Are you a compulsive skin picker?

I not only pick at myself, but at my bf too. He gets quite annoyed by it, but I can't seem to help it, just seeing a spot or something bugs me and it has to go.. Annoys me too sometimes.

Getting rid of ingrown hairs by picking, isn't a good idea and i know that but i still do it! The best way to go about it is to put a hot cloth/spoon/anything hot on the ingrown hair and draw out the pus and open up the pore that the hair is stuck in. That saves scarring and makes it much less painful

I have a lot of the compulsions that have been mentioned in this thread.

Lately I have been focused on the scalp, nose (external), forehead and chin. I pick at my scalp while I'm at work and in the car going back and forth from work, looking for any irregularity on my scalp.

At night I usually spend about 15 minutes in front of the mirror examining my face for any blemishes and picking at them. The skin on my chin looks very mottled when examined close up in the mirror. If I squeeze the mottled area sharply, there is usually a little burst of puss that comes out. I can't tell you how satisfying it feels to be rid of that miniscule bit of puss. However, because the skin is broken when I do this, it leaves a blemish and a scab, which I then routinely pick off several times, thereby delaying the healing process.

I also bite my cuticles and keep my nails trimmed extremely short because I don't like getting dirt or anything underneath them.

Like other people on this thread, I also dig at ingrown hairs. In my case, they are always under my arms and there is nothing more satisfying to me than to dig one out then shave it off.

I never thought any of this was much of a problem except for the fact that, at 46, I look like I still have acne, my scalp hurts and my cuticles are a mess. I guess it's more of a problem than I thought.

I pick the skin off my feet. sometimes my face. There is a name for what we have.

Is it BDD? Sorry, not sure, so many people feel alone, like the only one.

When reading this, it makes me think how important it is to wash my hands and use a nail brush. No, I don't do it compulsively (yet lol) but with all the talk of the 'this' flu and the 'that' flu, handwashing is sounding more and more imperative.

I wash regularly and at all the right times and use lotion for my hands and for my arms (still scratching my arms though). But sort of have made it known to my T in the last 6 months or so that I do this scratching. It appears some of it started in early childhood as someone earlier mentioned. I also observe children biting the nails and toes on occasion and go what the ? Why so stressed at such a young age? Dang.











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Hunny, what is BDD?

Compulsive skin picking is also known as Dermatillomania.

BDD is body dysmorphic disorder (extreme imagined ugliness).. sometimes people with compulsive skin-picking have BDD, like they imagine everyone notices all of their clogged pores, so they must clear all of their clogged pores.

I pick my skin.. it's not really for the satisfaction exactly. It just drives me crazy when the surface of my skin is uneven. I know it just makes it worse to pick it but I feel like I have to make it even. Dermotillomania is associated with OCD, especially when it's that feeling (unevenness drives you crazy) that causes you to pick. I also start to scratch an itch on my leg, and then I can't stop -- even after the itch is gone, I feel like I have to keep scratching and I'm not sure why. Then, I ruin the skin and I get scabs. Then, I pick the scabs because the unevenness drives me crazy. I don't ever wear shorts and I live in FL.. It's embarrassing and I wish I would stop.

i pick my face and arms. my arms are realy bad. i have scares all over it and ppl always get mad at me and ask why i do it. i tell them because they are boring me and i need something to do. really im nervous or my brain is over working. i also like when they get infected. i norm with dork with them until they bleed and dork more until they stop bleeding. then scab up and start over. but its really bad for me have one on my arm that is almost the size of a dime. so yea i could see it has self harm

Since I've been on Geodon (for schizoaffective disorder) my compulsive skin picking has diminished dramatically. I do pick once in a while, but nothing like I was doing before.

(((fellow pickers)))

I developed a bad case of adult acne a few years back, and along with it came a bad picking habit. Every time a new bump formed, I would go above and beyond to make it go away...which of course made it just stay longer.

In my search for a cure, I found a website that specifically addresses skin picking.

http://www.stoppickingonme.com/index.php

It has an 'online' course you can follow, that teaches you what picking does, and even addresses emotional issues that go along with it. It *might* be triggering, but if you want to address the skin picking, it is a really great resource.

(I am proud to say that I rarely pick now, and with changes in my diet, skin-care and emotional healing the acne is healing on its own.)

I don't know about on my face, but the skin around my nails and on my fingers is always bleeding... I usually bite my skin to the point where it bleeds, kind of my alternative to biting nails really. Just something to do =)

I have been having a lot of skin problems. I have been to 4 doctors and have had 2 biopsies and everything. I have had about 5 rounds of antibiotics. Now that they cannot find anything wrong, they are saying it is mental.. My skin is always itching and I have small sores where I have been scratching. I guess it is my "nerves"

I've been picking at "imperfections" in my skin since I was eight or nine, and I am now 22. Come by it honestly, though-- my mother used to do it to me, and now it's... well, awful. I have minor scarring on my face, chest, and legs... and my arms are covered in little red and white spots, and of course, hundreds and hundreds of scabs.

Unfortunately, a few years ago I tried to take matters into my own hands, and only made things worse: I found out that trichotillomania has a higher success rate of treatment, and so tried to switch from picking on my arms to pulling out arm hairs. Yeah... we can all imagine how well that turned out: ingrown hairs. Once, I tweezed all the hairs on my left leg, which of course caused ingrown hairs that I delighted in tearing out. Hair-pulling now is limited to my eyebrows, and to certain "wrong" hairs on my arms and legs.

The worst part for me is that when I'm consciously working on a "difficult" blemish, I chant inside my heads about "getting the intruders out." I know it's ridiculous, insane, and not true, but I can't help telling myself that inside those zits... are aliens or some sort of device to track me, and I cannot allow them to remain.

It's awful and I try to stop, but the only thing that works is to be constantly busy-- I even do it during class (with other people watching! I can't make myself care), so I take notes obsessively, always with my hands occupied. Having depression doesn't make staying active particularly easy, though...

Frequently I tell myself, "okay, only five more, and then you HAVE to stop," but another hour will go by, and I will only cease when my neck or fingers start to ache.
Well, anyway. I can't say that it's nice to know there are more of me, for your sakes, but I guess it's somewhat comforting.

A friend of mine started gluing glue dots on paper, letting those dry and them picking them off instead. might work...

Mine is that I chew the insides of my mouth until smooth (or bleeding). Which I am doing even as i type this. I found today that one area already has scar tissue.

i pick all the time, i wasnt aware it could be something more than just picking, sometimes i pick the skin off my hands, dont ask how, i just manage it. it doesnt hurt, but im addicted to it.

I had not done this since I was around 16 or 17 years old... now at the age of 35 I've started again... with what? - ripping off skin under my feet... just can't stop once I get started... lots of pain... bleeding...

I've always been picking on wounds/sores... (much more the last 6 months)



/daynnight

I looked down at my arms again yesterday, oh no...for me it seems it's also about punishment...it's a long story but with this latest episode, it is clear there is a stress/nervous/better smarten up/ thingie going on. ...just another way...not perfect...a little ugly and get it over with type thinking but this time there is no memory of doing it to the arms...I always keep track, sort of, controlled obsession.






H.