(last paragraph sums up everything if you don't want to read it all)
i already have a problem with picking at my skin unintentionally, and 2 days ago i tried taking a bobby pin and using it to pop my black heads, my skin was clear besides a few pimples and black heads on my nose. so i took the bobby pin and all i know was that i started popping them at 4am and ended at 3pm (a long time), and my skin was really red and my pores were huge, which i'm guessing is from me scraping at my skin to get the blackheads out. i took a shower after and my face looked really bad and had gotten worse. My dad thought it was an allergic reaction to something cause my pores were so red and irritated(i'm not allergic to anything so i know it's not that). all i used on my face was dr bronners soap when i got in the shower and i've been putting which hazel on it, and i just put on a product i have that closes your pores.
the first photo (1) is what my pores looked like around around 11:30pm i put an ice pack on my face and which hazel on my face before i took the photo and after i took that i put some aloe vera and Neosporin on my face and went to bed. it was a lot less than earlier that day but it still looks really bad(before i picked at my skin and there was almost no redness anywhere on my face). the second photo (2) i took 10 min ago around 2:00pm and it looks worse. today i put on an oatmeal honey mask to try and get rid of the swelling and more aloe vera
what should i do to stop the skin from being so red and swollen? will it stay like this? and if not how long will it take for the redness to go down?
hey,
I have dermatillomania too and I have a lot of scars because of it
I mostly use my fingers and not other tools
What I would recommend the most is using a very gentle cleanser (nothing harsh) and moisturizer. Witch hazel is good too, and cucumbers on face can help bring down swelling. use lukewarm water to rinse and dont over cleanse.
It wont stay like that but leave that area alone as long as you can (don't pick and wear gloves to prevent picking) or you may get major scarring.
I don't know when it will go away but I do know if you are gentle on your skin it should start fading. drink a lot of water too