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How can I treat facial and leg pimple and ingrown hair picking
Hi, I am in my early 30's and I have been on 80mg Prozac to treat OCD for several years now.
I work in Cosmetics/Skincare and I have a long-running pimple picking problem. It started when I was 13 in the bathroom, where I would lock myself in for hours and try to squeeze the life out of pimples that both existed and didn't exist. My habit was exacerbated in college by watching my roommate with acne issues do extractions on a regular basis with an extractor tool.
As sufferers know I began to squeeze/pick at pores that were totally fine and generated pimples as a result of the trauma to skin.
I break out 3 weeks out of every month, with a respite following the week of my period. When I get stressed I will stand in front of the mirror all night long and be unable to peel myself away from the mirror to go to sleep. Every single pore on my face is analyzed. Nose and cheeks are especially ripped up.
Last night I went to bed at 6 AM after cooking and cleaning followed by picking. I have ingrown hairs on the back of my thighs that start out as small bumps and end up as bruised and bloody scars.
Methods of treatment tried:
-high dosage Prozac, antidepressants- whenever I lower my dosage I immediately start picking
-Clonopin or Zanax: do not recommend because of dependency, had to detox off it 3 yrs ago (VERY costly)
-Covering mirror with inspiring pictures
-Getting a professional glycolic acid peel ($65)
-Deeper facial peel with dermaplaning- not in budget anymore ($250)
-Avoiding caffeine
-Starting Retinol .05% cream to heal breakouts and prevent them quicker. The cream is clogging my pores now so I feel like even though my skin is healing faster I am consistently clogging up more pores that I will later obsess over.
-I am tapering off gluten (all wheat products) and dairy to see if my skin improves
-mixing organic almond oil and tea tree oil and applying to backs of legs
-2% Benzoyl Peroxide treatment cream for back of legs and inflamed pimples I have aggravated
-Neosporin with band-aid overnight on leg pimples
-Mupirocin cream 2% left over
from a waxing+ retinol accident
-retinol .05% cream applied to backs of thighs: not sure I can afford it to keep up consistently since retinol is not covered by insurance anymore
I think when I get stressed it is important for me to keep a strong calming night routine: tea lights with lavender essential oils, Himalayan pink salt crystals with tea lights;
Lavender room spray, hot yoga earlier in evening if schedule permits, leaving time to clean dishes and tidy apartment before exhaustion sets in
Calming music
No phones and no obsessive internet surfing
Anything that forces me to breathe: yoga, stretching back with yoga blocks, inversions, feet up on wall
Mineral salt bath
Magnesium Citrate (Natural Calm) Supplement
I work in Cosmetics/Skincare and I have a long-running pimple picking problem. It started when I was 13 in the bathroom, where I would lock myself in for hours and try to squeeze the life out of pimples that both existed and didn't exist. My habit was exacerbated in college by watching my roommate with acne issues do extractions on a regular basis with an extractor tool.
As sufferers know I began to squeeze/pick at pores that were totally fine and generated pimples as a result of the trauma to skin.
I break out 3 weeks out of every month, with a respite following the week of my period. When I get stressed I will stand in front of the mirror all night long and be unable to peel myself away from the mirror to go to sleep. Every single pore on my face is analyzed. Nose and cheeks are especially ripped up.
Last night I went to bed at 6 AM after cooking and cleaning followed by picking. I have ingrown hairs on the back of my thighs that start out as small bumps and end up as bruised and bloody scars.
Methods of treatment tried:
-high dosage Prozac, antidepressants- whenever I lower my dosage I immediately start picking
-Clonopin or Zanax: do not recommend because of dependency, had to detox off it 3 yrs ago (VERY costly)
-Covering mirror with inspiring pictures
-Getting a professional glycolic acid peel ($65)
-Deeper facial peel with dermaplaning- not in budget anymore ($250)
-Avoiding caffeine
-Starting Retinol .05% cream to heal breakouts and prevent them quicker. The cream is clogging my pores now so I feel like even though my skin is healing faster I am consistently clogging up more pores that I will later obsess over.
-I am tapering off gluten (all wheat products) and dairy to see if my skin improves
-mixing organic almond oil and tea tree oil and applying to backs of legs
-2% Benzoyl Peroxide treatment cream for back of legs and inflamed pimples I have aggravated
-Neosporin with band-aid overnight on leg pimples
-Mupirocin cream 2% left over
from a waxing+ retinol accident
-retinol .05% cream applied to backs of thighs: not sure I can afford it to keep up consistently since retinol is not covered by insurance anymore
I think when I get stressed it is important for me to keep a strong calming night routine: tea lights with lavender essential oils, Himalayan pink salt crystals with tea lights;
Lavender room spray, hot yoga earlier in evening if schedule permits, leaving time to clean dishes and tidy apartment before exhaustion sets in
Calming music
No phones and no obsessive internet surfing
Anything that forces me to breathe: yoga, stretching back with yoga blocks, inversions, feet up on wall
Mineral salt bath
Magnesium Citrate (Natural Calm) Supplement
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