Naked and dripping blood

[rachelmanija]

I have bad skin. It's naturally very oily, so I have acne (I took the dangerous supposed miracle drug Accutane TWICE, and it only worked as long as I kept taking it, and then the dermatologist lost my file) but if I apply anything to treat the acne, it gets so dry that bits peel off. Also, I bite my fingernails.

I say all this not to totally gross you all out, but to explain how it could have happened that, while driving along yesterday to do some errands, I rubbed at an itch on my throat, and withdrew my fingers covered in blood. And also to explain why I didn't think OMIGOD I've been attacked by an invisible vampire THE SUN THE SUN IT BURNS! I immediately knew what had happened: I must have scratched some blemish and caught a bit of skin on a sharp fingernail.

However, knowing what was going on did not eliminate the problem. I grabbed a piece of paper and attempted to clean up, but I had no tissues and a page from a MapQuest print-out is not ideal for cleaning up liquid biohazards. Soon the paper looked like I had murdered someone on top of it. When I pulled into the post office parking lot, I looked in the rear-view mirror, and saw that I had just smeared what I'm sure was actually a very small quantity of blood all over, so I now looked like someone had attempted to slit my throat. If I walked into the post office like that, someone would usher me into a chair while someone else called the cops.

More MapQuest paper and a small amount of Gatorade (which I had in the front seat anyway) later, I skulked into the post-office, chin tucked. No one said anything, though I fancied I got a funny look. Upon examing myself when I returned to the car, I saw that I had the classic vampire presentation: a single line of blood down the throat. And not being a guy, I could not even explain that I cut myself shaving.

More MapQuest and Gatorade, and another spot-check at the library parking lot showed that I had finally triumphed: only a teeny speck of blood at the scratch-site remained. Whew. Guess I'm not hemophiliac after all.

Does this sort of thing ever happen to anyone else, or is this yet another "Only to Rachel" situation?

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

It's happened to me. And on my forehead, no less.

[sorlklewis.livejournal.com]

And that me would be me, who is too stupid to remember to log-in.

[copperwise.livejournal.com]

I don't heal very well. So a bite or a blemish or a cat scratch (I have dozens of accidental cat scratches at any one time) gets a scab, but then itches, and I barely touch it and suddenly it's gushing blood. Very annoying.

[umbo.livejournal.com]

Definitely not an "Only to Rachel" situation :-)

[fiveandfour.livejournal.com]

Yes. I have a less accute case of the skin problems you describe, though my neck is particularly sensitive so I've had to train myself not to scratch there in order to avoid red marks that last for hours. One day I unconsciously scratched, then noticed it continuing to itch. I gritted my teeth and resisted the urge to scratch further. Thus it turned out that my original scratch had started a flow of blood and in my resistance to scratch further I failed to notice what was happening. About 10 minutes in to my mental contest with myself, my husband asked me what I had done...I gave him a confused "what are you talking about?" look and he told me with exasperation that I was bleeding everywhere. In all that time the bleeding hadn't stopped. About 5 minutes of applying pressure with tissues worked the trick, though, and eventually I was able to clean it up and find the tiny, tiny source of all of that blood. It's amazing how the tiniest prick on the neck leads to such a large loss of blood. (And now I'm feeling woozy from thinking about blood, so I'm going to go lay down.)

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

I don't bleed that much, but I'll scratch an itch and then discover randomly much later that I have either a large bruise or a set of nearly-healed surface scratches as of brambles from my own fingernails, which really aren't sharp, dammit.

My father once scratched a bug bite on his leg and hit an artery and had to be rushed to the hospital. I would like to emphasize that he has very, very high blood pressure and very, very bad skin, mind you.

why didn't Seventeen magazine ever tell me how to not MAIM myself?

[octopedingenue]

So not the only one. I started biting my nails in fifth grade to stop from pulling out all my own hair (I cope with stress well!), so my fingers have been ragged bloody stumps half my life. Then this summer I was going to Be A Grown-up and stop biting my nails and it worked and I've been so proud! Only now I have to learn to deal with quarter-inch-long spikes on the end of my fingers. I'll scratch my shoulder absently and then wonder five minutes later why my arm is covered in blood. And I wear contact lenses, so the putting in / taking out process that used to take me thirty seconds without even looking is now an elaborate ritual, in front of a mirror, of trying not to stab myself in the eyes.

I think I'm going to start biting my nails again.

Re: why didn't Seventeen magazine ever tell me how to not MAIM myself?

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Start playing disc golf or ultimate or some other sport that encourages you to cut your fingernails weekly?

Re: why didn't Seventeen magazine ever tell me how to not MAIM myself?

[octopedingenue]

Cutting them takes all the fun out of growing and/or biting them.

[arielstarshadow.livejournal.com]

I will toss out a suggestion for you. This is not a quick fix. None of the usual stuff ever worked on my breakouts - I refused to try Accutane because of the risks and side effects.

However, I started using Wellskin Toner on my face in my mid-20s - this is not an acne treatment. Rather, it's an alpha-hydroxy solution.

Twice a day - I don't use cotton balls (they absorb too much, which means less of the liquid actually gets spread on your face), I use the "white puffs" at Walgreens (which is scary because I note that their white puffs seem to have made the shift to cotton which is not a good thing) - morning before putting on markeup, and at night right before bed.

It took....I want to say eight months? a year? before I really started noticing the difference. It's gotten better ever since. I still have the occasional pimple, but it's nothing like it used to be.

