"Leave it alone"

[Raggamuffin]

How many people can't leave scabs or spots alone until they end up becoming wounds?

It's been a habit of mine ever since childhood. I simply can't leave any sort of blemish alone. I pick and poke at things as soon as I notice them on my body.

I live in hope that the acne on my back clears up as my diet and lifestyle choices continue to change and improve. After my teenage years and early 20's I began to think this skin issue was due to diet - but I've only recently tried in ernest to cut out as much processed foods as possible.

Supposedly children with autism are more likely to have skin and autoimmune disorders. Seems strange mine would start in puberty and never leave me. Mind you - I never went to the doctors about it. Seems silly considering I had years of pestering doctors when my health anxiety was causing all sorts of symptoms on a daily basis.

A by-product of this incessant skin picking has been how tattoos have suffered. When the layer of skin peels I'm addicted to taking it all off. Naturally with larger tattoos there might be an area which scabs. Needless to say I have patchy areas on tattoos now, because I couldn't resist picking them. But tattoos aren't pleasant experiences, and I never went back for touch up sessions. Especially as tattooing scar tissue has mixed results, and I won't leave scabs alone until they end up as scars which were much larger than the initial wound.

Ed

 

[selena]

I have enough self-control when it comes to tattoos, but I have a pimple from last year that's still there because I keep picking at it.

Wearing a mask helps a little, but as soon as the mask is off everything is undone.

 

[Gracey]

I went through a stage (lengthy) of doing much of what you've written, Ed.
On discovering and believing it was a form of self harm, I quit.
(Kept nails short. Avoided mirrors. Worked on curbing the urge, improved diet, skin routine, more daylight and sunshine and drunk plenty of water)

There are weekly facial scrubs and face packs/masks that can get rid of blackheads and pimples.
Body scrubs and brushes to use in the shower.

I still get urges but after such a long time of resisting they're easier to quell.
There's nothing quite like the feeling one gets from picking and worrying an imperfection, particularly when stressed, as a form of release.

I have noticed more breakouts on my own skin over the past 12 months. I'm putting mine down to having to wear a face mask/covering so much.

 

[unperson]

sugar gives me pimples, have to try and be conscious not to do any picking. Tea tree oil is supposed to be good for spots (topical).

 

[Au Naturel]

Lots of people still get acne well into adulthood. Just a matter of clogged pores getting infected. Oily skin and small pores are an unhappy combination. A bit of sunlight might help. Moderate sunbathing helped my acne when I was a teen.

I think there is an instinct to pick at things that are point blemishes. Maybe there is some part of the brain that reacts as though they were ticks. Popping a pimple is the caveman equivalent of lancing a boil. Scabs can also itch, so there's that impulse. There's also a sense among some that spots on the skin are somehow impure. Picking and popping can also be a form of stimming.

Most people don't get obsessed with such things. But anything can become an obsession if there is some kind of reward from it.

Try substituting slapping scabs for picking. Relieves the itching and makes your body think you've done something. Here's an interesting article:

Why do we pick at scabs?

 

[Magna]

I used to pick my scabs as a kid and it was very hard for me to stop. I also used to eat the scabs which is funny, because I never ate by boogers and thought the practice was disgusting.

I don't pick my scabs as an adult though and haven't had a desire to since childhood. One stim I do have is to repeatedly bite the insides of my cheeks with my cuspids & bicuspids. Those would be tooth numbers 6, 11, 21 and 28.

 

[Au Naturel]

I used to pick my scabs as a kid and it was very hard for me to stop. I also used to eat the scabs which is funny, because I never ate by boogers and thought the practice was disgusting.

I don't pick my scabs as an adult though and haven't had a desire to since childhood. One stim I do have is to repeatedly bite the insides of my cheeks with my cuspids & bicuspids. Those would be tooth numbers 6, 11, 21 and 28.

I had that and it was really hard to fight it. After years it just went away on its own.

Some people develop a similar habit of pulling hair from their eyebrows. A deceased friend of mine who was mildly autistic did that until his eyebrows were almost gone. Grew back after the urge went away. I think these sorts of things are stress-based.

 

[Sherlock77]

I am sometimes tempted but hold myself back

But seeing a scab drives me crazy sometimes, just looking at it

 

[Progster]

Yes, I do this. Either this, or I pick at the skin on my lips. I had one for while on my forehead that I nicknamed Jupiter, ie big spot of Jupiter. It's gone now. I wish I didn't do it.

 

[SusanLR]

It is one of my most frequent and annoying stems that seems to be stress related.
It seems impossible to stop.
I've been that way all my life. If a spot starts itching or is raised, I start the picking and the
sensation it gives is silly. It doesn't feel good to dig a scab or sore, yet there is something about
the feeling I don't want to stop.
Doing it to a pimple under my lower lip right now.

Everyday I think I will stop, but, once I touch it there it goes.
It takes will power for me. I know it's a stim.

Even if I don't have a pick going on, it's always been next to impossible not to chew on my
lower lip when anxious. Anxiety is high right now thinking about upcoming surgery.

 

[Magna]

It is one of my most frequent and annoying stems that seems to be stress related.
It seems impossible to stop.
I've been that way all my life. If a spot starts itching or is raised, I start the picking and the
sensation it gives is silly. It doesn't feel good to dig a scab or sore, yet there is something about
the feeling I don't want to stop.
Doing it to a pimple under my lower lip right now.

Everyday I think I will stop, but, once I touch it there it goes.
It takes will power for me. I know it's a stim.

Even if I don't have a pick going on, it's always been next to impossible not to chew on my
lower lip when anxious. Anxiety is high right now thinking about upcoming surgery.

I hope your surgery goes well, Susan.