Has anyone successfully stopped picking?

[fedup078]

For as long as I can remember I've picked at my face
I will pick anything . I can make the tiniest spot which is invisible to the eye into the biggest scab
I'm so sick of it
I just can not stop
Every time I think 'right my face is pretty clear now so leave it alone!'
I do it again
In 37 now and haven't found anyway of stopping
Even cutting my fingers nails right down didn't work
I did it last night and in the morning it's like when you've made a tit of yourself when drunk the night before and that feeling of 'oh god what have I done' washes over you

Regular manicures and nail extensions fix the problem for me, for both face and the skin around my nail bed which I also pick. I find it really difficult to scratch effectively with nail extensions.

Thanks, off for a read now

Just come across this thread. It really resonates with me. I pick my scalp and do it when stressed. I've done it for years. I've never really thought of it as a problem but I suppose it really is a symptom of something going on in my head.

@Comedyusername I'm terrible for scalp picking
I always think it's ok as ppl can't see it but I've got really thin hair so I bet on occasions ppl can

@YawningAngel. I do this too. Especially when I am distracted i.e. in meetings. I don't even realise I am doing it most of the time! I could never wear foundation in the day because it would end up smeared everywhere. I also pull my eyelashes out a bit sometimes and have callouses on my fingers from pushing my nails into them.

I still do on occasion, but I found that ramping up my skin care routine and including some ‘pamper’ products made me at least feel like I was doing something to take care of any uneven texture and bumps (like you, they are really of no significance and not visible to the naked eye)

Then distracting myself from touching my face to search for bumps, doing something else like pumicing my feet instead.

Also, I had a series of 3?professional IPL facials that helped with marks I made picking. So I wanted to keep my face ‘ good’ afterwards.

I have dermatillomania and have done since I was a young child. I have tried depriving myself of doing it or setting targets to reduce it but no success.

I've found the best thing that works for me is trying to reduce my stress levels. When these are under control I notice it is much much less (never gone completely, but I could happily wear shorts or vest tops etc without worrying at all). At the moment it is bad again because I've just returned to completely full time work for the first time since toddler DS was born, and I'm pregnant again so I'm aware a lot is on my plate!

There is a device called "keen" and you wear it round your wrist like a Fitbit.
You train it to recognise the habit you want to stop and then everytime you do the action it sends a buzz onto your wrist to kind of snap you out of the mode/male you aware you are doing it.

I got it for hair pulling but you can use it for all sorts...skin picking would be a definite one to use it for.

It's by a company called "habitaware"
You can buy it here
habitaware.com/