Skin picking

[Penguinwaddler]

I've recently gone through a separation and have fallen into bad habits - one of them is skin picking. My scalp is so sore but I can't stop picking at the scabs. I'm not too sure what to do to stop this, has anyone else been through something similar?

sorry for slow reply. I pick skin around nails as well though less often than I used to and most often on my thumbs for some reason.

@rainbowninja I agree there's an OCD connection. I suppose the picking itself is a(n. obsessive) compulsion too. I do have OCD tendencies, some of which are: I feel a strong urge to do something right away that could wait until later/another day and isn't the best use of my time! Checking and rechecking things. Feeling most comfortable to use a certain method or route.

I also do this, diagnosed with adhd earlier this year.

I'll pick at my face, like a pp I also have scars on my face now. Not too noticeable until it's sunny and they turn red.

I pick at anything tbh. The smallest imperfection no matter where it is on my body. I actually like when I get an infection as it gives me something to squeeze (sorry 🤢) I wish so much that I could stop, I'm making such a mess of myself.

After having builder gel applied I have bought my own kit. Better than other polygel/acrylics I've had but still slightly damaging.

I also was diagnosed with ADHD and struggle to not pick at anything. I have a love/hate relationship with pointy tweezers and ingrowing hairs!

I've put on "silicone finger covers" on tonight as I know sitting alone watching TV is a danger time for me, and I've already picked too much last night and this morning! 😔 Wish I could kick this.

January is a harder time for MH though I suppose. Hope anyone reading is doing ok.

HelloMist

Sending hugs, you're not alone. I started using my psoriasis cream again over Christmas, just the Double Base. Lathered it over my face at bedtime and if I haven't needed to go out anywhere. Just constantly reapplied it. It doesn't help stop the actual skin picking but it definitely "softened up" the dry areas I was picking at on my face. It has definitely helped heal my skin and take away the tempting rough patches and scabby ends.

It's by no means a miracle cure for the root cause but it has helped take away the areas I was attacking. Hopefully something similar would help you? Even over-the-counter E45 or similar?

Hi all, glad this thread is still going. I’m feeling a bit defeated and at the point of signing up for some therapy. Has anyone had habit reversal training? I found a therapy service where they specifically mention skin picking and that just never happens. Got to the point of filling out an online enquiry form and bailed 🤦🏻‍♀️

Still picking here too. Mostly scalp which is the one I really want to stop. My hair is the worst state ever due to bald patches and constant tugging at my hair making massive knots I have to cut out. My mental health got really bad in December and I didn't wash my hair for a week which has worsened the problem. I've started antidepressants yet again to see if they will help.

I've decided I need to leave my scalp alone and worry about the rest of my body later. I'm still working on it...

It's no good on your scalp unless you want to scalp yourself but on body scabs compeed blister plasters help and stay on for days. Gives them a chance to heal. I keep them in until they fall off themselves.

I have been driving myself crackers with this today
I literally can not keep my hands away from my face

I am late 50s but started picking as a teen. I am very different from you all though in that this is not a habit i would ever want to kick! It has been a life saver to me. I dont drink or smoke so i think this is a less harmful habit.

My teens of course were dominated by trying to stop and i had huge infected spots and scarring mainly on my arms and legs. My forehead was a mess too but i kept it covered with a fringe.

I could stop for one or two days at most but then id be bursting and have a megga long pick. I have never picked my scalp though apart from forehead.

I usually have an area of primary focus and over the years it has got smaller. When i was about 15, i decided to stop picking my legs.

This was possible somehow as i moved all my picking to my arms. To this day, i can have a spot on my leg and feel no urge to pick. It is soooo weird.

In my early 20s, i decided to stop fighting the urge. Best decision ever.i picked when i wanted. I just picked the tops of my arms down to t shirt sleeve level by my 20s. My face which could be made up over. My chest. Not too much there but i don't think there is a single area of my body i can reach that i have not picked!

