I cut caffeine, and it reduced, but fall came and it's back full swing, with my nail/cuticle destruction. I did manage to make one nail bed heal by constantly painting it over with a clear polish. now it actually looks rounded like a sign of heart disease, but my exam was ok a year ago. other cuticles arnt so lucky, I'll end up biting the polish which rips off a chunk of skin. yeah, I'd cover the cuticle part as the nail was mostly untouched. but all the nails I bite till smooth and rounded, and it's destroyed the tips/corners of my teeth as well. not to mention it looks like anxiety or childish to others. probably related though.

now I find itches on my legs or feet, I wake up with it bloody, not often luckily, just the poor fingers, and joing knuckles, they dry out and I just chomp.

imma just make this short. multiple times a day i peel the skin from my lips to the point it starts bleeding profusely. i constantly have blood and cuts on my lips, and they constantly hurt, but i just can’t seem to stop doing it. when does this become a problem and how do i stop doing this ??

I pretty much always used to be a nail biter during my childhood. When I developed misophobia (and knowing how much germs are on your hands), I started to pick at my nails and the skin around them.
I managed to be okay with press-ons, gel-nails etc, yet whenever I take them off, I maybe have 2 good days and then immediately get back into that habit. I don't want to continously wear gel-nails and press ons, since they make your nails super soft and damage them- Plus, constantly having something on my nails is a huge sensory issue for me.
I tried bandaids, but would often just go for my nails anyway, same with rings. I do fidget with them, but ultimately still pick at my nails. I've tried regular nail polish, dip in nails (also gel, so meh), tried so many fidget toys and I'm genuinely at a loss for ideas. Does anyone have any ideas? Or has experienced smth like that and found a solution?

I found this response interesting. In this video, a woman asks Bashar how to get rid of her chronic pain and he responds by advising her to list out all of the lessons she’s learned by having her illness. Reflecting on and appreciating the life lesson and opportunity to learn from this challenging experience and encourages her to help others with this problem in order to overcome it. It resonated with me from when I had a medical issue in the past but also as I continue to struggle with skin picking. Have a listen if you’re interested: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMhELmotu/

This is my first post here. I have picked my fingers and scalp for as long as I can remember, leading to permanent scarring. This past summer I had a new dermatologist who recommended I try getting dip or gel nails. I tried dip and it works for me. My nails are too thick to do damage. I have un-scarred fingers for the first time in my life at the age of 43. The salon is expensive, so I have been on the DIY journey and it's been kind of fun.

started taking NAC this week to try to treat my dermatillomania, haven't noticed any changes just yet but there's something that has eluded me. in my research i found one blog post chronicling somebody's experience trying NAC for their excoriation disorder that mentioned they developed a kidney stone months later that was supposedly due to not supplementing vitamin c while they were using NAC.

this concerned me so i looked around a little more and found a few interesting reddit comments - one quoted a couple articles that now redirect to dodgy looking pages, but apparently once said that taking three times as much vitamin c as NAC will prevent it from being oxidised, becoming insoluble then forming kidney stones. they also quoted the webMD page on NAC, and sure enough after checking the wayback machine it did once say that in rare cases NAC can cause kidney stones. another comment mentioned that taking an equal amount of vitamin c to NAC is supposed to help prevent kidney stones, but suggested not to bother since "NAC degrades really quickly." another said that vitamin c increases the cellular uptake of cysteine.

i can't find any primary resources covering this, only hearsay from internet randos. what i did find out however is that NAC is a methionine derivative, and cysteine (which is the "C") is related to cystine. cystine is formed by the breakdown of methionine, but too much cystine in the urine leads to cystinuria which results in cystine kidney stones. i could absolutely be wrong, but i imagine that this is the reason a small proportion of people who take NAC develop kidney stones. the most effective way to prevent cystinuria seems to be staying hydrated, avoiding salt and reducing methionine in the diet by reducing animal protein and increasing vegetable protein, so i'll be prioritising those things.

i'd love to know whether anybody here knows any more about this - should i be taking vitamin c with NAC? and why does it occasionally cause kidney stones? thanks in advance.

