never been able to stop.
Topic starter
November 3, 2020 5:19 pm
Picking is one of the hardest things to stop. I speak to teens all the time that pick at their face. It makes the acne worse and leaves scars. Later on in life people have to deal with the scaring as well as aging
February 2, 2021 6:20 pm
I don't really have a problem with skin picking, but my problem is that I run my fingers through my eyebrows so much that the hair will start growing in the opposite direction that its supposed to and then I look crazy and have to pluck them which is causing my eyebrows to get smaller. Its a compulsive thing which acne disorder sounds like it is too
February 2, 2021 10:44 pm
Ive never thought about it until now but I do pick at my face. I notice that im doing it and not realizing it. So not so much looking in a mirror in the bathroom, but when I randomly feel it ill pick at it. I didnt realize it was a full on disorder!
February 3, 2021 6:19 pm
@madisonmendebabiciectskin-com
I'll trade you eyebrow picking for acne disorder! Both have their downsides, but I think we both should just not touch our faces in general
February 6, 2021 11:57 pm
I think I've always been shamed or scared by others to ever pick at my face. I grew up, and still actually, get told regularly that it'll scar and be there forever. Even though I know that may not be necessarily true in every case, it's just something that always stuck with me. Especially in relation to caring for wounds with dirty hands, and how that can just make the wound a million times worse. I have however had quite a few people in my life with acne that the were unhappy with and would pick at and it just made me cringe. I think i keep them in my mind during this course because it's so common and really something that I think we, as estheticans, should be able to educate and assist our clientele with.
February 6, 2021 11:59 pm
@noracrainiectskin-com i relate to this one! I know we've agreed on being tweezer lovers, and that's probably my problem. I love to remove a good ingrown fresh out of the shower, and probably still do it regularly without realizing it. Especially those pesky eyebrow ingrowns.
March 22, 2021 7:09 pm
I can only imagine how difficult this disorder could become during quarantine. I think everyone dealt with the stress and the anxiety of all the unknown differently. Especially in the start of COVID I know I just kept thinking to myself "no way this is even real right now".
March 22, 2021 7:15 pm
@amandamooreiectskin-com I agree with not touching your face often. This is something I myself, know I'm very guilty of. I'm always running my fingers over my face to see if I feel anything there. If there is something then I usually will pick at it until I feel like it's gone. All terrible things I shouldn't be doing but I for some reason continue to do.
March 22, 2021 10:20 pm
@kaytlynmolinaiectskin-com Oh my gosh I am the same! I touch my face more than i would like to admit but I usually never realize im doing it and have to actually make myself stop when i notice!
March 23, 2021 11:39 am
You could change someone's life by teaching them to stop picking at their acne. I personally suffer from picking at my hair on my head and my eyebrows and if someone could train me to stop I would be so grateful.
July 18, 2021 3:04 pm
I never realized acne picking like this was an actual disorder. I definitely have a problem with picking, and like the author tend to go through times where it is not an issue for me and times where I cannot control it. I definitely also noticed during quarantine that I was picking more and this led me to getting more serious about my skincare habits. If acne is a trigger, the best thing you can do is take care of your skin in order to stop this urge from occurring in the first place. I sometimes will still catch myself mindlessly picking at acne, but I've found with the goal of safe and effective skincare in mind it's become an effective reasoning to stop once I notice I'm doing it.
Topic starter
July 20, 2021 12:32 pm
You will see in your career people with this disorder. It is difficult to stop picking when it becomes a habit or obsession as with this disorder. You really have to educate the client on the severity of what constant picking will do to the skin. Then they have much more to have corrected.
July 28, 2021 10:22 am
@delaneyhiggonsiectskin-com I agree that I used to always try and pick at and squeeze acne the second I saw them coming in. This has always just seemed to cause the breakout to become much worse. I have convinced myself to just let the acne ride out on it's own and leave it.
August 4, 2021 10:24 am
i definitely pick at my face non stop and its something i am actively trying to stop myself from doing. i try to not touch my face at all but i notice that i do it throughout the day especially if im having a breakout, thats the first place my hands go. i have so many acne scars from picking at acne or just anything on my face in general and it has become my biggest skin care concern.
August 4, 2021 10:25 am
@francescablackiectskin-com i heard that growing up to or if im around people and i start picking at my face someone will grab my hand to make me stop.
January 29, 2022 4:05 pm
@gabriellemrasiectskin-com I also have a horrible habit of picking at my lips. Of course in the winter it's even worse because my lips can get so dry and I just can't help but pick at them! Sometimes I pick to the point where my lips start bleeding. It is definitely a hard habit to break though.
January 29, 2022 4:16 pm
@kaytlynmolinaiectskin-com I will sometimes pick at something that is coming in without even thinking! I think most people do it but sometimes you really don't even notice that you're picking so it can be a hard thing to correct.
February 5, 2022 5:07 pm
@laurenjohnsoniectskin-com Same here! Once I start to feel something coming it its so hard not to constantly touch at it and press it down. I try my best not to pick just because I know that that is how scars start to form.
February 21, 2022 5:51 pm
I pick my face often and its a really bad habit. If I don't like how it looks on my face I gonna pick at it. Sometimes I pick at my face so much it starts to bleed and I don't realize until I see the blood on my fingers. I really need to stop or else i'm gonna keep having scars on my face.
February 24, 2022 3:46 pm
I am too guilty of picking at my face if i feel something. I could be sitting at my desk at work and i feel a little bump, im going to scratch it. It honestly gross if you think about it. Same with my boyfriend, he is constantly asking me to itch his back and if i feel something i can help but to put on a flash light and see whats going on. I dont have acne anymore but as a child my mom would always pick at my face too, i have a few scars from them now.
March 26, 2022 10:14 am
I am guilty of picking bumps on my body. I work at a dermatology office so they are constantly telling me to stop pick. If i feel any sort of bump I will pick and pick until i create a sore. I will also pick the scabs on my face. A lot of times I don't realize i am doing it until its already been done. I try to be mindful of it because I wont want to leave scars on my face. I also have a problem with if I see a bump on my boyfriend or friend I want to pick at that, or squeeze it so it isnt there anymore.
March 26, 2022 10:15 am
@abigailcochraneiectskin-com I am the same way. I will scratch my boyfriends back and if I feel anything I pick at it or sign my flashlight on my phone on his back and inspect every inch to see if theres a bump i could get. It is really gross to think about it. It is honestly one thing I wish could change about myself.
March 26, 2022 10:18 am
@jaydensugickiectskin-com I have to remind myself to stop picking at my face. If I feel any kind of bump I go straight to the mirror any try to get it. I get microneedling pretty frequently and that has seemed to help my scaring as well as over all texture. I use skin care products like retinol to help my black heads, scaring, and occasional acne bumps. I think that since I have freckles on my face it helps cover up the scars I do have.
January 30, 2023 12:48 pm
I have picked at my face for as long as I can remember and it has gotten to the point where I don't even notice I am doing it until my face is bleeding, or the area is sensitive. I also tend to touch my face a lot since I feel like my hands always just have to be moving. I am aware that I do it often but it is such a hard habit to break.
January 30, 2023 12:50 pm
@keyonnastarksiectskin-com I used to have really bad acne scars from picking at my face. They are not as noticeable now since I used to get chemical peels but it made me so insecure.
January 30, 2023 12:52 pm
@gabriellemrasiectskin-com I pick everywhere on my face whether it be my eyebrows, my lips, my eyelashes or my skin. I have noticed that I do it most when I am very anxious or when I am trying to concentrate on something.
Page 1 / 2
Next
