Skin Picking - Forum

Hello all, I am a 20 year old who has been picking my scalp for some time, but only recently did I realize the damage I was doing to myself. I have been nearly pick free since February but the hair on the top of my head is still largely missing. I have significant flaking in the areas I picked and can't really tell if it's diminishing. Anyone one out there have any stories of hope? Will my hair grow back? -M

Hi all - I am AMAZED something like this even exists. I've been biting my nails my whole life - I was a "daddy's girl" and he always bit/picked so I did and now I'm 28 and it's seemingly getting worse. I've actually been put on zoloft for anxiety and for some reason, I feel less anxious but I'm biting/picking a lot more - all day, everyday. Really bad calluses are forming and that makes me continue to pick - and pick and pick and I don't know what to do!!!! Just reading your guys' stories are comforting since I always just thought this was nothing. But, reading all this - I've had trouble with eating disorders, alcohol issues, I smoke cigarettes and now this. Just feeling a little crazy right now and I don't know - I'm a bit confused by all this information as I thought it was a stupid, harmless habit but now I'm realizing it might be more... ugh.

I'm pretty proud of myself because I have gotten my picking situation under control EXCEPT for blackheads!! Someone posted this same problem before, but I can't seem to find it. It doesn't seem to matter that I'm exfoliating, taking prescription meds for the problem, and steaming my pores open in hopes I can get them out that way. They are still there and it seems the only way to get rid of them is to squeeze them out, which leads to ugly pores and scarring. They are all over my T area, especially my chin. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm starting to have noticeable scarring now. :( Thanks!

I've been picking since I was 11 and I'm 21 now. There's really no place on my body that isn't off limits, if I can reach it, I pick. That means my face, arms, chest, legs and back. Luckily I don't scar easily so I while I have some visible marks from my picking I have escaped all this with minor permanent scarring. My upper arms are the most noticeable and when people ask I just say it's a rash, once I even convinced a doctor it was a rash and he was ready to prescribe medication for my made up ailment. My mom's really the only person who thinks I have a problem, but even then we've never really talked about it and I've never told anyone or seen any kind of counselor about it. I've also never thought it was that big a deal. I was a teenager, teenagers do that sort of thing, no big deal. Plus I wasn't doing permanent damage to myself. Just recently I've realized that it's not just the skin picking. I've bitten the insides of my lips up to the point where they're mainly just scars, I'll bite until I can't eat anything because it stings to have anything on my lips. I also bite my nails and the skin around them and always have, I pick at my cuticles and at hangnails to the point where they bleed and get infected. Also, and I hate to have to admit to something so embarrassing, but my lifelong habit of nose picking is getting ridiculous for my age (heck, it was ridiculous when I was a kid). The biggest thing though? I have a patch of skin on my chin that's numb from being picked at for so long. But even though I know this is a problem, I know I'm doing horrible things to my body and I know I need help, I can't bring myself to stop. I mean, I still feel like it's not that big a deal. It's not some major disease like cancer, and I'm not suicidal or cutting myself, so nothing serious, right? I need to tell somebody all this, I know that I need someone to get me going because I don't know how to convince myself that this is a big enough problem. What have other people done to get themselves started? What made you finally sit up and realize you needed to do something? Is it better to get someone else involved, get outside help - if I get someone else to tell me it's a problem will I finally convince myself?

Hi I'm Gabriella, I'm a junior in high school and i actively participate in drama musical theatre I have a job and I go to church. I'm currently starting a bible study at my house and I'll be taking several AP classes this year. Needless to say I'm a busy person, but it's really hard to be so busy and not have people ask questions about my arms and legs. My mother is horrible about it to me, granted she's trying the whole tough love thing I bet, but honestly it tears me apart. I've maybe stopped a total of like a year my whole life. I look horrible, I hide my legs from people all the time. Every year it's a huge argument with my mother whether or not I'll be wearing shorts that summer, and we've just recently moved to Florida a year ago. honestly sometimes I feel like just quitting, because I have absolutely no support (but I have many judgmental glances). It's so hard to be a fifteen year old girl with this.

