Hi, I'm new to this sub, so please bear with me. I am currently a college freshman, and my skin picking has honestly gone downhill ever since the semester started.

When the semester started, I made the transition from an electric razor (as a longtime electric razor user) to a normal handheld five-blade razor from some brand called Athena Club. As I used it, I noticed that my legs began to get very bumpy and even develop some "pimples" and bumps. Now, I've only ever had skin picking problems with my face (which are manageable) and a few minor instances of picking at my legs/arms in the past, but as soon as I started to feel those bumps on my leg, I haven't been able to stop picking at them. Every time I sit down at my desk, I run my hands over my legs and I'll feel a bump, then I'll pick at it, spot another and even pull out my tweezers, and it all goes downhill from there. I initially attempted to hide it from my roommate, but as the bumps got worse I stopped caring about that and just proceeded to pick whenever. I'm well aware that my hands will wander and find things to do when I'm bored, since I've been struggling with ADHD since 3rd grade, but I feel like I can't stop myself because my hands constantly need something to do.

My legs right now look like I stepped in a fire ant mound or something, and I've since disposed of the razor and I haven't shaved in weeks. I haven't even worn shorts in public since like early September because I'm so ashamed of my hairy legs and the angry red dots everywhere that I can't stop picking at. I've told my parents that I was noticing some razor burn, but that was weeks ago when it just looked like a few bumps here and there, so they don't know how bad it's gotten and I don't have the heart to tell them that. I'm just desperate now, I think, but I've cut my nails and I've asked my roommate to hide my tweezers. What can I do to stop this and let my legs actually heal?

I have a couple of scabs on the top of my wrist area that are from a burn and some cat scratches from probably 1-2 years ago that I can't stop re-picking. Sometimes I do okay for a long time, but then I will get anxious and pick at the scars since it's so accessible. It's in such an obvious spot that it's hard to cover up. When the weather permits, I wear long sleeves with thumbholes and that sort of helps.

But, I am looking for maybe a bracelet option that I could wear and play with or pick at instead to help avoid messing with my skin. It'd be nice if it was wide enough to sort of cover some of the scab/scar area as well. I've looked around a little, but a lot of them are made for kids or are just hard beads. Any ideas?

I've been picking at my skin for as long as I can remember, but it progressively got worse the older I got: HS was bad but after HS was horrible and now I pick more than 4hrs a day. It used to be my face, then it slowly became my arms and now its anywhere I feel a bump. I've tried everything that people have recommended to me:
-telling myself to stop (which never works)
-stress toys (but i keep breaking them, especially needoh's or other squishies)
-skin picking toy (works but my skin picking mainly happens in the bathroom or in bed... which is when my hands don't know what to do)

the only time my skin picking stopped was when i had acrylics (which i cant always afford) and was on vacation (swimming everyday in salt + showering every night)

since where i live causes a lot of stress (+ depression and intrusive thoughts) i've been picking whenever and wherever i can... which has now led to really intense pain and swelling

i don't wanna give up but idk what to do and no one really knows how to help me...

I just went back to school for the first time in a few years and as expected my picking has gotten worse. School/studying always means my hands & feet will suffer. But I realized last night that im in lecture style classrooms for the first time (went to a tiny undergrad) and everyone can see me… picking my fingers, biting, peeling off bandaids to get the supple skin, putting new ones on when it gets too irritated. Im back to the days where people ask “why do you have band aids on like every finger?” I can’t stop thinking about what my peers must be saying behind my back. “Do you know the girl in class that is always peeling her skin? She’s so gross!” Nevermind thepeople I sit next to. Im waiting for someone to turn to me and say to my face “can you just stop!? You’re disgusting!” But I just can’t. I’ve dealt with this since I can remember. I tried therapy specifically for it. I’ve gotten fake nails. I’ve worn gloves. I’ve done it all. It’s a stubborn as hell habit that runs deep in my family (dad and grandma have basically no finger nails. My aunt and cousins have the sister condition of trich/hair pulling). Im fairly well adjusted, normal, well liked otherwise. Im making friends at school but I can’t help but wonder what people really think.

In a similar vain the shame stops me from finding a romantic or even casual sexual partner. I don’t want anyone close enough to see the trauma I inflict on my hands and feet. I don’t want anyone to see it or feel it. I’ve obviously dated and had sex but idk its been inhibiting me a lot lately.

And I hate being known as the picker. I hate that friends come to me to talk about how they’ve been biting their nails a lot lately. It tells me that they identify me with this thing that fills me with just so much shame.

