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DreamsInSepia , 25 Feb 2010

5 hours of lip picking!:S

Ugghh, I just spent 5 hours picking my lips, unable to stop and now it's 4 in the morning. This is really sucky because now I can't sleep because I'm so angry at myself, and I also have school tomorrow and a few huge projects do to. Maybe this is one of the ways that I self sabotage. Does anyone else have it like this, where it's impacting all different areas of your life? I was wondering if there's anyone on here who has had successful treatment of this? I would lovvveee to figure something out!
18 Answers
vacant-mind
March 01, 2010
When it starts to interfere with you life you should try seek help!
lip-picker
March 06, 2010
I know what you're talking about. I've been trying to stop for years, with only partial success. I started a site that deals with lip picking - http://www.lip-peeling.com, you can find some info there. Maybe something will be useful for you. Good luck...
HideMyTweezers
July 05, 2012

In reply to by adriana0206

Hi.. I am sorry you are having so much trouble.. I tend to pick my lips too.. if they are chapped, among the various other things I can get my hands on... What helps me is that everytime I want to pick my lips I put on balm... Try using the peppermint ones that will burn when u put it on, that way it is a behavioral punishment to you every time you do it. Stay away from the long lasting colored ones, o rthe lips stains, they add to the drying effect. But try using some bright colors, that way you'll try not to touch your mouth, and you'll try not to pull with your teeth.
jacquie
March 07, 2010
ugh i find myself peeling my lips and inside of my mouth when i cant pick my skin. its so available and descrete since i can just do it with my teeth or by rubbing my lips together. i think i do it unconciously more than i am aware of. its making it harder to quit picking with my fingers because its like a loophole i can get away with without picking my body. i read this as a beauty tip for keeping lipstick smooth, but if you gently exfoliate with a washcloth and keep your lips moisturized at least there will be less to pick at. good luck!
Troglobite
March 14, 2010
Yes I feel for you too....i'm currently sitting here with red raw lips (Sigh)....it didn't take me 5 hours though because i'm pretty much an expert precision surgeon on how best to pick my lips....so I did them all 3 days in a row...today is the 3rd day....it only takes me half an hour (But still annoying and time wasting) it still hurts like hell...especially the very middle of the lips OWIES.....oh and a couple times i picked too far down and started picking the skin UNDER my bottom lip....now THAT hurts Actually i don't pick my top lip......it's mostly just the bottom lip
roland19
March 18, 2010
I didn't realize others did this. I guess I should have. My problem comes and goes. I can go a few weeks looking normal and then one day, I catch myself in the middle of it. Its like I can't detect when I begin in order to tell myself not to do it. Then, because i've already started, I have to finish or it will be uneven. Recently, I had picked the bottom lip (always bottom) raw and then they healed for about a week before about a half hour ago when I destroyed them again. I feel like I could prevent myself if I knew I was about to start. I start picking without thinking about it so its hard to just tell myself not to do it.
janiegun619
April 04, 2010
For the past few months (non-stop) I have been picking at my lower lip. I pick at it all the time: in classes at school, and wherever I am. It has been at such a bad point that it would delay me for hours when I tried to fall asleep. I would just lay in my bed, in the dark, picking at my lower lip (inside and out) until the layers bled. I was very painful but I was not able to stop. I would sometimes go so deep that I was afraid it wouldn't grow back. Afterwards I globbered A&D oinment on it to numb the pain a little bit. I always say to myslef that I won't do it again, but of course I do and it is a never-eneding cycle. My lips are better now, but I still bite at it to try to even out the skin, and I haven't been picking at them to the point where they bleed. The reason I do it anyway is because I crave for the layers of my lip to be even. Even right now, my lips are not back to normal.
experienced-LI…
January 26, 2011