Hi all, I'm new to the site and ought to introduce myself. I'm a 23 year-old female from, just finished my Bachelor's degree in January in Geographic Info Systems. I just worked for the census hope to start grad school next year, but picking has kinda stopped me dead in my tracks here :( I started picking around the 5th grade. Since then, more often than not than not, there has been an open sore on my body. I always have chosen spots that are easily concealed (scalp, inside my ears) except in high school when I took over my face... at that point I had to drop out. After getting it somewhat under control, I went to a community college, and ended up transferring to a 4-year school, the school I just graduated from. There have been periods of up to 2-3 years where I've gone without picking, and even with psychiatic, psyhological, and dermatological help, the problem has always come back... until June 30th. While my lymph nodes in my neck have gotten larger in the past due to sores, the one on the left side of my neck swelled up practically overnight. I had been losing weight 1-2 pounds per week over 3 months of eating healthy and excercising, but despite that I had the wound in my ear I kept mercilessly picking at day in and day out. The swelling became unbearable, and I forced myself to a)not touch the wound and b)clean it and put neosporin on it 2 times daily... the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Then all my lymph nodes began to swell- never had that happen before, fatigue, night sweats, enlarged spleen, and in the 2nd week I developed a hard time swallowing and lots of saliva and a little bit of milky mucus developing in the back of my throat. I assume that's related to the nodes near my thyroid getting inflamed, but I really don't know. I'm scared. I've been to urgent care once, the ER once, and my primary three times so far. My blood tests have all come back normal, with the exception of my platelet volume being low. No mono, (clearly) no HIV, no Lyme, but... no answers! I am alarmed that I have given myself lymphoma of some sort... with the forced rapidness of cell division over many years, I think it's reasonable to think that cancer may be the culprit! Anyone else have any similar stories about lymph nodes? Any help will be MORE than appreciated! I saw someone in the last thread I replied to had a similar story and I hope she replies, but if not I really could use some advice or shared experiences related to skin picking, lymph nodes, and possible cancer :(

I have a few pink dents in my forehead from picking that occurred a few weeks ago. It is easily covered with makeup but I do want to be able to go to the pool or beach without being self conscious. Has anyone found a semi cheap cure for pink scars?

im 15 years old, ive had csp since i was seven. im coverd in scars from my neck down. when i was eight i had a staff infection in my ankle and my leg almost had to be amputated but thankfully the doctors saved it. i missed a month of school and then i was homeschooled for another month while i learned to walk again. when i got back to school all the kids would question me and i all i would say is i was sick. all my life my moms done the explaining for me so i never really learned anything about csp. i hid my scars up until last summer, i use to wear sweaters and jeans all year round. this year was my freshmen year of highschool and in no way was i ready for it. i am very big on soccer i feel like its my only relief from csp. i decided to go out for my schools team, i made varcity. all the girls team asked at least once what was all over my body and when i would tell them i had cps and its kind of like a form of ocd they would reply with "does that mean your skin is like paper" or "is it because you hate yourself". i qiut trying to get them to understand what it really was after the first week of practice. i went back to wearing sweaters and jeans everyday after that and i wore longsleeves and sweats to practice. the soccer teams werent the only ones to piont out my scars, so i decided to look up csp and i found out alot about it and my moms working with my doctors to find a therapist they think could help me. ive only told one person about my csp and he just keeps urging me to stop and ive tried to explain that its not that easy. i feel like i have no one to really talk about my csp with and whenever i try people dont understand no matter how hard i try and make them

I mostly pick at white heads or pimples that haven't come to the surface of my skin yet. I get a huge release when I pop a zit or pick at a scab. Does anyone have any good advice on things I can keep with me to both occupy my hands AND get the same release feeling?

I am finally seeing a therpist and being open about my skin picking. Therapy has started, and includes wearing gloves. I am serious about not wanting to pick, but I am picking MORE and failing miserably with my attempt to stop. Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone have any insights as to why I could be reacting this way, actually getting worse instead of better?