picking and eating skin from feet and fingers... what is this?

Posted November 7th, 2009 by alice.alice.alice

first off, I want to say how happy and amazed i am to find that there are other people out there with the same condition as me and that i site like this even exists... it's great. i feel supported and not so crazy and alone. i am a fourteen year old female, but please don't take me any less seriously because of my age. i am fully capable of communicating just as well as any fourty-year-old. to the point... i pick and eat the skin from my feet and fingers, chew and eat it. i've done this for so long i have just accepted it as normal. i try not to think about it too much. even when i do it, i don't admit it to myself. i pick and pick until my skin bleeds and is sore to walk on for days. right now it's not too serious, i don't obsess. but i'm still young, i'd like to stop this habit before it forms any more! if you can tell me the name of this compulsion i would really appreciate it. or just tell me your story...i want to hear about YOU. take care.

On April 5th, 2013 Irama said:

I'm also a teenage girl, age 15. When I was about 8 I chewed my fingers and nails. One day I decided to cut my toe nails, I peeled them off and skin came along with it. I ate it. The feeling of peeling and picking felt great. And eating it was the reward. I started exploring other parts of my feet and digging deeper with anything I could find and picking the skin and eating it. It hurt but I didn't care. I was too focused on getting the next big piece of skin. The next day I wouldn't be able to walk, I'd have to hide my limp and my gouged feet. No sandals in the summer and no swimming in the pool, I was confined to my self. Secretly destroying myself. I haven't done It very much lately. But I get these compulsions and I can't control it. Is there any help for me?

On March 12th, 2013 vallpalll said:

I've been eating the skin off my fingers since I was a few years old. I'm fourteen as of last month. I bite my nails, the skin on my fingers, all of them, and my big toe. It's nice to know that I'm not the only person suffering from this. I've self diagnosed myself with dermatophagia. Many of the websites and articles I've looked at say that this disorder is because of traumatic events in your childhood, which never happened to me. ADD/ADHD which I don't believe I have. Anxiety and depression, self esteem issues, and OCD. All of which I've encountered. My parents are offering me $120 to stop biting the skin off my nails and biting my nails in general. If anybody has overcome this, please let me know! My parents and friends are scared for me as I grow up, but I think I'm fine, denial of course. Most days I can't write in school, or type on my phone or computer. People often ask me what happened to finger and I just say I accidentally cut myself. It's a horrible habit, and so embarrassing to tell people! Please help!

On January 2nd, 2013 roaringsnail said:

Hi! I can't believe I found someone with the exact same problem! I pick at and eat the skin around my cuticles and on the calloused areas of my feet. I am doing so as I type! I am 12 years old, and I can't remember how long I've been picking my cuticles, but my feet just started recently.

On November 11th, 2012 kairos said:

I am so happy I found this blog. I have been picking my skin for as long as I remember, I have noticed that it comes and goes as episodes during some months though. I take antidepressants Lexapro and I notice that the picking comes back when I miss a dose, but it has never gone away. I get a satisfying something when I pick and eat the skin of my feet, it is gross and sometimes I can't walk right because it hurts. There have been months when my feet are perfect, no biting my nails, no picking the skin of my fingers and toes or the bottom, my fingernails are grown and pretty, but then I find myself back, I am learning this is some sort of compulsive disorder, which I will now tell my psychiatist, I have never told anyone. I have noticed though that the urge is very strong when I am reading or watching a movie. Please share anything that you have found works to stop please.

On October 31st, 2012 anijummai said:

Oh my! I never ever thought there were other people like me o! This nasty habit freaks my family out, my fiance cannot comprehend it, and in my country stuff like this just don't make sense. I'm totally tired of it and no matter how ugly my toes get I just can't stop peeling them and eating the skin, same for my fingers. My mom keeps asking if I'm hungry. It's frustrating and I've tried all I can to stop. Fake nails, nail varnish, plaster; I'm a 30 year old female, I need to stop this before I have kids and they pick up d habit too.

On June 27th, 2012 anonymous_the_ninja said:

I feel less weird now, I ALWAYS have bitten the skin around my finger/toe nails (along with biting the nails) I just try and catch myself do it and say "no, you'll die if you do it." (No, it probably won't kill you, saying it will just detours me from snacking on my own flesh.)