I am very ashamed of myself. I picked so far in my left heel that I know rely on a cane to ease some of the weight off.

I started picking when I was about 7-8 years old. At first they said it was ADHD and that with meditation it will go away on its own. I started with my Dad’s nail clippers, eventually I moved onto scissors, and now I can just pinch and pull.

I’m 23 now, still picking.

My doctor sent me to a pediatrist and he said “all I can really do is inject cortisol into your heel” he could barely apply pressure and I felt this jolt of pain shoot up my leg.

He told me this is a problem only therapy can solve.

I can’t afford therapy.

I bought a picky pad but the beads were too small and absolutely shredded my fingers.

I am so ashamed of myself for letting it get this far and this bad…

To start: I don't know if i have dermatillomania, but I do obsessively pick at my bug bites and their scabs.

I persuaded myself that picking the tops off make them itch less, but I don't think that it's true. I have had some craters in my skin from the sheer amount of times that I have picked my scabs off. I've tried to keep myself from scratching, but I've had a lot of trouble doing it. Sometimes putting hydrocortisone on them helps, but half the time, I'll run my finger over a new bite while putting it on, and suddenly I'll spend 20 minutes scratching the bites and scabs off my ankles and legs.

Recently, I've had to be outside a lot. I've also had to run, which scratches my bites, then I start picking on them. The same thing happens when I'm in bed, and my feet rub against my blankets.

My ankles are covered in small scars, with some on my legs, wrists, and elbows, too. I've even picked some scars off. I'm getting nervous for when it's summer again and all my friends and family see my ankles.

Does anyone else get these little black dots that look like pimples, but when you pick at them, white hairs come out along with these hard yellowish or dark dry pieces? Sometimes they literally feel like little rocks coming out of my skin lol.
I get them on my neck, and I’ve pulled out some surprisingly long hairs, especially white ones. I also get these weird spots on my nose, and when I popped one recently, there was SO much blood and it seemed like there was still hair and more dry stuff coming out.
I use a 10x magnifying mirror and my phone’s magnifying glass, and once I start looking, I can sit there picking at everything for ages. 😭 It’s almost impossible to stop once I find something.
Please tell me I’m not the only one who gets this! Does anyone else experience this, and does anyone know what those hard little pieces actually are?

Throwaway account because I have people on my main that don’t know about this part of my life. I’m gonna be describing the state of my scalp, I’ll try not to go too far with it but if that would make you uncomfortable please don’t read!! 💕

My scalp is disgusting and im so ashamed. Scabs, open sores, flakes, all of it. I wash my hair about every 3 days, and I try to scrub my scalp really good when I do. I use medicated dandruff shampoo. Right after a hair wash, my scalp is in a brief state of non-itchy, non-flaky, smooth skin (I mean the open wounds are still there but I normally scrub the scabs off in the shower) and it’s like a brief respite from my hell. But give it a few hours, and then a day, and my scalp is all nasty again. I have eczema and dry skin coupled with OCD and a skin picking disorder. I look like a have a disease in my hairline! But it’s just dozens of scabs. It’s so embarrassing :(

I have trichotillomania as well and have been kicking its ass, which is great, but that means my scalp is getting the brunt of all my stress now :(

I’m desperate, I don’t know what I should do!! I’m sick of caking foundation on the visible parts of my scalp every morning. I can’t leave the scabs alone!! Something about the sight and feeling of them drives me INSANE! My brain just needs the skin to feel smooth, and obviously I know the true solution to that would be to let it heal, then it’ll be smooth for good and It’s not an endless cycle of ripping the scabs off whenever they get bumpy. I know the logic, but I can’t follow it! I’m addicted to the feeling of picking my scalp.

Should I start washing my scalp more often?? It’s difficult for me because I have depression so I’m proud I even was able to get my routine to every 3 days. Please, if anyone has ANY piece of advice at all, I’d appreciate it so much!! I don’t expect you to have all the answers for me to fix this, but even any tidbit that’s helped you!! Any fellow scalp pickers reading this?/Anyone that also has trich too 😞

I tell people I don’t work full time because of work life balance when in reality I can’t work more because I spent 2 h every day to get ready and to cover the oozing wounds on my face before I can leave the house without looking like a zombie and then in the evening I spend another hour picking and covering all spots with patches.

It takes so much time and I get even more stressed because I can’t enjoy my hobbies. Even though I’m aware of all of this I’ve been trapped in this cycle for 5 years now.

Today was really bad again and I missed a work meeting in the morning. Everytime these things happen I tell myself THIS IS ENOUGH. But I can never stop for more than like 1 week. I feel like a failure.

