You know the routine. You’re washing your face at night and looking at your skin. You notice a little bump forming and lean closer to the mirror to investigate. Then what starts with squeezing a little whitehead, turns into extracting blackheads, and pretty soon every pore on your face is under scrutiny. Yes it feels satisfying, yes we’ve all done this, but is this doing your skin (or you) any good? When does standing in front of a mirror extracting pores, popping pimples, and scratching skin to remove various imperfections evolve from simple selfcare to borderline obsession?
Skin picking starts with a benign desire to smooth out and clear up skin. Eventually the casual or occasional skin cleaning becomes a stronger more frequent urge. There is a sense of accomplishment and patterns repeat. There’s that day you go a little too far and create a bigger issue (like a cluster of pimples or a scar.) How to get a hold of this bad habit?
Create a Physical Barrier
Find a way that makes it harder for you pick. Clipping your nails shorter, looking in the mirror less, throwing away those (awesome/awful) magnifying face mirrors, wearing a face mask, putting on a pimple patch or bandages, throw away that needle or tweezers, can help you stop. Whatever deters you from touching your face less is a good bet.
Create a Mental Barrier
Examine how and why you are picking and give yourself a way to stop. That is, alleviate the impulse to pick by knowing what triggers you to pick in the first place and recognize when you’re feeling that way. For example, stress and anxiety. Often we break out when we are stressed and then we pick at our skin more because we are stressed. Don’t fixate thoughts on the dirt, oil, bacteria aspect of wanting to clear your skin. There’s the relief and immediate gratification but skin picking can lead to more severe skin picking inflammation and scarring.
See Your Doctor
If you notice skin picking goes much much further than just a bad habit, it might be considered Dermatillomania, or skin picking disorder, an anxiety based disorder akin to OCD. This condition goes beyond bad habit status and requires consultation with a physician or therapist.
To quell any desire to pick or treat the damage already done, Soon Masks are helpful. You have the physical barrier in place and you can use those 15-20 minutes to relax and breathe and work through that anxiety.
