Does anyone else pick the bits of skin off the side of their fingernails and pull and fiddle at them until they rip down in a satisfying and bloody mess?

[FrannyandZooey]

and could you kindly suggest to me that I STOP DOING IT as I fear I may lose a finger or two at this rate

I have no idea why I am indulging this bad habit so much this week. I have 3 on the go and it ruddy hurts tbh

it's not so bad as soon as you have done it, but the next day when you wake up and it is all swollen

apologies to the squeamish btw
thank god for 'hide this thread'

yes you can only really get a good purchase with your teeth MamaG

of course you have to eat it, you couldn't leave it lying around for someone to FIND

i do it when i'm stressed. i've noticed my dad does it too

do you mean the bit right next to the nail?

i do this BUT if its not all come off and gone hard i have been known to get eth tweezers out in my defence there is less blood that way!!!

yes, and feet, though not so much these days as I can't touch them without wheezing and needing a lie down and a nice big pie

DH does this. this week, it got a bit infected and he had a big sore sticky out bit on his thumb, absolutely full of pus underneath. So he pricked it with a pin.

Then it got worse.

Took three days to get rid of the mess.

Greeny I once got taken to the doctors by my mother to see why my entire face had swelled up

I had chewed all the skin off the inside of my cheek - god it hurts

ah feet
I do pick at the horrible dead skin on my heels
though there is that horrible feeling when you realise you have pulled too much off and it's all raw underneath

I used to do this, I think it is just a tiny bit better than nail biting. How I cured it was by carrying a nail clipper AT ALL TIMES, and as soon as a little bit looked tempting I'd clip it off trying not to go too far or it will bleed. And slather LOTS of vaseline on ynails regularly,

The inside of the corners of my mouth (are you with me?) is now two almost perfectlyh round blobs of scar tissue due to biting them. They are VERY satisfying to bite even now!

HC I am ashamed
can we clear the thread now? Only nail pickers, foot strippers and cheek biters allowed to remain in our shame

I too bite the skin off, chew it and then swallow it. I'm ashamed to say its now progressed from just the sides of my nails, to the inside of my fingers (where the knuckles are)

oh my heavens yes nibbling chewing ferreting yanking bleeding pain infection pus antiseptic plasters

except if wearing nail varnish

AAAARGH
stop posting on this thread!!!!
I can't help but click an I am feeling more than a little nauseous

oh god you lot are FREAKS

cheek shredding..wtf??!!!

feet...VOM

and i thought I was wierd!

We could do new thread

3/3 CLUB - ALL WELCOME

The aim is to bite your fingers/feet and/or cheeks, aim for 3 times a day in all 3 places

i used to bite my top lip until it bled but it felt nice when it got all scabby. ew

I am terrible for the self destruction of my fingers (and nails). DH is always telling me off for it.

Distraction is the key - I do find that having something to replace the picking/biting helps, so I have a nail file that I use every time I find myself biting my nails, and one of those cuticle type pen thingys that I put on my fingers when I notice I am picking at them etc.

I am currently going through a bad patch with my fingers - am thoroughly ashamed of the state of them.

oh dear I am a cheek biter too
there is usually a ridge or 2 of bitten skin in my mouth. If you do it right it doesn't hurt though...

also footpicker involving the same except the infection biting and pus

nobody in rl knows the footpicking bit
this is cathartic

Peaches tell IN DETAIL what happened to dh
when you say it got worse what do you mean? was amputation involved? i need scare tactics to stop this madness

Message withdrawn

I also have hundreds of scabs/holes/sores/scars on my arms and legs, which is why I always wear long sleeves - I dig out the little lumpy bits and then get carried away and end up gauging holes and bleeding everywhere

I am a fucking weirdo

but at least I don't neck bottles of cheap whisky and burn myself to the bone with cigarettes any more

Ok seeing as there more than one of us that do this....I also pick the skin off my heels and toes and also eat that

Foot skin is much nicer than finger skin, its far more chewy and lasts longer

franny i got a huge infection under one of my fingernails
testing too hot bath water it burst

be afraid be very afraid

until recently finger skin was quite a high proportion of my diet

perhaps that's why i only concentrate on my thumbs now greensleves