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 me me me

also pick at skin on thumb which is madness as it gets worse and worse (always gets knackered from thumb rest on clarinet/saxophone and when I'm playing every night like at the moment, gets really sore)

feet too

but can I stop? NO

Can I join the picky club? I confess to fingers and thumbs down to the first knuckle, my bottom lip and my left heel and the tips of my toes where I get hard skin from running

Cannot imagine the pain from stripping the insides of cheeks though!

Fingers - YES

Cheeks & strip on bottom of front lip - YES

And those outside bits of eyelashes - YES YES

Really need to stop all of these - nice to know i'm not alone

Greetings fellow pickers.

As well as the finger thing, I pick down the side of my little toenail, and get a stringy bit that has to be pulled out. Sometimes I resort to tweezers.

No amount of 3a.m. regret (when it's throbbing in agony)is enough to dissuade me from having another go when it's grown back.

I feel better now. Thanks for sharing everyone.

maybe we're like monkeys and miss picking each other

oh god, though, it's BLISS then you get a good one going. i think it's just a leetle bit of self-harm, nothing to worry about. obviously i'd prefer not to be a freak but i have noticed a lot of my favourite posters on here so there is some merit in freakery.

Now, as it happens i saw a letter to the Barefoot Doctor about this. he said it was due to, er, an imbalance of kidney chi. he said that a lot, the lecherous old fraud.

I meant to say middle of bottom lip - front to back!

(doesn't make it any better Joss)

I AM A SUFFERER, I AM NOT ON MY OWN, YEE HA!
my left index is throbbing as we speak, cant go near it again tonight. i also pull dd little ones off.

I once did DHs when a bit of skin was hanging off.

He was DP at the time - the amount he howled i'm surprised he married me actually .

Thumbs - check

Little toenails - check

Bottom lip - check

My name is Rip and I'm a picker

Ohhh, and it's YOU Franny - Keep turning up on your threads!

I do my thumbs. They look all red and burnt. Couldn't even stop in prep for my wedding . Constant absent-minded picking, was even doing it when I opened the thread... Although think I am slightly better now... maybe. Not so much red raw skin.

Lol at this thread cos i have been doing this all my life!

I never bite my nails and in fact they they are usually manicured very nice,but my cuticles and skin around my fingers are a diffeent story!

I have just picked a couple now and it was fine till i just got in the bath and they stung like mad.

Im trying to cover up the damage now by smoothing the edges down with handcream(im more likely to pick if my hands are a bit rough)

Im always really annoyed with myself after the event

I assume we all like scabs too? DH goes bananas and calls me a psycho when I try to get his. Have been known to exchange a scab for a blow job.

I'd never pick my son's though - wouldn't want to scar his beautiful skin.

You eat other people's scabs??????

UGH!!!!!!

I am apicker and a biter. My favourite is dried up cuticle that rips off ina strip. MMmm tasty.

Handcream is the only answer...

Paddington - I just told DH what you said.

He said if I was offering that deal he'd be harming himself (for the scabs) all of the time

I used to be like tequila too and pick my feet terrible when i was younger until they got so bad i could hardly put my shoes on.i used to eat it too.

Dont do it now cos i would need a chisel to get through my hard skin.

I always thought this picking was a form of OCD

I always have hand cream everywhere i go as this is the only thing that stops the urge. I can go ages without picking and i am pleased with my self but once i start i do it constantly until i need plasters on my fingers.

Sorry to gross you out Greensleeves. Don't eat the scabs off other people. It's just for the joy of peeling it off.

is quite pleased to find there is a limit

My DH does this, he ha always done it - we have now been togeter around 27 years and it still drives me fecking mad!!!
It's revolting, disgusting and vile. He even got a horrible infection in it once and that didn't stop him. HATE IT = can't understand why any sane person would do this.

I am with you F&Z. I mainly do it without being aware I am doing it, but sometimes I just sit there and do it fully aware but unable to stop myself. I think it is mainly stress or boredom related.

Try painting your nails in a nice dark colour and you will spot you are doing it more- also more incentive not to wreck the polish.

OR use the nasty tasting stuff - although that never worked for me.

oh the joy of peeling sunburn
it beats popping instant coffee vacuum lid things