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jacksmome08 , 24 Dec 2008

im 20 and ive been eating my finger skin all my life.

i'm 20 and i'm happily married and i have a 6 1/2 month old and i'm pregnant again. but all my life, i mean...since i can remember. i have always bitten and eatin the skin off my fingers, i used to bite my nails too but i stopped that. and i eat the skin on my lips sometimes and even scabs when i get them, i used to cut myself just to get scabs so i could pick them. my husband helped me stop that. the biggest thing i do now is just bite my fingers. and i like doing it, its weird, and my fingers look horrible but it makes me feel better. but i'm afraid of future problems with the skin on my fingers, cuz i've been doing it for years. and i haven't found a way to stop. even strong will doesn't help.
275 Answers
i-sing-19
December 23, 2010

In reply to by KatSta

I agree with everything here! When I was younger, my mom used to tell people that I picked the skin around my fingernails and everyone just looked at me weird, and I never knew that it was necessarily bad. As I grew up, I started to notice that my fingers never looked like other girls' and noticed that I wasn't acting "normal". I have yet to find a way to make myself stop, other than repeatedly getting acrylics put on, because they make it impossible to pick the skin away. I oftentimes will bleed and need bandaids and my fingers look all sorts of torn up but it really gets to me now I don't even enjoy it anymore I just do it because I can't stop. I guess that classifies it as an addiction, huh? But I am with you, I don't know of ANYONE else who does this. I never knew it was a real disorder until recently, I thought it was just something I did!
espanolablue
July 05, 2010
hello im espanolablue im 38 yrs old . me too i been pick my skin off for 35 yrs since i was 5 yrs old. it's so much damage the colors of my skin. it's not a scar tho. cuz i look at my fingers it is ocd that you have just like me so I dont know how to stop doing it. cuz I think i shuld get help cuz im too anxiety worry angry sad crying all that make me want pick my skin fingers and eating skin and scab too only it's drying out mostly i always rip my skin off so badly it's keep blood i do suckin my blood all the times and i dont know why and i do think about it i just keep do it for so many yrs from now. it's sad i know.. yea it is very seriously i have. i always hide from them sometimes i put band it on it all of my fingers i dont pick thumb skin very rarely most of skin is front of my skin fingers not skin bottom for 35 yrs sometimes i do pick my skin lip or feets very rarely and most are my skin fingers all the times.. my ex fiance or my family tried to tell me to stop and i can't stop cuz I'm nervous breakdown a lot there is no way make stop it. becuz it's been too many years ever since i was 5. but i need some help cuz i dont know how to stop. . I've been feel like a trap when i get stress out like that. cuz that something control over me.. it is too damn hard! it's scary for me. tho. i always end up bleed for like 4 mintues then stop cuz i suck my blood up and put alcohol pads on my fingers oh boy it's hurt like hell too many times.
jimmycimmy
July 23, 2010
I'm now 20 and I've been biting the skin off/around all of my fingers since I was about 5. I stopped once when I was little due to my parents making a deal that they'd buy me a computer when I stopped. I started up again almost instantly, and now its horrible. Im always hiding my fingers under tables, chairs, in pockets. One thing that does help a bit for me is skiing, because you wear gloves all day, there's no temptation. But I hate it so much, it looks foul. when people ask what it is I say I fell off my bike or something along those lines. I've always had this theory that If i stopped doing it I would loose heaps of weight. Random, somewhat even hopeful.
titanium80
August 09, 2010
oh my! if only internet was available to me during those years i wasn't immature anymore. i knew this was a disorder, never knew it had a term and that many do the same things i did. nail biting for me was more common to other than eating finger skin. so i presumed nail biting was more "normal" than the latter because i never see anyone do the latter as compared to nail biting - be it compulsive or just to remove some extra length immediately for lack of a nail cutter on that moment. I'd like to comment because i know this would help a lot of people. My compulsion to eat skin finger didn't start from eating skin finger. On my childhood, i can remember eating skin from my feet's SOLES!!!! yes that's right! Others may be shocked or would laugh at this but it's true. and since just now i found out i'm not alone in this compulsion to eat finger skin, i think i'm not alone at my experience on that sole skin eating. The reason for me telling this is because I WAS ABLE TO STOP eating sole skin but NOT (YET) the finger skin eating. What did i do to stop the sole skin eating? It was not self-help but it was due to the fact of what my father said to me. It was something along this lines, "Eww yuck you enter the bathroom in barefoot and then you eat your soles afterwards." It got me to think of all those germs,feces etc everything dirty connected with bathroom,toilet that i totally stopped eating sole skin ever since. After seeing this site and seeing i am not alone in this, it got me thinking why have i not applied that to my finger skin. That's why i said YET because i know this time i will finally be able to rid myself of this disgusting humiliating compulsion. I will think of the nasty places that my hands can usually go to the germs,bacteria etc I hope my experience can help others. Thanks and God Bless.
bottervliegie
September 16, 2010