I am a 21 year old female who has dealt with this issue for years. I honestly can't remember how long I've picked at my lips... I don't remember when my lips were normal, though I know they were at some point. I think it probably started in high school.. I often, very often, find myself picking at my lips...with my fingernails, rubbing my lips together, biting my lips, doing a combination of the above, anything. I'm honestly not even sure why I do it, or why I started doing it. It just started...and then I couldn't ever stop. I hate it. Sometimes my lips bleed, they are always dry and cracked and rough. My lips bleed sometimes and I just keep on biting or picking. It hurts and I just keep doing it... I always thought it was just a bad habit.. something I started and can't stop. I want to stop...I want to have normal pretty even lips... I never knew that there was an actual medical name for this. I just was thinking about my stupid lips just now and thought of googling for it... and this is what I found. I have never known anyone else to pick their lips...so I thought I was the only one. Thank you so much for sharing your story and letting me know that I am not alone in this. Maybe I will find a treatment that will work for me. I want to stop this now.
chwityhaha
November 13, 2011
I have the same problem! So I really want my lips to look normal so I wind up picking them thinking that it will make them better which makes them worse which make me want to pick them until they are even, it a vicious cycle and no matter what I do I can't stop. The only thing that has helped me is I use neosporin lip health overnight repair, I put some on at night and it motivates me to leave them alone at night and does help them actually look and feel more even but I still wind up picking at tiny imperfections that aren't there BUT for people who maybe are picking just because they want their lips to look healthy and normal I would defiantly check out neosporin lip health overnight repair.
SeptemberSapphire
November 15, 2011
I had a major problem with this when I was little. What helps me is keeping my lips moisturized with chapstick or balm. When there isn't dry skin peeling off, as gross as this may sound, it's really no fun to pick at them.
shirtyberty
December 19, 2011
I have this problem. Try keeping lip balm or lip gloss by your bed so you can put some on if you wake up in the night, and keep it with you all the time. It worked for me :)
Michelle0818
December 29, 2011
Could I just say that chapstick/lip gloss doesn't really work? At least for me, it actually encourages my picking. It moisturizes, then it dries out, causing the flakes, causing me to pick even more than I normally do. The only reason I use chapstick (namely the Blistex blue container) is that it feels so good after I'm done picking. Sad thing is that I use the blue Blistex for that purpose alone. I'm 27 years old and swear I've been picking my lips for 27 years. I have no idea where or when it started...and honestly, I have no desire to stop. My 24 year old sister does it, too...and we must look like a bunch of psychopaths when we're together. We also rub/pick at my scalp, but do no damage to it...we call it "picking for head seeds," trying to find follicles or dried sweat things... it's disgusting, I know, but it's an obsession that feels so damn good. I do it because of stress/anxiety, reaching for comfort... and I stress a lot, so I do it all the time. My husband hates it and tries to make me feel bad for doing it, but it doesn't help when I just don't want to stop.
gabina
February 13, 2012
Vaseline! I've been picking at my lips for as long as i can remember. I can't really say i've "tried" to stop, rather, having my hand smacked away by my mom or siblings. My mom had me try vaseline, it doesn't stop it, but it's more obvious to yourself as a reminder when you go to pick, and your fingers are greasy. So, it helped me only pick one layer and not go on, or pick and keep putting on vaseline so it heals. Because thats why it helps me, i have really soft lips, no one knows i have the habit because even when i pick, the vaseline heals them overnight. Especially the new cocoa butter vaseline!! Smells like chocolate (still tastes like vaseline) Hope this helps, maybe i cant find the stressors that make me pick, but at least I won't have bloody lips like i did growing up.
CD1111
April 09, 2012
I literally can't believe others go through this. My friends and family hit my finger, but it still won't get me to stop. No matter how much vaseline I put on, the sensation of picking my lips is too important. What has worked for other people
adriana0206
July 05, 2012
I am so happy there are other people who have the same habit of picking there lips. I have done this since i was born. It gets worst when I am stressed. I don't know why i never can stop. I love my lips but I keep picking at them and can't stop not even when they start to bleed. I think it has got worst over time. I hate this habit and I will do anything to stop picking my lips. Is there anything I can do?

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