skin and scar healing tips

Do you find that either of the sunless tanning lotions mask the scars or make them less noticeable by evening out the color? I read your other post, and like you, I started tweezing my leg hairs one by one as a way to divert attention from my face. Same problem, different place! I've taken to digging/scratching to get at ingrown hairs or hairs that are visible but haven't broken the skin yet, so I've got clusters of older purple scars and fresher red ones. (What's worse about the legs is that the hair grows back in the exact same place, so I'm sure to re-injure existing wounds.) I've actually only developed this part of the habit in the last year after about 15 years of face-picking, and now that it's sweltering outside, I can't keep wearing pants, so I'm looking for a cover-up if not full repair. Sorry to ramble, and thanks for reading - I've never really been so frank about what I do to myself with someone who understands it personally. Also, I've found some success with these products for scars: Mederma - I've used this on my face, and it hasn't caused any breakouts. It actually improves the texture of the skin overnight (minor superficial scabs, not those from deeper wounds) so that at least makeup goes on smoothly. Over time, I've seen it lighten scars. Prefer On - I haven't used this on my face, but it has helped speed up the healing of my legs - leaves skin very soft.

Thats crazy I do the same thing to my legs as well! I used to just pick my arms and then one day I went on a sort of picking frenzy and now I do my legs too. Sometimes I even do my chest and my breasts, which is even more upsetting for some reason. Now that I pick my legs I cant shave them anymore, which used to keep them nice and smooth. I think it also helped exfoliate them and keep my skin in good condition. Now I pull out the hairs with tweezers, especially the ingrown ones. I find that if I pull out a hair, often pus or white stuff will come with it, which just makes me want to do all of my hairs. Then I end up picking at my skin and my pores incase there is pus left behind. Its digusting and pointless. If I could just stop long enough for my legs to heal, then I could shave or wax them and there would be no more hairs to pick at and they would be smooth. Same with my arms. I hate having to wear trousers and longsleeves when its hot. Anyway about healing tips. I would definately recommend showering straight after and putting on antiseptic/disinfectant. It really speeds up the healing and its obviously more hyginic. Also great is zinc cream or face washes with zinc in them (garnier does an antibacterial one which I use if I get spots on my face - strangely enough I don't pick at those ones really). They defintaly speed up healing and stop scarring.