Sometimes I'm not even stressed or upset. I could just be sitting quietly, scrolling on my phone, or thinking about something, and suddenly I notice I'm pulling my hair again.

The worst part is realizing you've been doing it for a while without consciously deciding to.

People often assume it's just a bad habit, but I don't think they understand how difficult it can be to stop, even when you genuinely want to.

For those who experience trichotillomania, does it happen more when you're anxious, bored, overwhelmed, or even when you're completely relaxed?

I'd really like to hear other people's experiences.

Hello, this is my first time daring to post to reddit... Hope I'm doing it right, I created this account then I kept logging to it and giving up on daring to post... Before then, I took more than 5 years to dare creating an account at all.. So here I go, trying my best to not let the public internet anxiety take over! (sorry im autistic I over share too much)

I very clearly have dermatillomania, I'm 25. But I think I identified my main trigger: clogged pores! Skin that looks and feel fine is rarely touched. Even my face was rarely touched until recently (oops... I started noticing some slight pore cloggage there too after realising how my main picking area had this issue that caused me to pick...)

I have a very large chest, which means my pores on it are enlarged and fill up with gunk easier. This is my main problem area... I have been trying the salycilic acid cleanser from cerave in the past month, but haven't seen much change at all... Am I too impatient? Should I try more/different products? Should I try an oil based cleanser?

Cleansing/healing steps does sometimes help to redirect the picking to something healthier for me, so any tip is welcome. (sorry this is so messy, I have ADHD too... and this is early in the morning, I'm going to... sleep soon, could be a mood to some of you lol?)

As a conclusion... Should I start trying to convince myself that my pores can never be cleared out now, that I just messed up too badly with more that 10 years of picking making things worst so I should learn to live with it instead? I don't know anymore, but if you have any experience or advice to share, pleaseplease do!! I'm also interested in better after picking / healing care advice

Signed, the person who is very scared of social media but currently in too much pain after a binge pick trying to get a little help out there

Thank you so much for reading!! Please take care, drink water, and snuggle in your favorite blanket! Have a lovely day/night!

Friends, I’m starting an “experiment” (that’s what I’m calling it) today. Would love the community support if anyone wants to join me!

As a 20+ year skin picker (I pick the pores/blackheads on my face; this is deeply rooted in “perfectionism”), I’ve always struggled with the slippery slope of popping the “hell yes” pimples (like a whitehead or a spot that’s ready to extract), then my brain getting the dopamine hit and thinking “might as well keep going”…an hour later, my whole face is destroyed. Sound familiar to anyone?

My experiment is this: I am choosing to let all of my pores, even the “hell yes” spots just…be.

I’ve never actually let my skin do its own thing to see if these spots can heal on their own without my interference.

I’m not treating this as “I’ll never pick again,” because I know that is not realistic and that healing doesn’t always look linear. Rather, this is an experiment I want to commit to for at least 2 weeks to see what happens if my skin if I just…stop picking.

I’ve been to therapy for skin picking and a big thing my therapist taught me was that surrendering is actually the most in-control thing we can do when it comes to skin picking.

Today is Day 1. Does anyone want to join me? I’m a conscious skin picker, so I know this method may not apply to those of us who subconsciously pick.

I’ll try posting in here every day as a form of commitment.

Sending love to all of us battling this.

I am so deeply ashamed but honestly it’s gotten to the point where I just need to talk to someone about it. That someone is you guys. I have always been ashamed of my Montgomery glands. Post partum my dermatillomania, limerence and nail biting have gone to an extreme. I have two under two and an avoidant husband. I have noticed that when my needs are not being met and I feel alone, and insecure my skin picking gets crazy. It’s been so extreme that I take a cuticle cutter to try to extract the sac on my Montgomery glands. Then I have an incredibly painful mark for the next few days that is super visible while breastfeeding. I feel like a freak. I guess I just want to know if anyone else here does it. I can’t stop. I started sertraline and I want to say it worked for a little but to be honest it did nothing. Why do I take the things that make me most self conscious and make them 1000x worse? I feel like an idiot.

i‘ve been picking my skin since i was maybe 7 or 8, and i really really hate it. back then, it was only a few spots at a time usually on my legs, but now it’s everywhere.

i do it all the time, often without thinking and don’t even stop when i see blood.

it‘s been worse recently because of school which SUCKS because i have anxiety anyways and feeling guilty and insecure really doesn’t help.

i feel really bad about my body, i feel icky all of the time and i get scared whenever i wear shorts or even a tee shirt because i don’t want anyone to point it out.

everyone just says to stop. like—thanks??? i guess??? i really appreciate the advice?? which, really, i do appreciate that people care but they never care enough to really try and understand it or look it up or listen when i try to explain.

any fidget toys or tips you could suggest? anything helps

Two months ago I posted a tracker, and a lot of you tested it. It's now on the App Store.

