Skin-picking. OCD? Desperate to stop

[DontCallMeMummyPig]

I am desperate to stop this vile habit. I've been picking the skin from my thumbs and some of my fingers for the past 20 or so years. I pick and pick until it bleeds. Then I pick some more. I do it when I'm stressed, watching tv, working, concentrating, driving - all the time. I try to stop but I can't. It hurts and it looks disgusting. I'm convinced it's something to do with OCD linked to my reaction to the death of my sister about 15 years ago. Maybe it's manifested itself in this way. I had one counselling session but cancelled further ones because I don't think my counsellor took the problem seriously. I'm embarrassed of my hands but I can't stop. Does anyone else do this? How did you stop? Do I need help?

I have a similar problem, I chew and pick at the skin around my fingers all the time. I do have OCD but I don't link it to that as it's more of a habit for me than the usual OCD thought processes that I'm used to. On and off I have had it under control, simply by taking it out of the equation for a while by consantly putting plasters on my fingers so I can't get to them, or using that horrid tasting stuff used to deter nail biters. Once the circle of doing it is broken it's easier to quit as I do it quite absent mindedly sometimes but it can take a while and I often start up again when I'm stressed. I used to do the same to my lips when they got dry and cracked but I managed to quit that so there is hope!
If you feel it is more than just a habit then yes you should seek help and your counsellor should have taken it seriously as my Dr used to refer to it as a self harm method all be it a lot less intentional than say a cut or a burn but the theory is still that under times of stress I was turning to pain as a control.

So in a nutshell try some quitting tactics and question your motives to yourself.

Have you tried taking the supplement inositol? It is supposed to be very good for OCD. Have a look here; www.revolutionhealth.com/drugs-treatments/rating/inositol-for-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd

It needs to be taken in quite high dosages though. Hope you get some relief whatever you try!

I do it too, i currently have 2 bleeding fingers, I have no idea why I do it or why I started. I do it more when my nails are long so I keep them as short as possible. I have tried to stop but as I do it sub consciously its very hard.

I don't think I have OCD and just think of it as a bad habit like biting your nails or similar, but I do wih I could stop as my hands are a mess.

It does have a name, and I know a lot of people who do this.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermatillomania

For me I pick at my scalp. It relieves my tension and isn't visible.
I hate myself for it and am so embarrassed when I go to the hairdressers. I have probably over 15 wounds at the mo.
I am on ADs which help, but unfortunately it's become a habit, especially when I run my fingers through my hair. Am trying hard to break it, but did feel some relief that I when I realised I wasn't alone!

I do this sometimes, used to do it badly when stressed out until realised it was actually skin picking and people were really noticing. I ended up downloading a self hypnosis track about it and playing it every night for a while, just to try and switch the habit into something more positive. it didn't work overnight but it did work, and when i caught myself picking I told myself to stop and played wiht a ring I was wearing instead. Couple of months on and my skin actually looked pretty healthy. I'm not saying I never do it at all now, but it's nowhere near so noticeable.

Um are you all me? I have done this for years. Distraction helps me. (if I knit or puzzle I can't chew too!) I try and use hand cream as I seem to do it more if my hands are dry. I tend to wear at least clear nail polish as that deters me from making my hands look horrid.
Sorry to hear of your sad loss. Perhaps you need to find a counsellor who you feels does take you seriously. It is a form of self harm I suppose.

Thanks all of you. It really helps to hear I'm not the only one with this problem. My thumbs are agony right now, picked to bits and bleeding. Off to put plasters on them before it gets even worse.

Now in my early 40s I remember in my school days my fingers being so painful from regularly biting the skin around the nails that I often could not write properly. Since then I have continued to do this to varying degrees, resulting in horrible looking cuticles and splits in the skin around the nails that would cause agony when submerged in hot water. Stangly I have never bitten my nails.

I have a tendancy to seek out the dry, healing skin on my fingers and pick at it. In the past 10 years I have carried nail clippers with me constantly. They come in handy as a parent for attending to my kids' broken nails when out and about, and that is the reason I give when people see me using them in a park, at the shop or on the bus. Really it is to be able to remove the dry skin on my finger and in turn reduce the likelyhood of my finding the torn skin between my teeth after I have subconciously ripped it from my finger end!

I used to adopt a system of scoring each finger between 1 and 10, 10 being a perfectly healed finger end and 1 being a painfully damaged finger end. I would be pleased with myself when I bagan to score 8s followed by 9s, and I remeber once making 10s all round, but it did not last.

Last week however, while sitting in the car, waiting for the kids to come out of the motorway services, I sat admiring how well I seemed to have done recently in leaving the fingers alone when I decided to take a photo of my finger ends on my iPhone. A couple of days later I did the same again and have got imense satisfaction from comparing the pictires in closeup on the computer and seeing how the damage is slowly healing, and more importantly has not been made worse by me.

Today, I have been busy writing a report and while reading it back to myself have found myself rubbing my finger ends together, seeking out a piece of skin to fiddle with. When this has happened I have remembered the pictures and have looked forward to the time when I can study picture and award each finger a perfect 10! I should think that this should only take a couple of weeks when I consider how quickly a cut or graze to any other part of the body can heal.

I think this stratergy is going to work for me this time. I need to do all I can to help me kick the habit.

Good luck to you all in overcoming this painful and embarrasing problem.

First time on this sub-forum (strangely, given my nickname and the reason I joined mn in the first place), and spotted this thread. You are all me. I am in my 40s and have picked the skin on my fingers (starting at the nails, and then working up) as long as I can remember. I'm sure in my case it's stress related. Particularly aware of it today as I'd got a couple of fingers with big cracks in last night which were painful enough to cause me problems with sleeping.

Had been a lot better for a while, but then started again badly in the last few days - I have other more significant mental issues which have been gradually building on me. Like others, I often keep a track of how many fingers are OK - was up to 8 a few days ago, but now only 3, and a couple much worse than normal.

I have to admit it's something I've always tried to ignore - often embarrassing, but I try to hide my hands when it's really bad - so haven't ever tried anything active to sort it out. Thanks for the suggestions on ways to crack it - maybe something to work on when other issues don't seem quite so pressing (I have an appointment with a therapist tomorrow, but so many more important things to talk about).