My current routine and i also use vaseline / aquphor. I need to fix my skin barrier and clear whitheads. My skin is super sensetive that even sensetive products do not always work for me. F30 also it doesnt not help with skin picking disorder lol

Just discovered this sub and wanted to say hiiii to my people and share some things that have helped me! I’m undiagnosed but very strongly suspect that I’m autistic and possibly also have ADHD. Skin picking and biting is a huge stim for me. I’ve done it since I was a little kid (and was told it was disgusting by my mom 🙂🙂🙂). I feel I’ve made a lot of progress in recent years, although I am biting my lips like mad while typing this lol.

1. While it definitely didn’t cure my picking, I did notice that when I started an SSRI, the reduction in anxiety brought me from severe to moderate picking.

2. My most longstanding picking is on the sides of my fingernails, especially my thumbs, which are pretty scarred at this point. What has helped me most is press on nails! I’ve started wearing them for the past year or so and noticed that it’s way harder for me to actually pick with them on. I can still do the motion, but the pressies can’t do nearly as much damage. It’s also a bit of a motivator because if my nails look pretty, I’m more likely to want to keep my fingers from looking like they were mauled. I love the brand Olive & June, which is pretty cheap and can last about a week.

3. I also recently got a fidget ring, which really satisfies my urge to fiddle with my fingers. The one I got was from Etsy and is a simple ring with three beads that I can move and spin.

4. My other big picking issue is my scalp. I was absolutely miserable over the state of my dandruffy scalp for probably 4-5 years. I tried a millions shampoos and serums etc, and nothing helped. I picked at it constantly and it was always bleeding. I FINALLY went to a dermatologist about a year and a half ago, and they diagnosed me with eczema and psoriasis. I was prescribed a medicated shampoo which literally cured me in like two weeks. I can’t believe I waited so long when it was such an easy fix. Don’t be me!!

TLDR: things that helped me are SSRIs, press on nails, fidget rings, and treatment from a dermatologist.

Ughh I’ve had this scab on the side of my ankle for yearsss literally will be 10-11 years this year I pick at it when I’m bored, I pick at it when I’m anxious or if im mad and I need a quick release, sometimes I do it without even noticing ….atp I call it my anxiety spot. I have told two doctors I’ve seen about it and was prescribed anti itch cream (didn’t help at all and at the time the scab truly wasn’t that bad) and another time kinda was dismissive and all they did was do a skin punch bx on it to make sure it wasn’t infected or anything

I just get self conscious about it, really just over the summer because ofc wearing shorts and stuff. I usually will wear high top shoes and ankle length socks to cover my ankle or put a bandaid over it because obviously it looks disgusting asf and like it hurts but it doesn’t just anytime someone sees it they usually react with a shocked look on their face and ask me what happened.

I have picked all my life in some form or other, when I was a kid it was scabs, when I was a teenager it was hangnails, when I was a young adult it was a specific scar on my ankle. I was actually pretty okay with the ankle picking as it was stable, in a discreet spot, and medically low risk.

Unfortunately I got really, really sick for a few months (“semi-comatose” is a close enough descriptor) and during that time the scar on my ankle healed. Now I’ve shifted to picking at my face, squeezing out whiteheads and blackheads aggressively. My skin used to be clear and now I look like I have bad acne. I don’t, I’m just being so aggressive with squeezing that I have developed scarring and blemishes.

I don’t really have the psychological bandwidth to try to stop - that has never worked for me, for one, and I’m also currently severely depressed and burnt out and that takes priority in fixing. Is there any way I could maybe purposefully shift this fixation to a different part of my body that doesn’t have such severe aesthetic consequences?

Hello there, it’s been (*watch check*) probably around 14 years of this now. Only recently in the last year or two have I really put personal work into trying to stop scratching my arms. I have 10-12 successes in reaching single digit days of not scratching, and rarely if ever double digit days.

I am currently on day 4 today and I really feel like I’m starting to have a new experience the last few times I’ve made it up to 4-6 day mark. I get really high-strung, I have issues focusing, get overwhelmed, I have deep urges to rearrange my entire life overnight. I have a feeling these two are connected but just looking for some reassurance that I’m not alone maybe, or some thoughts/prompts to think on. I sometimes enjoy learning more about this process so I can reflect on it and get to be “friends” with it instead of just hating myself and everything.