You can find Wellskin toner at Medi-Spa.com for $15.95 a bottle. It certainly can't hurt to give it a try.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll try it.

[janni.livejournal.com]

I'm constantly scratching at bug bites and the like (I'm something of a mosquito magnet, and have generally itchy skin besides), so discovering I'm bleeding is a not-uncommon occurrence.

Weirds out the portion of the population that seems to manage to get through life without hardly bleeding at all, though.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Ever watch MythBusters? There's a story about a woman who did grocery shopping and then, while driving home, heard a gunshot and an impact on the back of her head. She reached back and felt her brains dribbling out.

When the EMTs reached her, they found her clutching some dough to her hair. See, the groceries had sat in the sun long enough that a paper can of dough exploded.

[octopedingenue]

MythBusters said it was an urban legend, right?

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

I don't remember. Since Snopes said it apparently never happened, they probably did say it was an urban legend. They did manage to eventually make some cans explode, but I forget if that required an unlikely amount of time and heat. Probably.

[si1verr.livejournal.com]

Finally lifting my head off the desk after several minutes of giggling. Schadenfreude, to be sure, but you improved my day 100%. Thank you thank you, thank you for sharing.

And to answer your question: No, you're not alone. But you DO give dorkiness an adorable twist. Don't ever change.

P.S. No meds ever worked for me without unacceptable side effects. What did/does work was lathering my face with a liquid soap for sensitive skin, then using a very clean washcloth spread over my hands to scoop up warm water and rub (exfoliating) - the way you'd splash water on your face with both hands, only with a washcloth in the way.

[hokelore.livejournal.com]

Say that you cut yourself shaving anyway. Make 'em wonder.

[larryhammer]

That was going to be my suggestion.

---L.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I once sneezed during a test in French in highschool and my nose started bleeding and I had to go to the nurse's office because it wouldn't stop. :) Took about 20-30 minutes, and it didn't help that the 8th grade class (er, this was an 8th and 9th grade school) were getting eye tests so everyone stared at me because they didn't have curtains around the beds, and this was also the school my mother taught at, so she fluttered down and made worried noises at me the whole time.

And then the first time I gave blood it started bleeding again shortly after when we were in the area where you sit down and eat cookies and drink orange juice, and I was the only person in the area not panicking. That took a long time to stop, too, and the nurse who came and sat with me got saline solution and used that to get the GIANT BLOOD SPOT out of my shirt, saying it's a nurse's trick. And I got a lovely enormous bruise out of it. :D Didn't happen the next two time I gave blood, and after that the Red Cross decided they didn't want my blood since I'd been over 3 months in England during a certain window, so they think I might have mad cow.

Moo.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

* And as a kid, especially in Africa, my legs were always solid with bug bites and bug bite scars. Bleeding and itching were just par for the course.

[kate_nepveu]

Weirdly, this hasn't happened to me--it's weird because I often find bruises that I don't remember acquiring, and welt at the slightest provocation, and puff up immensely with mosquito bites. I guess with all that, bleeding randomly would be the proverbial straw.

[mroctober.livejournal.com]

My skin is just like yours...

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Mine too. And I have rosacea and eczema. And yeah, I knock scabs off my face all the time.

This can only end in leprosy. :-P

[mroctober.livejournal.com]

Shall I buy white robes and bells for us all?

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

LEPER OUTCAST UNCLEAN!

(Write that five hundred times, interspersed with a bit of story, and you too could have a national bestseller.)

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

You need some clenching.

[sapphsmum.livejournal.com]

No, it's not an only Rachel problem.

I've never had acne problems (one thing I was spared) but Jill was having troubles and I had her switch from expensive cleaning products which were not working to just plain cheap witch hazel. Her face is clearing up and having less breakouts.

Christina

[canandagirl.livejournal.com]

Classic story, Rachel!

Na, it's not just you. I break out too, but what's really annoying for me is that I didn't start breaking out until I was in my 20s. Very annoying. I also have dry skin, so most acne-style cleaning products, which just dry out the skin, just doesn't work for me. The worst is on my back. If I don't realize I have a blemish there, I might scratch my back and wonder why I have gobs of blood and pus on my fingers, which is followed by the thought, "Oh God, I'm wearing white, aren't I?"

Definitely not alone.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, acne on my back. I have a number of shirts with blood stains on the back and towels with blood stains.

[canandagirl.livejournal.com]

Such a fashion statement, isn't it?

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Heh. At least my hay fever is not as bad as when I was little. I used to have lots of nose bleeds. I wonder if any of the blood stained pillow-cases are still around? 'Course, back then, I didn't have acne.

[canandagirl.livejournal.com]

I grew up in a climate that was very cold and dry, I'd get a ton of nose bleeds, and then since the air was so dry, my nose would bled at the slightest provocation. God forbid I should sneeze, and then it would take forever to stop.

But at least I didn't have acne back then either.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Not alone.

(I also learned early that no matter what time of the month I thought it was, never ever to wear white pants on a date. Evah. Anywhere else, not a prob. Date? Hoo.)

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

That sort of thing happens to me, up until the point where I smear it all over so that I look like I've had my throat cut.

One thing that really helps my acne (and really surprised me that it does), was to use really good face moisturizer (I use L'Occitane now, but Oil of Olay worked, too). I guess that having healthy skin trumps greasy skin.