does anyone pick their thumbs?

I've been picking my thumbs since I was little. I'm 36 now and I can still at any given time, especially in the winter, look down and see purple peeling nail beds and skin all down the sides. We tried medicated lotions and band aids but nothing works. I will agree, the only time I don't pick is if I'm wearing fake nails. I read somewhere there's a paint-on Nu-Skin or something that helps the skin lay down and regenerate but I figure I'd just pick at that too. My boyfriend is noticing me doing it a lot lately, and I've started to actually become worried there's an underlying issue especially after reading thru this site. I pick my thumbs, all my fingers, hangnails, any bumps on my body, my face, acne, it's not good. My face clears up and the scars go down but I'll have another monthly small breakout and make it that much worse messing with my skin, without even realizing I'm doing it. I pick at stickers, fingernail paint, anything around. I've resorted to cutting my nails short and paying attention to what my hands are doing. I'm also doing fake nails again this week to see if that helps my need to pick go away. I'm relieved to know some of you have found yourself able to get past it and stop! Thank you!

And I only recently found out 1 month ago that when I pick at my eyelashes that a condition also! Seriously no one talks about this! I have both and just thought it was a bad habit! Thank you skin pick.com!

I am sitting here with band aids on with neosporine. I just cannot believe there are other people out there with this problem. I am embarrassed all the time and hide my hands. My thumb nails are so destroyed I cannot even get fake nails. My hair, make up and clothing is perfect to a T every day but my thumb nails are disgusting. I am a nervous nelly and cannot sit still for two seconds. I am 48 years old and my mother is constantly telling me to stop picking... I have been doing this for as long as I can remember.

I'm going to have to reiterate what others have been saying in that I'm really glad I've found this website/forum..didn't know it existed and that there are loads of other people going through the same thing! Alike sorethumb, I've also been picking the skin along the sides of my thumbs. I think they're the worst off, followed by a few other fingers..but my problem is that most of the time I don't notice that I'm doing it because I'm so preoccupied thinking about something else, and I only notice once it hurts or I start bleeding..! Which is annoying considering I've been trying to stop for a long time! I don't quite remember when I started, must've been during my early teens, and I'm 23 now. Really hoping to stop, and trying to keep mindful about it as well, to no avail! I would really appreciate any suggestions =) Many thanks everyone! This forum is so helpful to me already!

I'm 17 and I do the same thing to my thumbs. I won't even realize I was picking them until my fingers start to get wet, then I realized I picked enough for them to bleed. Sometimes I'll realize i have been picking so I'll put a band aid over them but that usually doesn't do much. I've been doing this for as long as I can remember. I don't get harassed or asked why. Only one person tries to make me stop. My thumbs are often sore and red with scabs all of the inner sides. Both thumbs. Usually tend's the be the thumb I can get a better grip on. I don't think I know anyone else that does this. I tend to find satisfaction out of pulling up the rest of the skin that I have already started picking at. And I don't think I'm quite able to stop.

I'm so pleased to have found this site. I really hope there are people using it frequently as I need help. I am almost 32 & have been lucking my cuticles, the sides of my nails where they join my fingers & my finger & thumb skin, for as long as I can remember, at least 20 years but probably more. My thumbs are the worst & my right hand is usually a lot worse than my left. I am right handed so put this down to using my right hand more & therefore the skin get harder quicker so has to be removed for that smooth feeling! I bite, pick, pull, gnaw & cut to get all the skin off. I can peel large layers off at once. The sides if my thumbs are always red, raw, painful, hard to bend, bleeding & if I'm honest, permanently damaged, as is my right middle finger to the point where my nail bed has been damaged & my nail doesn't grow properly any more, it's completely mishapen. I've NEVER googled the problem until today. So here I am. My husband nags me & says really nastily that I look like I have dead hands. He shouts & gets stroppy when I say I can't stop. He doesn't understand but doesn't really want to. My sister does it & although I have no contact with my Dad, Mum says he did it too. Genetic?!!!

I have the same problem...I am female...the only way I have found a fix for the problem is to go get my nails done with fake ones....then I cant pick at them because they are not sharp enough to cause any significant destruction...but as soon as they come off....Im back at it.......my thumbs look raw ,even bloody at times,hurt even and over all horrible.I dont understand why my obsession with this picking of the skin around them.... but getting my nails done again will be the only fix... let me add some info here...before making a embarrassing trip to the nail salon and them seeing my mutilation of my thumbs...I will get a loofah scrub pad you use for your feet and scrub them back down smooth to were they are not as jagged with skin hanging off and are more smooth...then I put as much oil and lotion on them to make them look a presentable as possible before a trip to my manicurist...I wish i knew a way to stop doing this besides getting fake nails...but thats the only solution so far Ive came up with that truly works...at least while they are on.

