tried n true advice for skin pickers (and if this helps with other bfrbs then fuck yeah)
use dim lighting, especially in rooms where you know youre more prone to picking. for me, that mainly means showering at night with candles like the fancy little vampire i deserve to be, because i know that the bathroom is my #1 picking area on account of the nudity. i also keep my room lit at night with a relatively dim lamp, one of those little sunset lamps you can get for cheap at five below. im less prone to picking in my bedroom during the day for some reason but if that is a time and place you tend to pick, utilize those fuckin blinds babyyyy! or get some opaque curtains! by using dim lighting, its much harder to visually examine your skin, which means youre less likely to start obsessing over "flaws".
make it more complicated to access your phone flashlight. i used to frequently turn on my flashlight to examine my skin, until i realized i could go into the settings and turn off the flashlight function. its still there if i do need to use it, but now instead of being able to instantly access it, i have to go into my settings app, search for the flashlight settings, and turn it back on. in those instances, i make sure to turn it back off as soon as im done using it, so that the process needs to be repeated next time i need the flashlight. simply adding a few extra steps is enough for my brain to decide its not worth the trouble. i do still sometimes turn my phone brightness up to examine my skin in dark rooms, but its still not as bright as a flashlight and for some reason i find it easier to stop after a little bit.
please just use lotion. i know. i know. "but the lotion will clog my pores and then ill have more bumps to pick at-" i know. in my experience, with the right lotion that isnt as much of an issue as your brain might tell you it is. the main lotion i use is up&up brand 2-in-1 hand sanitizer lotion, its cheap and for me at least it doesnt actually seem to cause any extra bumps. a little goes a long way with it too, a little bit (like the size of your average blueberry or maybe a large craisin) is enough for me to spread on both hands and both forearms. the lotion makes it physically harder to pick, and moisturizing is good for you!! ive also tried cerave SA lotion for rough and bumpy skin, and honestly i havent used it much because i always forget i have it (harder to carry around than the hand sanitizer lotion) but the few times i did use it it seemed to maybe help my keratosis pilaris? i did notice a few more bumps from it getting in my pores though, so id recommend trying it yourself to weigh the pros and cons, it is a bit pricey though at least for a broke mf like me. basically, try to find a lotion that works well for your skin, and get in the habit of using it.
romanticize using bandaids and antiseptics. if you pick at your skin, you have open wounds. in my case, i grew up not ever really treating them, which led to more infections than i needed to experience. especially if your skin picking is severe and leads to deep injuries, infections can be fucking dangerous. ive read about people needing to be hospitalized for infections resulting from skin picking. minimize that risk! you deserve not to have a bunch of infected open sores! they fucking hurt and are only going to make it more tempting to pick at those areas! as a teenager my mother (who also picked) told me she didnt want to buy me cute bandaids because she thought it would make me pick more frequently. as an adult i can tell you that that reasoning is fucking bullshit. if youre gonna be picking anyway, fun bandages very well might help you remember to cover up the wounds, which will help keep them sterile. but honestly even just keeping stocked on normal ass bandaids is important. things like neosporin and antiseptic spray (NOT HYDROGEN PEROXIDE) are also extremely helpful for healing up injuries. additionally, if bandaid adhesive irritates your skin or if you need to cover up a large area, gauze with medical tape is a fantastic alternative, although it can be a bit pricier as gauze typically isnt meant to be used frequently.
i know a lot of this advice involves spending money, but please try to remember that taking care of your health is important and worth budgeting for whenever possible. you deserve to be healthy. skin picking fucking sucks balls but there are ways to manage it to minimize the damage you do to your body and you dont need the most expensive high end shit to do it, you just need things that get the job done. i love you. take care of yourself.
romaincrisis
ellievsbear
pixelskylines
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