Taking Care of Your Skin After Picking
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The urge to pick is sometimes overpowering and no matter what you try, you might end up picking. When this happens, there are two different things to address. First is acceptance and forgiveness, as being hard on yourself in those situations won’t help any, it will just make you feel more ashamed, guiltier and, therefore, more likely to pick again. Acceptance and forgiveness help you move on and then, once you’re in a better place, you can go back to the incident, analyze it and learn from it.
The second set of actions have to do with making sure that you help your skin heal as fast as possible and to prevent infections. If you’ve been picking for a longer period of time then I’m sure you’re aware of how important that is. In addition to helping your skin and protecting it, post-picking cleaning is a way to show some compassion to your skin, now hurt by your actions, and to start nurturing a more positive relationship with it.
Here’s how to go about it in a few simple steps:
Stop picking as soon as you reasonably can. Ideally, if your picking is focused, wash your hands before. If you didn’t wash them immediately after you’ve finished picking.
Even if there’s no visible blood, picking involves rupturing the skin’s protective surface so there’s always risk of infection and, because of that, it’s always important to follow this routine.
Rinse your skin in under running tap water for at least 30 seconds.
Apply a gentle liquid soap. Keep it simple. You don’t need anything that will additionally irritate your skin so hygienic liquid soap without any special scent will do the job well. Gently rub it over the wound and rinse your skin for a minute
After that, apply an antibiotic ointment (OTC creams are available) and cover the wound with a band aid or a colloid patch. Colloid patches are particularly useful because they adhere to the surface of the skin very well and they can stay on for more than a day, therefore preventing you from picking the same spot again.
In most instances this is sufficient to prevent an infection. If you notice any redness or swelling developing, seek medical advice.
If you want to accelerate your skin healing, vitamin C supplementation on daily basis could be very helpful. Vitamin C helps with collagen synthesis and collagen is necessary for proper skin healing. Vitamin A is also significant to help your skin adapt to different conditions and to make sure skin cells differentiate properly as they recover. Without Vitamin A, skin can be dry, itchy and bumpy, and all of these could actually trigger additional picking.
A note on how to approach the disinfection
In the beginning, I mentioned that this rather mechanical physical aspect of cleaning your skin is meant to accompany and supplement the process of accepting the damage done and forgiving yourself. Combining these two together, you can approach this process with mindfulness. Make sure to look at the damage done, but do so without judgment (judgment is never helpful). Observe and try to imagine how your skin feels. I know this sounds silly, but you can also talk to your skin – try it, trust me it works well.
Don’t rush through the steps. Be mindful of your own thoughts and feelings (there are bound to be many) and actively set the intention to heal your skin.
Good luck!