I enjoy it so much and it is a great stess reliever.

So - how does my skin look after 45 yrs picking you might well wonder?!

Surprisingly, not as awful as you might think. At the moment i do have one bad one on my cheek though! You know those indenting blackheads? I have had one there for years and empty it from time to time but for some reason i decided to pick it right down and see if i could remove the root of it.

And i can't! So i will need to leave it now to heal.

My picking decreased a lot when i was very busy with my kids (i have 5, now grown up)

And it increases if i am bored which i rarely am. Or if i feel a spot i have to go to it asap.

I also tend to have a good pick if staying at a travelodge or premier as their bathroom mirrors are so bright!!

I did read somewhere that most of us spot pickers dont want to be cured so i don't think i am alone in this. I have much fewer juicier spots now i am older!

omg im so glad i found this thread, for so long i thought i was just a freak

my hands are disgusting, i constantly have to make up excuses for why my thumbs are red and bleeding. I took socks to the cinema the other day because i knew if i didnt then id come out of the film with raw hands

I last posted on here under a different username in 2022. Well for the first time in my life I have clear skin and don't pick. I can't recommend my methods but it's been a mixture of vaping (to provide the sensory aspect and give my hands something to do) gel nails to reduce my ability to pick, adhd meds and light therapy to stop the sores initially (I'm now using a sunbed as therapy has finished and the spots started coming back). It's not the healthiest of solutions but my mental health is so much better and the risk to my health from the complications of infected skin is the lowest it's ever been. (I've previously been hospitalised on numerous occasions)

I hope everyone is doing well!

I forced myself to stop picking my scalp but it was so difficult.
Whenever I went to the hairdressers I had to explain to them my scabby scalp which was a bit miserable, and I think people began to notice I was picking my head when I was out in public.

Unfortunately bad habits have crept back and I now pick the skin in my ears - so gross!

Mine is triggered by anxiety but I suppose picking is a bit of an OCD linked compulsion.

Hopefully people on this thread have found some relief 💓

@Penguinwaddler I was sat picking at work today and i really need to stop coz it's gross
I've also recently started on inside my ear

@fedup078 horrible isn't it! How strange that we've got the same picking area with our ears. It's so satisfying though isn't it , but I think mine are beginning to feel a bit sore now

@Penguinwaddler
Mine js so sore
I don't even know what I'm picking at
But now it's raw and very scabby , which makes more to pick at , and so it continues

I’ve bought loads of thumb stones to rub instead of my face! It’s working a bit, I’m pleased to say. Glad others are having some success. It’s definitely an anxiety thing for me too.

@fedup078 sorry that you're so sore :( it's awful when it gets scabby, as it's even more tempting to pick isn't it. Has anything helped you at all?

@BigGreen yay for the thumb stones working! Although I must admit I don't know what they are??

My scalp is bad, very bad, currently. Not the worst it's ever been when I was half bald but still bad. I desperately want to stop

Me too. My hair is getting thinner by the day but I still can’t stop. It is a stress relief for me but so destructive

Thumb stones are just polished oval stones with a dent in them, haaa, I’m trying to rub them every time I feel anxious instead of my top lip. I wouldn’t say it’s worked totally but it’s definitely helped a bit. I just don’t even realise I’m doing it half the time(!)

@YouLookinSusBro oh no I'm so sorry :( that's positive that it isn't as bad as it has been, but I know it's a slippery slope. Has anything in the past worked for you?

@BigGreen they sound great! Sort of similar to fidget toys I guess? So pleased it works for you.

Skin picking (and other subconscious habits) respond very well to hypnosis as they are almost always a self-soothing mechanism that started in a time when you had no agency over what was happening in your life so you turned to the one thing you could control; your own body.

Another skin picker/hair puller here.

I saw someone mention finger covers. Never heard of these. Can anyone recommend any?

Solidarity with you all. It's an awful compulsion 😞