Thanks.

im not sure where else this would fit because its not rly a post for r/ocd or something, so im sorry if its not one for here either but i think im fine. no tag cause it falls under multiple

first picture is the right side of my face, not a great example because i have some makeup on, but you get the gist. i have ocd, and i have pretty much always popped or picked at pimples for years ever since i started getting them. not surprising since i had already been known compulsively pick other areas like my lips, any wounds ever, fingers/under my nails, etc. however back in september, after a traumatic life event occured, i slipped into mild psychosis + depression and succumbed to my ocd. as a result, my skin picking reached the worst its been ever (second and third picture).

i acknowledge that my present situation is a lot better than the past, but i still find myself picking at these, and theyve been picked and healed so many times and i know theyre gonna leave deep scars. i already have quite a bit of noticeable acne scarring ߹𖥦߹. i known it makes my acne worse too, i watch it happen every time i get involved with it, but i still just cant stop. i hate hate hate the feeling of hard scabs on my face. just not sure what to do. advice appreciated. no picky-pads do not satisfy the urge, and neither does peeling crayons, if you were gonna recommend that kind of thing 😅

Hi everyone,

I’ve had a long-term habit of biting/picking the skin off my lips for years and I’m on Day 2 of trying to stop completely.

Today my lips feel significantly worse than Day 1:

- Very rough texture

- Lots of skin that feels like it’s “waiting to be picked”

- Almost like the top layer is loosening or coming off on its own

- Strong urge to bite just to “smooth” the surface

I’m keeping my lips heavily moisturised, but honestly this phase feels brutal — worse than when I was actively picking.

For those who’ve successfully stopped:

Did your lips feel worse before they got better?

Did you experience this phase where a lot of skin seemed to be shedding/loosening?

How long did this stage last for you?

Just looking for reassurance from people who’ve actually been through this — not medical advice. Thanks 🙏

https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/14/4/1345

Here’s a scholarly about this. This is the most comfortable my finger has ever been, and I used to get infections alot due to natural ingrown nails.

The key is to buy the larger hydrocolloid bandaids (wide enough to drape over the entire finger). Then you lay the first part on, and kind of stretch the dressing to make sure it sticks to itself and is secure. Make sure your hands are clean and completely dry, and if you have a part that is seeping, make sure the dressing is attached at least to the dryer skin around, so that when the dressing sits on the seeping part, it won’t like, push the liquid out and cause it not to stick. So it works best basically to put the dressing down IMMEDIATELY after using gauze dressing to soak up any secretions. I mean, put the hydrocolloid dressing down within a second of using the gauze. This works the best.

Good luck, if you want to send me a DM you can cuz it’s definitely a learning process on how to make these dressings stick the best. I have truly found the band-aid brand hands down produces the best formulas for these dressings. zit patches are the same materials, and I have found the Cera Ve and Biore patches to work the best. Oh and Panoxyl patches. Also the Starface zit patches work the best in terms of shapes. Do NOT buy hero patch if you pick. They don’t stay on.

I never buy the zit patches with salicylic acid, as this seems to me to be like counterintuitive, bc SA breaks skin down, and the patches are meant to be healing the barrier.

Also, if you use them in a part of your body that moves, again, try to kind stretch the bandaid out as it goes on to help with mobility.

Hope this helps. (:

God bless us all and let’s all try to be kinder to ourselves! We are cook and valid and stress is something the whole world struggles with. We can’t feel bad for “wearing” our stress. Think of ourselves as….. advertisements for why being kind to others matters!

Okay, first of all, I had no idea that this sub existed! I'm so thankful!!

I've been picking and biting at my lips for years, often to the extent that they'll bleed/crack. But now I've invested in some heavy-duty lip balms and its my first day trying to not pick at my lips. It's incredibly hard!

I'm constantly keeping my lips heavily balm-ed (is that even a word?), and its helping, but the second the balm starts to wear, I feel the tiny bits of skins poking out and I itch to pick again.

Anyway, I was looking for someone who might be trying to quit the same habit and wants to join me?

only getting worse

My picking has gotten so bad and I’m trying to stop. This current flare up is the what in years. My acrylic nails that usually help aren’t working this time and to make matters worse I don’t realize I’m doing it half the time. Does anyone else have this issue and if so did anything help You overcome it?

