Picking at your skin can cause unnecessary damage, including scarring, inflammation, and even introducing bacteria that can worsen acne or lead to infections.
Instead, focus on gentle skincare practices like cleansing, moisturizing, and using products designed for your skin type. If you’re struggling with breakouts, consulting a professional for facials or treatments can be much more effective and safe.
What are the symptoms of skin picking disorder or dermatillomania?
Dermatillomania is also known as skin picking disorder, obsessive skin picking, or neurotic excoriations. The predominant symptom is the urge to pick skin on the face, trunk and limbs. Nail picking, cuticle picking, & hair plucking are also examples of dermatillomania.
What can be done for dark scars or post inflammatory hyperpigmentation?
This type of scarring is easier to treat compared to hypopigmented scars as well as contour changes. The rate limiting factor is the patient’s insight to understand that new lesions must be prevented. Hence, in most cases, my team can make excellent progress over a short period of time (again, depending on patient’s acceptance & motivation to prevent new lesions). Some methods used include-
- Lasers including fractional, nano & pico lasers
- Pigment inhibitors such as HQ, ascorbic, kojic, citric, retinoic acids
- Chemical peels
- Microneedling (other treatments are much better, best used for whtie scars)
*If you have active lesions or uncontrolled picking, you will be chasing your tail with treatments. I do encourage all patients to undertake medical therapy at the same time as scar revision.