The condition in the DSM-V is called Neurotic Excoriation...formally known as Dermotillomania. It is a lesser known disorder than trichtotillomania but in my opinion it is actually more common than hair pulling. I have struggled with obsessive skin picking since I was 8 years old (20 years). In the summer I pick a lot at my legs and arms but the really troublesome spot for me is my scalp which I pick at all year long. I will spend many hours a day doing nothing but picking at my scalp. I usually end up getting bald spots when I'm going through a phase of especially excessive picking. Anyway, I quoted you because I have the same problem with my nails. My former therapist wanted me to cut my nails to prevent the picking...and when I showed her my newly trimmed nails she said "those aren't very short" and I'm like "Umm...they won't get any shorter than that." So cutting my nails doesn't help at all either. Since I mostly struggle with scalp picking, I've been coached into wearing hats around the house. It also helps me to fix my hair nicely so that I don't want to pick because picking would mess up my hair. I get a lot of headaches from picking because I guess I kind of scrunch up my forehead when I'm trying to pick off a scab.

Right now, I'm not currently in a phase of scalp-picking. Lately I've been picking at my legs a lot. It started out I had a bunch of mosquito bites on my legs and I scratched them so hard that I had scabs all over my legs. But then I just kept picking at the scabs. I also pick at ingrown hairs.

I have been told to wear gloves, also. I haven't tried it yet though. I've also been told to find something, anything really distracting. But that doesn't help me much because I will pick while I'm doing just about anything. The only thing I've noticed that helps me is something that keeps my hands totally busy. Like crocheting or doing art (not writing though...I can still pick while I'm writing because I take a lot of pauses). My current therapist has told me to use fidget toys. It's kind of helpful but you have to really want to not pick....whereas I am always torn between wanting to pick and not wanting to pick because I get a lot of pleasure out of it but it also wastes a lot of my day away.