On May 13th, 2012 JayRKay3 said:

I'm 13. I've had this habit for... I can't even remember. 7 maybe? I eat pick and chew the skin around my fingers and the bottoms of my big toes. My future step mom wants us to get pedicures for her wedding and i really wanna quit cause I don't want to say no but I never want them to see the bottom of my toes.. It freaks me out because I'll get stressed and before I know it, there I go AGAIN eating and picking the skin off my toes and I can't stand not stopping. I've tried the no nail biting stuff but it didn't work.. I need to stop.. Soon.

On May 8th, 2012 annette said:

Hi all, i have always chewed my finger nails and ate it. 10 years ago, while i was pregnant i started peeling my heels and around my big toe and eat the skin. Horrible habit that has cause infections and the inability to walk at times. My husband say that one day i will end up in the hospital, i just brushed him off, not thinking much about it. The other day, i was talking with a girl who is much younger then me. She told me that she was a "cutter" i of course i thought "thank god i have never done that" but, i after i thought about it for a while, it really is a form of self mutilation. The girl prayer over me, i still pick, but i catch my self and try to differ the temptation. I really didn't know that it is a disorder. OCD of what i have been told. i don't think i am going to get on meds or see a professional, but would be great to get support from other pickers.

On April 15th, 2012 Anne1959 said:

Hi Everybody...i found this site by accident. I am so tired of this addiction that I don't know what to do. I started picking and eating my finger-skin ever since i was a very young child. I lived in a home with alot of stress: watching my dad beat my mother, daily and dad was very verbally, emotionally and sexually abusive with me. I remember my dad trying to bargain with me to get me to stop picking at my fingers. He told me that he would buy me a doll if I could stop doing it for 1 week. I did it and got my doll, but...the habit has continued throughout my adult years and i am now 52 yrs old. Within the past 3 years i began picking and eating the skin on the bottom of both feet. I cannot understand why i do it. If anyone knew I would be so ashamed but to be honest with you...this habit relieves some kind of inner turmoil..i cant explain it. I am "driven" to do it, and i look forward to doing it daily...as if it was some kind of reward or enjoyable activity. I never, ever thought that others did it much less find a blog on other's who do it. Then, come to find out it is a compulsive disorder. I guess it felt good to know there was an answer to what i was doing but on the other hand it only makes me feel crazy since it is in the DSM under emotional disorders. I take Prozac 20 mg daily for depression and am also on Adipex to lose weight. I have noticed that ever since i started Adipex that the obsession with peeling and eating the ginger and foot skin has increased. Not sure if there is a correlation. Thanks for letting me vent...maybe i will peel & eat less if i blog more..rofl!

On August 30th, 2011 Lyoung1 said:

Hi alice. Im luisa and im 22. I've been picking and eating the skin on and around my fingers for as long as i can remember. I wait for it to get hard and calloused and then i peel it off and lay it out, then i pick it up and eat it when im done. *sigh* i stopped for a couple of years. I started going to the nailery regularly and getting acrylic on my nails. This seemed to have put my compulsion on pause until recently. I'm a nursing major and long/artificial nails are prohibited for health reasons. They're a reservoir for germs, so i was forced to take them off. Lo and behold, my compulsion is back at full force and, again, i am picking until my skin is red and raw. Smh. Alice, you are not alone.

On August 30th, 2011 378100cmk said:

Hi. Im 11 years old and I have had this problem since I was 9. It all started when I seen my sister biting her nails out of habit. I always had long nails so I tried it and was addicted fast. When I nearly bit my nails down to the nub I took a bite out of my skin and loved it. My fingers were raw completely the next couple of days. I still have this problem. It's not only my fingers I eat the skin off of. It's also my feet. My heel is raw and I can't barley walk on it sometimes. I have tried so many different things to stop my addiction but nothing works. I need help.

On November 7th, 2009 Moonkitty said:

Hey Alice, I'm 31 and have chewed and eaten the skin around my finger cuticles since I was at least 6. In fact, I pick and eat all my scabs and acne. I hate it, as does everyone on this site. That's why we are here :) We are all ashamed of our compulsions...some pull hair, some pick their scalps, and many chew and pick their feet and fingers. Just posting on the site is a great first step to recovery. We have dermatillomania. It's a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. Check out the forum and welcome!

For information on the skin picking disorder (Dermatillomania), symptoms, causes and treatment methods, get the Complete Guide to Skin Picking Disorders.