I'm reading your post and thinking that I could have written that! My thumbs are always a mess and I am usually sporting two band-aids. It's SO hard to stop, but I think keep it moist helps. Either lotion or neosoprin - it's the dryness that gets me going! Good luck on stopping before your wedding - you can do it!

I shave the skin off the sides of my thumbs. it is not painful. i do not go deep enough to draw blood.

Yes, I know EXACTLY what you mean, I have the same problem, except mine is with all of my fingers AND toes as well...I hope this forum will help me quit

Hi sorethumb! I know EXACTLY how you feel! (As do many other people according to the responses!) I am 22 years old, female, and am constantly picking at my thumbs. I also will last about half a day to let them heal, but them be right at it again. My thumbs have to look awful, and I also wonder what other people must think of my hands; not only post-picking but also while I'm picking. "Why is this girl pulling at her hang nails this entire time??" --people must think that. While you, I, and obviously so many others suffer from this problem, I wonder what others have done to try and solve the issue?? I have heard of using "gross tasting" nail polish to diminish nail biting, but me, and everyone else, doesn't really bite, but usually just picks instead. What have others done to stop picking????

Hello All - new to this site, and glad I found it. Let me tell you, I have had a nail biting and cuticle picking problem my entire life .. and now i am approaching 60 years old and a male ... and have had only marginal success combating both issues. My nail biting issue is, for the most part, under control. From everthing I've read in this forum, Iv'e experienced them all ... shook my head in acceptance ... nodded in agreement ... and fortunately felt relieved that I'm not the only one out there with this embarassing behavior. Believe me, I've done it all, and experienced it all. I rotate between cutting them short .. letting them grow out .. experiencing a tear or rough edge .. biting it off .. and them making them all uniform. A few years ago, I noticed that the overall condition of my nails and cuticles was much better in the summertime for some reason. I concluded that it was because I used suntan lotion (oil or cream), and that it supplied the necessary moisturing recipe that I desperately needed. So, I started using that as my daily lotion, and before I went to bed at night, and it seemed to work. I now use neosporine or vaseline .. each and every night ... and it does help tremendously! Who wants to go to bed smelling like the Coppertone girl! However, my cuticle picking has been my #1 lifelong issue. It truly is a nervous or anxiety condition or trigger that brings it on ... but it is constant! I've picked; cut; hidden; band aided; gloved; bled .... to the point where I stand like Prince Charles with my hands wrapped around my back when in the company of people. To many, this is show of confidence .... "if they only knew the TRUE reason!" My thumbs are horrible, with deep horizontal ridges because I pick at the cuticle base, and sometimes literaly "tear" away the skin! Iv'e removed every Stanley Knife and razor knife from my desk arsenal, but I still seem "to get the job done" with just about anything that can get that little bugger! I am slowly, but surely making progress, but there is no doubt permament damage to my nail beds, and my finger tips are somewhat discolored. Another thing I do that also seems to help a bit is to place a little nail polish remover on a washcloth, and then "scrub" my finger tips in it. Make sure to get a good brand of remover, as these can help growth, but can dry you out if used too much! The one thing it DOES do, is it will sting if you have some deep and open cuts! It's a good reminder just much you NEED to stop! A little tough, personally injected reinforcement like this every day is good thing, and highly recommended! So ... looking for any other good hints out there to help me with this long term, and life long obsession.

You are not alone. I have been doing the same and have no idea when or why it started. Thumbs on both hands are constantly bright pnk now and at work people are constantly asking what i swrong with hands. Most are concerned that I have burns! I never know what to say or how to explain it. Would love to have a manicure someday but am so embarassed by the state of my hands that I never would.

Does anybody chew, too? I do this all the time..I do it when I'm bored, stressed, or just daydreaming. I know how you feel about the wedding photos thing too..my boyfriend and I talk about marriage and I dread the day I have a pretty ring on my ugly fingers :(

I do the same, although it doesn't tend to hurt me, -unless I go really far- as I've been doing it for so long now (I'm nearly 30 and been doing it from an incredibly young age, for as long as I can remember) that the skin on my thumbs is scarred (pinky white) and toughened. I do it all the time without thinking, my cuticles are at an angle as I only pick at one side of my thumbs (on the inside edge, nearest to me palm, around the cuticle and sorrounding skin. My mother's know about it for a long time, and only recently mentioned that my Grandad also used to do it, I also pick at my face too and have to stay in for days, my mother also has facial picking tendancies I think, so I definately think the theory of heredity holds some water. If I know how to stop, I'd have done it myself, my boyfriend hates me doing it, it's like fingernails down a blackboard for him, so that's a good suppressant, but I stil do it (and the face picking) alone. :/ At least I hope it helps that you're not alone.