Which skin imperfection triggers you to pick?

I have some milia that I dont touch ever....because they arent inflamed. I also have seb. hyperplasia. When they turn into like a whitehead and become inflamed, i can squeeze that out with a tweezer. Most times, it will get worse and the picking begins. The areas with no plugs will heal, the areas with plugs still hurt. It's like an iceberg....it's what's happening underneath...deeper and wider that is the issue.
I can't use BP, it irritates my skin and flakes badly. I can use both salicylic and glycolic.....and I use a powder exfoliator in the morning with or without Bye bye Blemish cleanser which is helpful for areas not affected and areas previously affected.
I'm also 63 with very fair and fragile skin....the reaction of those plugs is the issue. Normal pimples, I rarely get. But definitely, once it starts....it's a cycle that can go either perfectly and heal quickly, or take eons and continue with the inflammation and produce more plugs or whatever those things are (because there is a variety of types, but all hinder healing..
It's exhausting mentally, mostly because I don't know the why it's happening in the first place...and it's only been i the last 8ish years. Before that, my skin was awesome with only a few wonky spots that healed quickly. This is a different beast altogether.

What are the moisturisers you use?

Painful under the skin pimples are the worst for me. I can ignore a whitehead easily for some reason. Something has finally clicked in my head tho. I was walking around at a festival the other day and like usual I was scanning everyone's faces to see if they had marks and scars like me. To my amazement there were plenty! I felt silly for tying to hide mine. I'm not sure if I've just got adult acne or what. Now I feel like I can leave everything alone. Having a pimple or bump on my face looks way better than a scab. I knew I had made progress when my dad made a horrible comment about my looks and I didn't go picking crazy that night. He asked me if I'd been hitting my forehead with a hammer! Really! I've got some pock marks on my forehead from deep pimples that have healed. I thought they were looking better but his comment devastated me! Instead of picking I just put calamine lotion over them and stayed out of the bathroom. That's been my saving grace. If I can't see it I can't pick at it. I just use moisturizer at night. So far I feel way more confident. I'm letting my skin do the healing and not trying to dig squeeze or poke at anything!

Snipzie, I have just purchased Neutrogena naturals multi-vitamin nourishing moisturizer. I still have to try it out. So far ive been testing out a number of moisturizers. My favorites which are best for sensitive skin are Coola face SPF 30 Cucumber Moisturizer. The nighttime favorite so far is Burts Bees Sensivite Daily Moisturizing Cream. I agree with you that skin imperfections resemble icebergs. As soon as we pick we tend to set ourselves up for more picking, its daunting.

Somuchpain, whiteheads can be quite painful as well. My whiteheads tend to start out as red deep lesions but eventually create a white head on top which I am tempted to squeeze just because it hurts and reminds me of itself all the time. A ripped open wound does not throb in the same way...its the pus that pushes on surrounding tissues (like a cancerous tumor) which causes the most discomfort.
Its great to hear that you are experiencing certain epiphanies about your behavior. I hope that you can keep that belief system central to your daily practices! I have those optimistic moments but I always find myself sort of sliding back time to time. Its a constant battle against regressing towards a former impulsive, dissociated way of picking.

I think probably stress, a lack of dopamine, and something about the way the texture of my skin feels to my fingers or inside of my cheek feels against my tongue... it usually starts before I'm concioud of it so it's hard to know.