For reference, 23 y/o female. Have been picking my acne, finger nails, cuticles, skin on lips for as long as I can remember. Within the last year, I have also began tweezer-picking my armpit ingrown hairs. Within these past few months, I have finally been diagnosed and medicated for ADHD, GAD (generalized anxiety disorder), & depression, (Adderal & happy pills), & have been working on issues through therapy. I have also, just in the past week, have been obsessed with running my fingers through my hair. I'm unsure if it's a form of trictillomania, or just another obsessive "perfectionist" habit. My skin picking has always been a huge struggle for me; I've tried all of the things, and the ONLY thing I have noticed that has helped is acrylic nails, because they don't let me pick at the skin on my lips or tear my fingernails to nubs. However, for my job I have to get them taken off each month, and as soon as they're off and I notice an imperfection in my nails/cuticles or I get stressed for a big event coming up, the parasite inside me forces me to pick and pick until I bleed. Even with the acrylic nails, if I have knowledge of there being a pair of tweezers in a semi-close vacinity of me, I will find them and I will pick until there is nothing left.

I am looking for ANY advice to stop or otherwise heavily prevent these habits, or medication recommendations. The adderall is a blessing and a curse, if I see even a small speck of imperfect skin or hair that shouldn't be there, I will absolutely get lost in the sauce and 3 hours later I realize what I've done. I also am unsure of this new habit of combing my fingers through my hair. It's completely exhausting and I cannot stop until all of the hair is smooth, and it never is.

I know there must be someone out there who has found some kind of solution for these problems. Any words/advice will help <3

I’m going to talk to my therapist about this today because my skin picking is out of control again. I think a lot of people on this sub can relate, but I was doing so much better for a while. I wasn’t completely stopping but I messed with some scabs badly and it made me chill a little.

It really comes in waves and more and more has become so uncontrollable in my life. I had nose surgery a few weeks ago and that was the final straw. I’ve messed with the scabs inside my nose where fucking cartilage and a bone spur was removed.. I’m so angry at myself. I didn’t get any of them fully off thank GOD because my OCD stopped me and I was convinced I gave myself a hole in my nose and got super freaked out lol.

In hindsight, it all got worse when I relapsed and sh’d over the summer and became super fixated on picking that. Horrible I know and I regret it so much now. I started going to town on my face again after that and even though my acne is clearing up, I’ll cause more problems going after clogged pores for who knows how long. I lose track of time every. Single. Fucking. Time. I have an ingrown hair on my neck and I’ve been messing with it for months. Like I’ll get it plucked eventually but there’s sooo much scar tissue and it just grows right back under it. I wasn’t really a plucker before but the hair on my neck has made it a problem. Because I realized the feeling of getting a deep hair out is much more gratifying then just picking skin off. I gave in and started plucking my pubes the last few days for the sensation. I know I need to get this under control before I develop more repetitive plucking behaviors too. I just don’t know what to do anymore, I’ve struggled with this shit for so long. The skin on the bottom of my heels is literally changed from picking them for 10+ years. Like I don’t think it’ll ever grow back NOT incredibly thick and calloused. Like I’ve caused permanent damage to my body, scars and all and I can’t stop. I’m on vyvanse for ADHD and Lexapro for anxiety but I’m wondering if I need more medicinal focus on my OCD.

I also have been having lots of urges to restrict my eating. I can definitely understand why because so much in my life has been so chaotic. I think that’s where all of this goes back to, along with self soothing / stimming behaviors. Wondering if anyone can relate :/ I literally just lost track of time for an hour plucking my pubes and it’s so embarrassing but it calms me so much😭😭😭

Basicly since I was like ever I have had the habit of thumb sucking , but since the age 7 I have had the habit of skinf picking . Now most people do that IG but not only do it do it by biting aswell , I also skin pick my right hand . In school always classmates asked me if I had a burn and I responded with "yeah haha I burned lol" but no , I skin pick so bad I always have like a bruise that kinda looks like a burn on my hand , and it kinda started as I sucked my thumb and with my other hand I picked my "thumb sucking " hand , it became a habit So idk just wanted to know if people have a similar case or if even there's a reason for it ??