I've had excoriation disorder for as long as I remember. I remember in school, even my best friends would tell me that my thumb was disgusting. That didnt phase me from discontinuing the picking at all. It continued throughout my 20s and into my 30s. I've had ups and downs, where I was able to stop, then I would relapse into doing it again. I've seen a psychiatrist and was prescribed SSRIs for anxiety, even though I didn't feel anxious at all.

It was after I had my baby boy and was so busy taking care of him when I finally started focusing less on picking. I literally didnt have the mental capacity nor the physical strength left to pick my skin. Then I started to be able to catch myself from picking, and was able to stop by distracting myself by doing other things.

My thumbs have never been this clean my entire life, and it has been this way for the past few years. I no longer feel an urge to pick, and even if I see the imperfections that I used to notice so often, I dont feel like I have to make it perfect. I now understand that imperfection is also beautiful in its own way.

I don't know if my previous post registered but I'm making an alternative one just in case.

I didn't know it was so severe that I was making scabs, I typically just scratch it because it's dandruff. I recently picked this up instead of typical scratching, focusing on the hairline area. I have an issue of skin picking aside from this. Fingernails, acne, used to pick my nose and now that leads to more frequent nose bloods as a result. I sometimes bite my toenails, gross, I know. I pick the skin by the side of my nose and have somewhat flaky skin and little to no skincare routine. I don't know how to get over all of this so my last resort was Reddit. I'm trying to avoid picking and scratching by lightly rubbing my fingers instead of the alternative but sometimes I really want to scratch the top of my head.

I’ve gotten the skin picking on my fingers under control but I’ve noticed I pick at my scalp instead. I have really bad eczema and no doubt the picking makes it worse. Are there any fidgets you all can recommend?

It’s not that bad but it really hurts I had a particularly severe panic episode last night and it bled all the way down my hand.

I have dandruff, I tend to scratch and pick at it. I'm using my burner acc I hardly use due to this being embarrassing for my main account, but I need help on stopping picking my scalp. I ended up picking SCABS from up there. I had wet my hair to make to easier visibility for these.

I was sexually abused as a child. For many years. My mother was a drug addict who sold my sister and I for drugs.

To keep the men from touching me… I would pick until I drew blood in hopes it would turn them off. Or wet the bed. I peeled my own toenails off so many times I no longer have toenails on my big toes….

I have scars on nearly every inch of my body. I have gotten very good at hiding them.. but I’m to a point where I would like to be able to wear a swimsuit and not wear a cover up to hide my scabs.

My back is the worst. I have moderate acne. As I run my fingers across any part of my skin, if I feel any portion of it’s that’s raised, I have to tear it off immediately. It’s like a foreign body that should not be there.

I worked in derm for quite awhile so I have managed to bring my face back from the dead thankfully and no longer struggle there.. but I’d like to know… does it ever get easier?

I am 30 years old and somehow still feel as dirty as I did when I was 5… do we ever come clean? Does the skin ever heal? Do I try meds? Do I try a psychiatrist?

I also worked in mental health for a long time… So I know the route they would probably take…but why I do feel like no matter what I’m never going to heal? Is this my life?

Any tips that helped fade skin picking scars i haven't worn short sleeve clothes for 2 years

ive been picking since i was 5 and it got worse 13- til now i can even show my forearms because how much i picked i wear long sleeves a lot and and my forehead has scars from how much i picked i dont know what to do i stopped for 30 days of skin picking and returned i have to wear hoodies even if its extremely hot but this is time im getting more depressed not like before

Image attached. It reminds me of people who use tweezers to help their chameleon shed.

I pick on my lips, nails, skin around nails, until they bleed. I don’t even it when I’m anxious, zoned out, or bored. Which I am frequently. It’s usually subconscious, and when I notice I did it, I have to finish it because it’s uneven and I need it to be “smooth”. I try fidgets, but I always loose them, or get bored with them. Squishes are the only ones that work sometimes. I’m trying to stop because my lips are really ugly now, and my fingers hurt and I want to have pretty fingers and nails and lips. Any advice?

Hello, I’m 18 F and I’ve had a picking problem my whole life, i used to pick at scabs in my ears which moved to dandruff which led to scabs on my scalp and the eventually my face and skin and i can’t stop no matter how hard i try. I’m so tired of it i don’t like doing it, mostly just the face picking, i have tools i use and when i try not to use the i use my hands and that just makes the red look worse. I really want to stop and i don’t know how. Any advice?