Published on 12, July, 2020
My daughter has recently been diagnosed with ASD, but has been picking at her face and spots for a while now when she gets stressed. For example, her spots were bad at the end of term and improved steadily over the holiday - however since Friday she has had flare ups and this morning has marks all over her face where she has picked them. She doesn't like the feeling of uneven skin, so she picks the spots and then the scabs.
Any suggestions would be very gratefully received. She already uses special creams and face wash for spots, but cannot use the cream prescribed by the doctor as they are often open sores.
I am in my late forties and can relate to your daughter, as I too dislike the feeling of uneven skin. If there is a spot on my face or elsewhere on my body, I cannot resist the urge and just have to pick at it. Of course, when it scabs over, it takes a considerable amount of willpower to leave it alone and allow it to heal. Sometimes I have resorted to covering spots with small flesh-tone plasters. I am terrible because if my son (an adult) has blackheads, I find myself almost begging him to let me squeeze them. One of my guilty pleasures, I guess.
Hi Sparkly,
My daughter isn't good at leaving scabs alone, but would never get close enough to someone else to squeeze their spots!