For as far back as I can remember, I have been grateful to be freckled. When I say freckled, I mean super freckled. My kids, who seem to have inherited their father’s smooth brown skin, comment on my freckles all the time. “Mom, you have freckles everywhere!” It is true. And while many women lament their freckles, washing their skin with lemon juice to try to get rid of them, I have always loved mine. Why? Because they are masters at hiding blemishes. 

I got acne as soon as I hit puberty, and it carried me through adulthood until my first pregnancy, at which point it magically disappeared. (Thanks, hormones!) And as someone with slight anxiety, I would pick at my skin relentlessly. The freckles, along with my redder skin tone, hid much of my damage. Still, I had to turn to what was in my cupboards for healing my skin so I did not end up with pockmarks and pick scars for the rest of my life. Fortunately, most households have everything you need to heal skin from picking face too much.  

Table of Contents:  

• Why Are You Picking Your Skin? 
• Top 5 Home Remedies to Heal Skin from Picking Face Too Much 
• Tips to Stop Picking Skin 
• All Natural Products to Add to Your Shelf 

Why Are You Picking Your Skin? 

Pick. Pick. Pick. My husband will gently grab my hand or lightly slap my wrist when he notices me doing it. “Stop picking.” He will admonish me. He is right. But I cannot help myself. It is a tick of sorts. I drift off into my thoughts and subconsciously begin picking at any loose skin or small scab on my body. When I was younger, it was worse because I had acne. Now, it is not quite as bad, but I still must be aware of the problem. It turns out I am not alone. In America alone, almost 20% of adults suffer from anxiety, and anxiety ranks as the most common mental illness in the country. It should come as no surprise, overworked and underpaid as we often are, that anxiety is more common in women. Skin picking is commonly associated with anxiety, affecting more than 5% of American adults, again occurring more often in women. So yes, you are in good company if you are a skin picker. And I am happy to report an abundance of help out there for us! 

Top 5 Home Remedies to Heal Skin from Picking Face Too Much 

1. Clean with a Gentle Cleanser 

First and foremost is to keep your skin clean. Wash your face twice a day with a gentle cleanser, making sure your product has no artificial fragrances or chemicals. Clean skin is less likely to become infected, especially when it comes to open wounds. It is also likely to heal faster.  

2. Coconut Oil 

Seriously, everyone must have a jar of coconut oil in the cupboard. If you do not have one, get one. It is a dream for skin, and particularly for damaged skin. Once you have cleaned your skin, apply a layer of coconut oil and let it settle in. It has healing properties that will close up your wound so you would not even know it was ever there.  

3. Honey  

One of my favorite home remedies for all things viral and bacterial is honey. It is truly nature’s virus and bacteria super-soldier. Keep local, raw, organic honey on hand for both internal and external remedies. For your face, apply a dab to clean skin directly on your wound and let it get to work.  

4. Aloe Vera 

If you are reluctant to smother your wound in sticky honey, consider the smoother alternative. Aloe Vera is less sticky and more like an ointment, yet just as healing as honey. As with honey, apply directly to your wound once you have cleansed it and layered on the coconut oil.  

5. Turmeric Paste 

If your wound is ferociously red, you can apply an anti-inflammatory in the form of turmeric paste. Simply grate fresh turmeric and mix with water, or if you have powder on hand, mix with water to form the paste. Then apply directly to the cleaned wound.  

Tips to Stop Picking Skin 

In addition to tips for healing skin, you can also begin practicing tips to stop picking your skin in the first place. All the guidance here applies directly to soothing your anxiety, as Skin Picking Disorder, as it's known in mental health circles, is an offshoot of anxiety.  

First, if your anxiety is overwhelming to the point of interfering with your daily activities, get help. Again, you are not alone. Fortunately, mental health has become much less taboo since I was younger, and more people are reaching out to professionals to get access to resources to alleviate anxiety.  

Second, if you, like many of us, “merely” have the kind of anxiety that is annoying but not quite life-altering, be sure to integrate practices into your life that soothe your anxiety. I utilize pretty much all of them. It is helpful to build them into a daily routine as well, so you do not get off track. Yoga, breathing exercises, hydration, and regular cardiovascular exercise are enormously helpful to me when it comes to managing my anxiety, to the point that, when I am in steady practice, my anxiety is almost nonexistent, which makes my skin (and my husband) very happy.  

All Natural Products to Add to Your Shelf 

In addition to the above options, you can also integrate some healing products like essential oils and soothing moisturizers into your beauty and self-care regimen.  

Lavender Essential Oil 

I love lavender for all things soothing, and this essential oil is no different. You can apply it directly to the skin (properly diluter in a carrier oil) to heal scarring, or you can use it as a fragrance to soothe anxiety.  

Vitamin C Face Cream 

Vitamin C is good for healing on all levels. This face cream is restorative and smoothing. Perfect for healing wounds and scars! 

Click the links above and browse the collections of oils and moisturizers at leisure. You are sure to find something, or many things, to love.