When I was in seventh grade I had considerably bad acne. It wasn't the worst case of acne on the planet, but it was bad enough to make me self-conscious about it. I tried all of the over-the-counter medications but none of those really worked. Wow I sound like a Proactiv commercial. Anyway, I went to see a dermatologist and he prescribed me a facial cream and told me something that would affect me for the rest of my life.
He first asked me if I touched my face often. By that he meant resting my chin in the palm of my hand, rubbing my face with my hands, constantly scratching or wiping my face with the palms of my hands. I said yes, I do it all the time. To which he explained to me when I do those things, I am transferring all of the dirt, sweat, oil and grease from the palms of my hands into the pores of my skin. The thought of the process really grossed me out. When he told me that, I had a little slide-show go off in my head like they do in the acne commercials. The ones that show dirt and oil going into the skin and then pimples popping up. I was scarred for life.
To this day I refuse to rest any part of my face in the palm of my hand. The only exception for touching my face is when I'm washing it. If someone offered me $20 to rest my face in the palm of my hand, I'd have to think hard about doing it. I would probably do it for $20, but I would be really grossed out and would go wash my face immediately afterwards. Even when I get an itch on my face I use my shirt or something to scratch it. If I'm in class I might use my pen or pencil.
It's definitely a weird phobia to have. Only a few people know this about me. Mainly close friends and family members. It's kind of funny. So funny to the point that some people mess with me about it and I can't say I blame them. My mom, for example, will sometimes act like she is going to wipe my face with her hand because she knows it bothers me. I can't say that it's noticeable, unless I'm scratching my face with my shirt or something. No one has ever called me out on it that I can remember. I believe I will probably always be this way. It's weird because I make it sound like a serious condition, but I guess it's a good problem to have, to a certain extent.
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I was just resting my face in the palm of my hand, sitting at a desk reading your blog and when I read "By that he meant resting my chin in the palm of my hand..." I immediately sat up and put my hand away from my face, haha
ReplyDeleteI like the way you've gone through the process of your.. acne solution turned mild phobia; very interesting