eczema and dermatillomania

I have had a revelation, recently, by finding this forum. I have had eczema for ever and ever. I have been doing all sorts of exploration recently, which has led me to eczemabible.com and to various skin picking sites such as this one. I am starting to think that its quite likely that the eczema I had on my face for all of my 20s was made worse by me and my habit of picking. Unbelievable... well, not really. I remember being fascinated by having crusts under my ears when I was a girl, and even desired them so that I could pick at them. Oh, and again as a child I would pick the fluff off of my jumpers, which led to the great annoyance of my music teacher. At 24 I used to hit my face to give me relief from the intense need to itch itch itch, and would pick at any bits of damaged skin, and there was a lot, and this of course made it worse! My skin was definitely infected, and I even went overseas in that condition! My self confidence was always low with any blemishes, and they were usually weepy or flaky. I had gorgeous skin at 18! but didnt we al at one point? But there was absolutely no way that I would use any medication that was prescribed by a doctor, being from a 'holistic' medicine background, with a mum who mistrusted anyone in the medical profession. Ahhhh, I spent a long time searching for the answers in the most round about manner possible. Finally at 33 I had a baby in the hospital, and I got over my fear of such places. I found a dermatologist who was unwilling to let me slip under the radar again, and so I began an intensive course of steroid ointments and wet-wraps etc. Sweet relief, for moments at least. Until I had used the steroids too much, and they in turn became a problem. It wasnt until really really recently, like two weeks ago, that I started using a product called Elidel, which I was reminded about by the woman who wrote the Eczema Bible site, which I started using, to immediate and intense improvement. During this healing phase I came across this site, and found that a lot of my skin problems seem to be self perpetuated and inflicted. Obsessive habits came to light that I was unaware of. My relaxing but ritualistic self neck massage every night was enough to damage my skin layers, when I stopped doing it, I found some even more rapid healing. And my intensive furrowing of my scalp several times a day. Oh, and hot showers... such intensely painfilled bliss. I am not 100% healed by any means... A long way to go. Stress, anxiety, overdose of stimulants such as sugar, or really hot water... these can all make things worse for me. Lack of sleep is a biggy. I would love to chat with other people who have found good results, or that are seeking insight into their own dramas. Love to you all. Life is a journey, walk it well. Skin is the most powerful learning path, folks. Take a moment to listen to what you are saying to yourselves and see if you can change the earworm habits. Love.