Soo... I have like scars from picking up my scabs and I really do wanna get rid of them or lighten them in a pain-free way. I have like swimming classes at may and I really do want to wear skirts or shorts again!!! But I can't because of my scars!

Just found this subreddit. I’ve been picking all my life. I’ve never mentioned it in therapy. I was diagnosed with clinical depression at age 15

Anyone else put off haircuts due to whoever is doing it having to dramatically say something like “you have a lot of scabs! Do you compulsively pick it? Do you have anxiety?” Etc etc

One time I went to a barber and before the haircut I told him “I know I have scabs on my scalp, I’m sorry about that but you don’t need to mention them”. He listened and didn’t say anything. It’s mostly from women.

i picked a whitehead again and again and it has somewhat became a wound on my chin. its small but looks terrible since I have hyperpigmentation on my chin. also, I have a trip in 4 days and I NEED to treat it as soon as possible. i tried putting tretinoin on it earlier without thinking anything and my skin started flaking.. it has healed now but I think it somewhat helped me in treating the other wound I had on the same place.. should I consider putting it again on my chin again?

I have been doing really well for years, but at the moment I am struggling with a lot of anxiety, my mental health is not good. Inside of 12 months I had a miscarriage, a dental surgery where I lost two teeth because of a massive cyst, a cancer scare with subsequent surgery, I lost 2,50 vision in my right eye bringing me to -7,75, both my aunts died in 4 months, my 10 year old daughter is seriously unwell. I'm spiraling with my OCD.

On Sunday I have been picking using a sewing needle and I have caused a massive infection in my face.

I'm at the doctor right now. They told me that such an infection can be life threatening and they'll have to put me on antibiotics.

I fucked up. I hope I'll be fine. I know that this will not stop my picking because I knew that it can happen and yet, I still did it. Or maybe it might stop my picking... if I die from it.

Edit: I turned out to be a staph infection with superficial necrosis. The surgeon removed the necrosis and medicated the wound, then gave me antibiotics. I'm doing fine and it is healing now. I will have a fairly large and deep scar.

Please take it as your reason not to pick. I'll post fotos later.

I have been clean of self harm (cutting) since January but have been picking the skin on my chest, legs and upper arms sometimes for hours on end when I’m stressed.

My dad is worried that it’s another form of self harm since it’s leaving ugly sores and scars in those places. I’m starting to think he’s right, that I’m subconsciously doing it to try and help my stress.

I really want to stop because my chest is ruined and sore all the time.

I’m autistic and the feeling of moisturiser makes my skin crawl and is incredibly overwhelming. Any and all advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated

new to this page but kinda glad i found it… just had one of the worst picking episodes i’ve had in so long to the point my face and chest are numb.

I’ve discovered that fidget earrings exist and I think it could be a good redirection tool for me, but wasn’t sure if anyone here has had success with them or knew of a brand to recommend?

Hey everyone,

I’ve been struggling with skin picking for a while, so I made a simple tool to help me stop—and thought it might help some of you too! It uses a webcam to catch when my hands go near my face and plays an annoying beep to snap me out of it. (Maybe put the webcam behind your head if you struggle with scalp picking).

You can check it out here: https://jaredtweed.github.io/hands/.

I usually leave it open in another tab while I’m studying for school (or procrastinating on YouTube) with headphones on, and it’s been super helpful. It’s all browser-based (so your video doesn’t go anywhere). I’d love to hear what you think or if there’s anything I could tweak to make it better.

Hope it helps someone!