In reply to by titanium80

Nice! I bite the cuticles om my fingers (not so much anymore, but I still do), but I also had a weird habit as a child: biting the cuticles on my toes!! Hehe! I forgot about that until you mentioned your soles. And I also remember what made me stop. Sadly it wasn't anything anyone did or said or even a choice - I just couldn't reach anymore! I wish there was as simple a solution as that for all of our other habits...
applegirl
December 18, 2010

In reply to by titanium80

i used to do that too! my feet would have dry skin and calluses from running around in soccer and playing outside and i would love to pick at it then eat it! though i always kept it hidden. ive quit, not really sure how i did though, just wouldn' t let myself do it. however, i pick my hands, chest, and face now, so still working on it. anyone ever wonder why we don't just pick, we eat it too? b/c i know if i pick but don't eat, its not as comforting....thoughts?
penina22
August 09, 2010
My whole life I thought something was wrong with me since I had never heard of anyone else picking at their skin on their fingers. I thought I was the only one, I was so embarassed by it, and have hid my fingers my whole life (im 22). I was so good at hiding it, no one has noticed, until now. My husband noticed my weird habbit and Ive always wanted to stop, i just didnt know how. Its so addicting I cant stop. It somehow calms me to pick at the skin around my fingers even though it looks horrible! Its cool that I am finally accepting it and looking for help...glad to know im not the only one....I just want to STOP one day....i am a pretty girl but my hands look horrible....
Kyle260
September 14, 2010
Im so glad im not alone here. Ive been chewing and eating the skin around my fingers since i was 13 im 20 now...i really cant stand it idk why i do it if i see a piece Of skin hanging i bite it Off and keep going for hours.. My skin is so dry and always has skin hanging and i alwys bite it Off. My gf hates it And smacks Me everytime i do it but it doesnt help i do it without even knowing. And when I do it i get into it And excessivly bite until i bleed sometimes even. I hate getting out of the shower and seeing My hands all pruny and nasty from where ive chewed i constantly hide my hands because im embaressed. I need to stop :( idk what to do
elaynamariel
October 23, 2010
im only 14 years old and i have this problem. i want to stop so bad but i just cant and i dont no why. i think it started as a nervous habit when i was 13 and ever since then its become an addiction. im only 14 and i dont want to have this problem the rest of my life.
Clu
October 24, 2010
I'm a 23 year old male. I do this occasionally, started once when I was clipping my finger nails and for some reason started clipping off the skin around the nails. I don't do that anymore but sometimes I'll bite the skin off, but it happens randomly and not often. Sorry to hear about your problem, at least its on your hands and not your face where it's a lot easier to notice. Have you tried improving your diet? I've been improving mine more and more, picking organic natural foods that are good for the skin, good for your liver, nothing with sugar in it, etc. If anything I feel better knowing I'm healthier. :)
focus7
October 26, 2010
Hi, SInce I was 3, I can recall my parents telling me to stop picking my fingers. The skin around them bled, almost healed then I had to pick again. I have sisters that never did this. They always had beautiful nails and fingers. About 9 months ago I started going to a manicurist. Even though they were getting groomed and painted each week, I didn't stop picking. The manicurist got used to "cleaning" up my scarring mess. About 6 months ago, she suggested I get acrylic nails. They are kept somewhat short, because I have trouble with longer nails. When I saw the shape of my thin ugly nails change before my eyes, I lost the urge to pick. My skin healed in 2 weeks and I have not picked since. If I wanted to pick, I wouldn't be able too, because the nails are too dull to break the skin. I look down at my nails and see the beautiful hand that I have never had. The answer for me to stop picking is to simply change my focus. I look at my nails/fingers, they are great.....there is nothing to think about anymore. I hope this helps someone.....
yukiputman
November 12, 2010
im 23 and have ben bit and eating my skin on my fingers for ever. i don't think ill ever stop. id some what like to. becouse sometime my hand are so swollen that is hard to change my babby girl. i like doing it it makes me fell better when i eat my fingers. i don't under stand why tho. i no it call dermatophagia and that its an ocd diorder or call wolf biters. it don't help nowing this i still cant find a way to stop.
Cindi
November 12, 2010
I am so surprised to find a group about this. I am quite a bit older than most people here, I will be turning 60 soon. Since I was a little girl, I have bitten my fingernails and chewed the skin around my nails, dry skin on my lips and in side of my cheeks. Right now I have gravitational dermatitis on legs. I am also recovering from a lymphoma cancer tumor in the same area of my leg. I had 5 weeks of radiation therapy in February and have been trying to get the open wound left behind to heal. All of this has also left lots of bumps of scabs and with my OCD, it's all I can do to know pick at them all. In fact, I did the other night and opened one of the biopsy sites and blood was gushing everywhere. That led to the dermatologist for lecture about not picking at my skin. Yeah, right, like it's that easy! So now I have a staph infection that has moved to my hands, my face (from picking and scratching), my eyes, my throat (from biting my fingernails) and all up and down my leg from my toes to my hips. She gave me a cortizone cream to rub on the rash, which is agonizing because just the process of putting on the cream is the overwhelming desire to pick while I am rubbing. I've found that putting an ice back on the area helps, and drinking chamomile tea, using Rescue Remedy, and taking anti-anxiety pills. I feel like I'm such a basketcase. I have ADHD, OCD, DID.. I've had cancer twice, survived a near fatal car accident that left my partially disabled, survived the loss of four babies from miscarriages and the death of 16 year old daughter 10 years ago, and was sexually abused as a child (from age 2 to 19). I'm assuming that most of these disorders are a result of the abuse. Just when I think I'm finally getting it all together again, I find a new disorder, disability, problem or whatever. I'm really know looking for then. Sometimes I think they are being revealed to me one by one so they would be easier to cope with. I'm just so happy to learn that I'm not alone in battling this..
mommy04
November 20, 2010
Wow. This is alot to take in, I am a loving stepmom to a five year old girl. I have been in her life since she was born and she lives with me and her dad. Now for the last year or so she has been chewing the skin on all of her fingers and tearing them down layers and layers. I have tried lotions, and bandaids,. Now I put vaseline on them and tell her when she wants to pick at them to just rub her fingers together and it will make them smooth. She likes it, and it seems to work... until she visits her mom. Then she goes back to doing it. She says she doesnt even notice that she is, but I dont understand how it cannot cause her pain?!?! Can someone help me with that? I mean they look horrible and she says she wants pretty hands but she wont quit. Is there really nothing that helps? Her mom is trying to put her on an antidepressent but for god sakes shes FIVE! So her dad is fighting that, but there has to be something.. please someone give me some hope...
applegirl
December 18, 2010

