Compulsive Skin Picking Anyone?

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I play with a scar from an old vaccin, does it count? it calms me down...

JasonWilkes, I find you photo really cool [:D] I haven't seen the definition of a continous function in years, just took 3 sec to recognize it

I pick at:

the skin on my lips (when dry) until they would bleed
those scabs in my ear (gross and weird, huh?)
the bumps on my face
the scabs I get on my scalp sometimes
the bumps on my back
my other scabs (when I get them, which is rarely)


I'm gross.

Zit popper, I don't do it in public hardly at all. Most of the time it would be after work to let out stress, I don't over do it. No scars or anything really. I do it at home a lot.


My aches not that bad, it's just a few I have all the time bother me something fierce.

Anyone else feel terrible when there's nothing to pick at? Like there's a big hole in your stomach that's filled with anxiety?

...Cause that's how I feel...

^ try taking a small rubber product around with you such as a bouncy ball and pick at it, this helped me.

However I also chew on plastic things like pen caps or things of that matter, most people assume it's gum, I don't think this is a good idea as I may choke if I am not carful.

I scratch my scalp a lot. I tend to do it more when I'm sitting in one place for a long time, like the office or when I'm watching a movie. Sometimes i do it too much at one time and my scalp gets raw and stings, even bleeds in some places. I love the build up of dead skin I get under my fingernails, which I'll then clean out with a file or pen cap. That is so disgusting! Maybe admitting it here will help me stop!

I've been a compulsive skin picker on my scalp since I was 15. I know it's related to my OCD, because I can't stand any bumps or irregularly shaped areas on my scalp. I like it to be smooth. But it's definitely an OC spectrum disorder in my case, not part of my actual OCD, because I do enjoy picking and find it soothing. I often do it unconsciously when I'm tired or zoned out.

Sometimes it's usually a sort of tan color, every once in a while it'll be black. Ill scratch around feeling for "productive" areas and then start digging when i find one. Sometimes I've use the end of a retracted ball point pen with a nice metal nose and use it, then pushing the pen tip out to shove out the material that's collected inside. I really try to avoid using objects since that seems to lead to bleeding a lot faster than just fingernails. I'm afraid someday I'm going to give myself a staph infection.

Every day. Face, arms, chest, legs, elbows and knees, nails, lips (although I'm more of a chewer than a picker), and arm/leg/underarm/eyebrow/eyelash hair. I've done this since I was a child. My mother went through a phase when she was a teen of pulling out hair and she picks at her skin, too.

I always pick at the skin at the bottom of my little fingers on the palm side of my hand, especially when agitated. I often pick to the point that I bleed over my hand and I have calluses there from years of picking, and when I have sweaty hands or when they are wet, the skin goes all soft and flakes away. It gives me a focal point during stress, and I like the feeling of when the skin peels away, and the feeling of the rough area afterwards.

I've always picked at my fingertips and toes too. Also I chew on the inside of my mouth until the flesh comes away in big strips. Again, I do this simply for the sensation.

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I used to do this when I was teenager, whenever I got zits. Someone made a remark once that I looked like I had leprosy and I sunk into a depression and vowed to quit. It takes a lot of willpower even now to not pick. But I try to tell myself "Just wait a few days." I also have a problem with compulsive plucking.

I never wear short sleeves because of the repercussions of this. I was referred to a dermatologist, due to recurrent ingrown hairs on my forearms. But, she realised that I pick a bit too much, making the problem worse. However, she never suggested me getting any help for it. I tell myself that I must stop, but each time I take a shower, there I go again and regret it immediately afterwards. I'm going to a party at the start of Feb and I'm determined to be confident enough to take my shrug or overshirt off at some time, when the lights are dim, so I'll need to have no fiery looking blemishes for that.

I do it... Badly on my thumbs. Been doing it for 35 years or more, and been trying to stop desperately and have not yet been successful. I consider it an addiction, but since I smoked while in my twenties, and just decided to quit one day without any medical or counseling help, and had no problem doing it, I guess the skin picking is different. I will read up on what the OP said, and will give a valiant effort to quit while I still have thumbs.

Charles

I have done it. More so when I'm stressed. Sometimes I put socks over my hands to stop myself. I try and limit it to areas that are not visable to others. Except for a few places on my arm that I go at when I get nervous. And they feel like they need to be smoothed out.

When I was little I tore at the skin around my fingers so much that I didn't have fingerprints anymore. I had to wear Band-Aids on my fingers to keep myself away.

Zits mean that I have cuts all over my face. Mostly I cover them up with Band-Aids when I can.