Cuticle picking problem

Has anyone been to a therapist about this cuticle picking problem? I have been a nail biter/cuticle picker since I was a little kid and have been through many phases where it's gotten better, but the habit always comes back. I'm at the point where I feel that I need professional help with my head, not just the physical habit. My main problem is that I pick my cuticles with my fingers when it's not a good time to have my fingers in my mouth, but anytime I'm able I use my teeth to bite the cuticle (and nails as well), trying to "fix" them. Any little thing that feels rough or ragged HAS TO come off. I have a little manicure kit and i do try to use the cuticle nipper sometimes, rather than biting, but usually I only do that when I've been gnawing and picking at my fingers all day and they're still not "fixed". Luckily I'm not one of those people that chews their nails down to the quick - I have long nail beds and they look gorgeous during the short periods I'm able to stop. Another thing that worries me is that since I do use my teeth to pick my fingers, I might make myself sick or get an infection in my hands. It hasn't happened yet, but it's still a concern. I recently got engaged and have this beautiful ring - and it's mortifying to have to show it off knowing that people are looking at the whole picture of my hand, not just the ring. I am desperate to stop this compulsion completely as soon as I can so that my hands will do my beautiful ring justice, and so that I can be rid of the shame and stress this is causing me in addition to the anxiety and stress caused by planning a wedding. If anyone has ever seen a psychologist about this problem, I'd love to hear your feedback. I'm not thrilled about the expense of going this route, but honestly I'll do anything at this point.

Yup, me too. I am 54 and have done this all my life. I've read it's a form of OCD - over-grooming. This is why some people will pick or pluck or scratch other areas of their bodies - always looking for "perfecting" that area. My dad used to say (he had it too - runs in the family) "I picked that cuticle piece all the way to my elbow." Other people in my family over groom other areas. Mine is the cuticle picking. Bit my nails when I was very young. Quit that a long time ago. I have beautiful long nails and ugly red cuticles!

I thought i was such a weirdo until i found this site. OMG I have been picking for about 15 years now i starrted by chewing thew inside of my cheeks since i was a kid but then i moved on to this... (i still chew my cheeks sometimes too.) I am on 3 antidepressants and still nothing. sometimes i pick until i bleed and then wear bandaids to hide it. i know my friends at work probably wonder why i have bandaids on all the time. i am hoping that just rewading some posts and being able to write about this will help me. i seem to be worse lately because i am not happy with my life and i have no friends outside of work and i am stressed and bored. right now i am trying really hard not to pick and i want to get a manicure to see if that helps. i just can't take it anymore!

hi im 27 coming up for 28 soon and i have bein picking since i was a child far as i can remeber im soo over the moon i found this site skin pick i know now im not along n a freak . my mum used to always say to me that my fingers would fall off if i dident stop picking . still from this day forward i still do it but its mostly my arms i pick and time to time its my fingers if i have any scabs i find it really hard to stop it gets to the point now were i have to sit on my hands to stop me from picking but it dont always work .n i pick till i bleed then i stop then i just do it again . every soo often my partner catches me n tells me to stop it . and im like i cant its a bad happit i used to always think that . sum time i pick till i cant pick any more . sum times my arms look a mess n i need to wear long levess or wear a zipper soo i dont pick its when my arms are coverd that when i dont pick . and when my arms are uncoverd i dead to pick n find it really hard not to . can plx any one give me any advice . is their anything for it . i feel is if i get older it may get alot worse .

wow! i was looking on the web for reasons why my nails (specifically my thumb nails) have ridges and look so disgusting...in my search i determined that trauma to the nail bed can cause this. when i was 13 i started getting acrylics put on my nails and once i stopped around age 15 i began "picking"! picking like crazy only my thumb nail cuticles. i too pick till they bleed... use tools to get to that hard to grab piece of cuticle and continue to pull and pick even when it hurts and i know it will bleed. i've often wondered if this is why my nails look the way they do. i dont pick any other cuticles and all my other nails look fine. i've tried to file down these terribly ugly ridges on my nails, use creams, and wear band aids to hide both my ugly nails and even uglier, red and puffy cuticles. i've never met anyone else who does the same thing. and i'm so embarrassed that i keep my thumbs tucked into my fists to keep people from noticing. what do i do? i need help! does anyone else have this weird nail issue as a result of picking? i'd like to know if the two are related.... HEEEELP!

I also pick my cuticles until they bleed! I have never seen anyone else with fingers that look as bad mine, so I am glad that there are other people out there that have the same problem. I have noticed that my mother and grandmother also do the same thing (not to the extent that I do). I have tried everything (neosporin/bandaids, baby oil/lotion and gloves, etc.) and the only thing that has helped me is having acrylic nails put on. The nail is too thick to break the skin. It keeps my cuticles from being attacked. The first time I get them on, it hurts really bad, but it goes away by my next appointment. The downside is the minute they come off my nails, I start to pick at my cuticles again. I am willing to try anything that will help, if there are any other suggestions!

Man-O-Man - I thought I was the only "freak" who self-destructs their hands like this. Ever since I can remember, I have chewed my thumbnails and shredded the cuticles on the thumbs - I mean down to the nubs and blood. Like more than 20 years, okay? The other eight fingers fare well, except I keep the nails very short (with my teeth). Not TOO short, though. I'd love to find a way to stop this nonsense. My co-workers and friends are wigged out. Sigh.

