Compulsive Skin Picking Anyone?

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Every time I have a sunburn (like now, for example) I ALWAYS pick at my peeling skin. I cannot resist picking at scabs and pimples either.

I had this phase when I was younger where I'd pick at the skin under my finger nails. I'd just peel off the skin. All of a sudden one day I just stopped doing it. I do however have a habit at picking at the makeup on my face when I'm on the computer or lying down and reading. I just pick off the grains of foundation off my nose or chin. I do this with eyeliner as well, at the end of the day of course.

Yep, I have the tendency to pick at my skin and at scabs. I don't know if it's stress-related so much as it is I don't know what else to do with my hands. All I know is that I found myself picking at my scalp as I opened this thread.

That's where I am. Didn't realize it was a disorder! I don't really get any thrill or satisfaction from it. It's just a compulsion that I have to do -- if my skin isn't smooth to the touch, dig at it until it is.

I chew the dry skin off my lips often, and have bitten the dry skin around my nails since I quit biting my nails at 16. My thumbnails get it the worst. The skin is all torn and rough, and many time they are bleeding or scabby.

I pick sores, calluses and bumps too. I had really terrible cystic acne from age 10 to about age 30, and it scarred me badly. So now, whenever I get a zit or a bump, I have to get rid of it. Because the mosquitoes have been so bad this year -- no winter to kill them off last year -- I've been getting eaten alive. I now have scars on my arms because I scratched and picked so mercilessly, I wouldn't let them just heal on their own. Now I look like I attacked on the arm by a porcupine.

Geez....what other lovely habits I have will turn out to be AS-related traits?

Hi everyone,

I have been picking my skin compulsively for as long as I can remember. I am just at the initial stages of diagnosis...seeing psychologist and seeing specialist in October.

I pick until my scabs bleed, I pick my scalp, I try to remove any bumps. To me, blackheads and clogged pores are to be completely eliminated. I hate any skin imperfections but then I get so upset when I see the damage I have done.

At age 39 I'm fortunate that my skin is so oily, so it has been very forgiving and I am mistaken for 33 normally...just before your skin starts to get like crepe paper lol

I also eat whatever I pick off, ick.

This spring and summer have been particularly difficult for me, because I started a new relationship and a new job, both of which are still a bit unclear to me, triggering me into massive anxiety and depression. I started on Cipralex, but it is no help for the picking.

I tend to do this sometimes. I would pick at my scabs, zits, or the skin around my nails. I also admit to picking at the dead skin on my feet, as well as biting the skin on my lower lip. All of this is stress-related, though.