The app is subscription based, $29.99 a year or $5.99 a month, with a 7-day free trial.

Two things are never locked: the urge screen (the wave and the bubbles), and your own report as a PDF.

If you tested the beta: Thank you.
Several features exist because you asked.
Message me and I'll send you a code for a free year.
Install it over the beta and your data carries over.

New since the last update: a Lock Screen widget with the time since your last pick, and you can try logging and the wave before deciding anything.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gentleskin-skin-picking/id6789245158

Hello!

Struggled with face picking for quite a few years. Working hard to fully quit now. I do have some little dents that came from picking as opposed to like true acne scars. (Like where my nails would dig in a little.) They’re pretty minor and not the end of the world at all, to the point where my derm hasn’t even really focused on them, but if there are any ways folks have been able to reduce them/smooth them out, I would appreciate the advice! Totally fair if the answer is that they’re permanent too- I am mentally prepared for if that is the truth of the situation.

I am struggling with a repetitive habit of pushing the top of my thumb against the nail (and the other way around). The more pressure, the more it soothes the need.

I don't know if this is a common thing. I cannot find anything about it.

I have been struggling with it for years. When it gets bad, it creates a thin line of calluses that I tear off.

My thumb had been getting numb and tingly, and I'm afraid I'm damaging my nerves.

I don't know how to manage this behavior. Please, does anyone have any advice?

Hi guys- I started sertraline a few weeks ago- for my skin picking and rumination. I’ve found it’s helped my rumination- but my picking is worse than ever. My face is covered in scabs, and it’s making me so insecure. I get small cysts on my face, back, armpits and pubic area, blackheads and congestion, and ingrown hairs/bumps on my arms and legs. seeing my GP on Thursday, any advice on what I could ask her for? When my skin is “good” I don’t feel the urge to pick as much.
TYIA ❤️

'It takes longer that that to completely-' shush. Not the point.

When you are waiting for something to heal, it feels like it will be forever. The shame and guilt of what you've done to yourself makes it feel like it's never going to get better, leaving yourself alone feels very futile.

I committed to leaving large hydrocolloid dressings on some really nasty wounds I'd made for 15 days, changing every 3 days. The skin underneath is now flat. It's still lightly scarred, I imagine it will be for a little while, but it is not an open wound and I can now focus on lightening those scars. There's nothing to pick there now - it's smooth.

Forever feels very daunting when this is a compulsion you cannot control. 14 days feels slightly more manageable. It would have helped me to hear that I only had to manage 2 weeks, one day at a time. I'm writing this in case it helps someone else, too.

(10+ years of picking, successfully healed my legs, shoulders, arms, face. Just working on my thigh now, then I'll be free of this. OCD type picker.)

This has been going on for I want to say maybe several years now sometimes on and off but now I'm starting to recognise that it is getting bad again. I usually get triggered whenever it's time to shower or whenever I feel dirty and icky - it feels like its my cue to start picking again. I usually start picking my skin whether its a pimple, a scab etc. I also often pick my scalp too. I also previously struggled with I trichotillomania in 2023 but I didn't go to the doctors to get diagnosed. Should that raise my concern? I was around 11 back then (I'm 14 now.) But now as it's raised my concern that my constant skin picking is getting bad again I feel like I want to get a proper diagnosis just so that I don't feel that crazy and that there's something deeply wrong within myself. I have a scheduled doctors appointment within the next few days so I'm wondering if I should tell my doctor about this?

Also, if anyone has any advice, tips or suggestions on how stop or prevent myself from picking my skin please let me know. Thank you!

This has been going on for I want to say maybe several years now sometimes on and off but now I’m starting to recognise that it is getting bad again. I usually get triggered whenever it’s time to shower or whenever I feel dirty and icky - it feels like its my cue to start picking again. I usually start picking my skin whether its a pimple, a scab etc. I also often pick my scalp too. I also previously struggled with I trichotillomania in 2023 but I didn’t go to the doctors to get diagnosed. Should that raise my concern? I was around 11 back then (I’m 14 now.) But now as it’s raised my concern that my constant skin picking is getting bad again I feel like I want to get a proper diagnosis just so that I don’t feel that crazy and that there’s something deeply wrong within myself. I have a scheduled doctors appointment within the next few days so I’m wondering if I should tell my doctor about this?