I have been picking at my cuticles since I was about 3. I used to twiddle my hair until there were bald patches, but my mom crocheted a pillow cover with strings around the border. I started twiddling these strings and spared my hair. Now, I twiddle a shoelace or the edge of my t-shirt hem. It helps keep the picking down to a minimum. Also, I try to keep my hands busy, like cross-stitching. I also pick at my face, arms, and neck. The key is to keep my hands busy as much of it is a boredom thing.

I pick my fingers to the extent that all ten of them look infected by a flesh eating virus all the time! The only remedy I have found is to put on professional acrylic nails, they are too thick/smooth to do any damage, try as I may. This however is a costly "treatment" if it can even be considered that because it doens't stop the picking only eliminates the nasty consequences. It costs between $25-$35 every 2-weeks to maintain them. Also, any parents out there: I used to think this was a genetic trait as I inherrited this behavior from my mother who does the exact same thing. Not so, my shrink says that you learn coping mechanisms from your parents. If your parents yell to cope, you will learn to yell etc. I learned that I can pick my fingers to deal with my stress! Also might be worth mentioning: I pick in my sleep, I know because sometimes the bandaids have "pick marks" on them in the morning haha. I also pick when I am excitied, not just negative feelings (stress, boredom, nervousness). And the picking doesn't end with fingers...pimples eat away at my brain until there is a even worse looking crater on my face, eww! rubber buttons on tv remotes call to me, peeling off labels do as well. One more thing: to everyone out there who tries to help by swatting our hands everytime you see us pick....stop it! You are NOT solving our self esteem issues, probably making it worse. Also, by the time we have found a piece of dangling flesh to pick off its too late....we WILL pick at it until it is GONE! swatting doesn't help, it just delays the inevitable.

This is to the comment below me. That is exactly the same as me. That guilty pleasure but you feel you need to clean it and pick off all the dried skin. I then rub paw paw cream on it to 'moisturise' the new skin underneath in hopes in will all get better but unfortunately the cycle is never ending. My middle left hand finger is raw from the cuticle right up to around the first knuckle and has produced this sort of callisced mound. It's so gross but i can't stop. I have even opted to the thin nail scissors to get right under the mound into the cuticle and i 'shave' off the dirty skin on top and up to my knuckle then put paw paw cream on it to moisterise the new skin underneath. Even to those reading this you can see what a viscious cycle it is. My mum and my boyfriend are pleading for me to stop but i can't! help!!

My boyfriend gets so mad and i have always been told to stop picking at my cuticle, but i cant. I tell myself to stop, but i cant physically do it, i thought it was funnt, but now i dont. My friend has the same problem and we both became determined to find out about something that will make us stop. Do i really need to go to a doctor for this?

I never thought I had a problem until, like most of you have said, my boyfriend pointed it out. I knew that I did it and my mom also does it, so I think that I learned the habit from her...(thanks, mom!) Anyway, I realize I am doing it a lot more lately. It starts when there is a little piece of dry skin right underneath the cuticle area, but before the first knuckle. Then I start picking at that piece and I can't stop! Or I pick around the nail at that skin and just keep picking because there are little pieces of skin that I want to get rid of! But, i'm scared because it's kind of getting out of control. It gets to the point where my fingers bleed or are just grossly red and they hurt so bad. I have started to used Bert's Bees cuticle cream but once my fingers are better, they dry up again and the skin picking continues. My boyfriend always hits my hands when he seems me doing it and he has me thinking now that it's a problem! I need advice. Do you think I should see someone about this? If so, WHO?!?!

Oh dear, I just found out that this wasn't just a "bad habit" as my mom would put it, but an obsessive compulsive disorder this year when I went to see my doctor about it, I finally got sick of it and realized I couldn't control the urge when my boyfriend would tell me to stop hurting my hands and I told him I couldn't. For me, if I see something on my fingers and don't pick it, it will eat at me, its like having a hang nail that catches on everything, or a red light in front of your face 24/7, I cant avoid it, and him telling me to stop, frustrated me. It started when I was old enough to chew, I started a nailbiter, and that became not enough to relieve my anxiety, so I would go to the cuticles. I even use tweezers, scissors, anything sharp to do the deed. I have given myself multiple infections in the side of my nail, where I had to drain (but did that stop me from picking at that nail...nope!) I even have nerve damage down my thumbs from all the damage. I have been doing it for so long I don't feel guilty about it, and I never knew what it was like to have pretty nails, so that didn't matter. I have never had my nails past the skin. I have almost had one of my nails come off. And right now I have the lower half of my thumb nail missing, I dont know how it really happened because when I start to pick I go into a zombie like state. I don't feel the pain. At any time at least 7 of my nails will be bleeding (or have recently bled to where you can tell) And now I have very low circulation in my fingers, they are always very very cold. The doctor put me on an anti depressant for my anxiety hoping it will help... I have been on all in the book. Wish I could show you all my thumb... I dont see any end in sight... I dont like cuticles for some reason and pushing them back makes them pop out...maybe thats how this all started...

I go overboard with my picking,i start with the cuticles but when the skin lifts up i keep pulling until it reaches my fingertips and even further down my fingertips.I start bleeding and then i continue with the next finger.My friends and family are always hitting my hands when they catch me doing it...it annoys the hell out of me that they do that to get me to stop!My husband tells me i can stop it,that i need to have willpower,i tell him it's beyond me...i cry,i get frustrated that he doesn't understand...is this madness?A co-worker told me that acupuncture might help because it helps with all sorts of addictions,has anybody tried it?