In reply to by mommy04

i just turned 20, but i was one of those same kinds of kids. since everyone thinks its a phase that will pass, they never reeallllly tried to stop me. ive since progressed to also picking scabs and acne and stuff just like everyone else here. my best advice is that i do it the least when i keep my hands busy. i know shes five so its hard, but i did the little gimp things when i was little and now crochet and knit blankets to give to charity, just to keep my hands busy. i always did it when i was bored or watching tv or reading, which it sounds like she does too. ill admit there's slight pain, but theres a huge comfort/relief thing tied to it. i cant explain why, but there definitely it. keeping her hands busy with things like that might help. but definitely a great idea with rubbing her fingers together, i do that when im fighting the urge in class or something and can't just pull out a blanket to crochet haha.
Sinfulsanity
September 28, 2011

In reply to by mommy04

Sorry this isn't much of a reply, but I'm 27, and seriously have been biting the skin sound my nails (started) then around the tips of my nails and finally I got to biting all the way down to the pads of all my fingers, until they bled! No matter how much it hurt! I would move to another finger and continue! It hurt to wash my hands, put peroxcide (sorry if that's spelled wrong) on my hands (palm) I'd feel it all over the tips of my fingers. I think I started when my dad told me something I couldnt cope with (he died when I was 15 in high school) and I started tearing the skin away from the edge of my nails and so on. I hat doing that and actually successfully managed to stop for 2 years! :D Its hard but I do want to try to help anyone here! When ever I found myself putting my hand to my face at any time, beside scratching my head or face I thought of nubs like someone who has not nails nor fingers scratching or being able to put in my mouth and I would t do it, or just the actual hurt or physical pain it caused I mean I hated touching something and it causing me pain and I stopped! It took s bit and in no way is it a long term thing because I feel that I'm not alone cause I have started again and I felt different! Every one in the military said it was!
Lucy
October 24, 2011

In reply to by mommy04

I am 12 years old and started biting the skin off my finger when I was 7 years old. This ironicly started my MY parents got a divorce. I understand how hard it is to quit. Now that I have braces, it is harder to bite. I stopped for about a month but after I found out my dad and his wife (My stepmom) were going to have a baby, I started up again. I know this may sound a little... wrong but this gives me pleasure. It makes me feel better.
Emily_91
December 23, 2010
I have too my entire life. I used to have raw skin when I picked it and it was extremely painful and used to poke it with something because it hurt and I just liked picking at it. Idk why I did this but I trained myself to not let it get to the raw skin but I still do pick and eat it. Right now I have 3 band aids covering it because it still gets sore and band aids help me not to poke at it and keep picking. I know this sounds soo weird but it's me. If anyone needs to get anything out or talk about this with someone else who suffers feel free to email me at seeemily30@yahoo.com. I'm more then willing to listen.
Chew Chew
January 07, 2011
The thing that made me stop for a good year was Bite No More from Kissusa. I still don't chew my nails now, but I'm starting to chew my skin again, and it's getting bad. Only problem...... can't find Bite No More anywhere now! Applied that to my skin for about a month, and never ate them for a whole year, would love to get some more but I don't think they maike it anymore, and I can't find anything close to that, and I have tried MANY products, but they never work.

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