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NycGuy , 27 May 2011

New here, could use some guidance

I'm a 30 year old man in New York, and I've been picking since I was a kid. I remember passing hours ripping at my arms until they felt like they were on fire. My main areas of focus have been my arms and chest, though the face was always a part of the problem, in the last few months I've been focusing on my face with greater attention, namely my forehead, between my eyebrows and along them. I will stand at a mirror, leaning over the sink with my arms on either side of the mirror while spending long periods of time working the skin on my face. I'll stand there until my knees hurt, until my back and shoulders hurt. I'll pass over the skin once or twice, then aggressively moisturize my skin, thinking that it will prevent any marks or scars in the long run. I've started using neosporin to help things heal faster, I've used SkinFood to help cool the puffy red aftermath and speed up healing, I've used Proactiv, hoping it will clean up the pores I have been picking at for so long. I try to compromise, saying that this time, no nails, just push hard with the fingers or, or placing my thumbs next to each other and rolling the skin up between them, pinching and bruising. I've seriously considered microdermabrasion treatment to help with my very uneven skin, hoping it will even the ridges out and make the damage less visible. I have a problem where I often find myself picking just before leaving the house, then I see what I've done and treat it with moisturizer and visine to take the redness down. I've been spraying my face with cooling thermal spring water, and researching anything that may finally make it so I have nothing to pick at - though I'll always find something. At night in the dark as I'm falling asleep, I trace my fingers over my back feeling for any bump, or the back of my neck, or my scalp. Most times I feel like I catch myself doing it, like I disconnect and just start ripping at myself, there are times when I plead for myself to stop, but it continues anyway... I need to find a way to deal with this. At this point, I now have soft, fleshy and sensitive nodules on my forehead where I've been unable to stop myself from picking, I hope they go away. Any advice, and information, any help is appreciated - I have been able to quit smoking, but this I just can't seem to do.
3 Answers
Lemonlemming
May 27, 2011
Hi. Lots of this is familiar to me. Especially the bit about essentially injuring yourself by carrying on picking for long periods - I don't know about backs and knees, but I'm sure I'm ruining my eyesight focusing in on pores for ages. I think we're all looking for help to stop our skin picking here, so I wish I could help you out like you asked! Just curious - do you think there are any techniques you used in quitting smoking that you could transfer to this problem, with a little creativity? I definitely see my skin picking problem as an addiction like smoking..! Good luck!
Beans13
May 30, 2011
I'm new too. My shoulders, face and lower back are finally scarred enough for me to confront that I obviously have a disorder. I'm 25 and have been picking at myself since I was 9. I know it's something like a nervous habit that I do absent mindedly but that's what makes it so frustrating! As hard as I try to bring it out of my subconscience I feel like I can't stop. It affects my entire life. I feel ugly all the time. It's swim suit season! I don't want people staring at my scars which is what I always feel like they're doing. I am desparate to stop but don't know how. Just knowing that there are other people like me is kind of comforting.
ddruiam
June 04, 2011
Prostop Therapie helpt u in één behandeling om van uw rookverslaving af te komen Ontwenningverschijnselen stoppen met roken en wel op een manier die minimale ontwenningsverschijnselen met zich meebrengt. Het gaat om een eenmalig stopgesprek gecombineerd met een speciale laserbehandeling die ervoor zorgt dat uw lichaam snel geen behoefte meer heeft aan nicotine. Hierdoor zult u veel minder ontwenningsverschijnselen van stoppen met roken ervaren dan bij andere methodes.

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