I eat dandruff,boogers,ear wax,fingernails?Anyone else?

28 Oct, 2011, by broadwaybaby1991

I'm so happy to have found this website!Now I don't feel so weird.I thought i was the only person in the world to have this problem...well I really never thought it was a "problem" until recently. I started biting my nails really really young.I don't remember a time when I didn't.Both my parents and sister bite their nails like I do.At a young age I started picking my nose and eating it.My mom tried every way she knew how to get me to stop.Eventually i grew out of doing it in front of people.I don't remember a time when I didn't pick my nose,ears and bite my nails.I remember when the dandruff picking started.I would always see my mom doing it at a red light,or in the mirror.She would scratch and search for a few minutes.Never obsessively.I remember when I started it was November 2000 because it was the Bush/Gore election(I was 9 at the time).I would search for 15-45 minutes daily after that.I would go into the bathroom and just search all around my head for flakes.Then I would look at them really close.When I was about 14 I started eating them.I don't so this every single day,or maybe I do I just don't realize it.To me biting,eating,scratching etc has become such a habit that I dont even notice when i do it anymore I just do.I was diagnosed with anxiety/depression/PD(type II) and ADD at 14(well ADD at 17).My husband knows that I pick and eat.He thinks it's gross but he used to pick my blackheads all the time.I had an average childhood.Parents divorced but no abuse or anything.I was abused in school by other kids(not for picking) just for being me.I never fit in anywhere.(not because of the picking).My mom used to get a flea comb and pick my flakes,she and I would look at my flakes under a bright light.Which is really weird now that I'm typing it.So what does this all mean?Honestly I've been doing this stuff ever since I can remember and it's not a problem in my life.I don't cause scabs all that much and I do it by myself and I don't think about doing it all the time.And honestly I don't want to stop because I don't see it as a problem,but I would like some advice on what causes this problem.:) Thanks in advance.

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Prefer_to_be_an... August 06, 2013

Well this is great in a weird way! Yes I am a picker! I am so embarrassed, cause everyone finds it disgusting. I kinda do too.. :( I eat my boogers, dandruff and crust from wounds. My best friend used to do it too, but seems to have stopped at least according to what she expresses towards me.. But I don't let her know anymore, so maybe we are just keeping each other in the dark about it... I don't know, I still feel disgusting. I just can't stop, can't explain it.. Been doing it all my life (I'm almost 18) learned that it was frowned upon and tried really hard not to do it in public... Recently I've been trying to tell myself: "this is the last time.." But it never is, kinda like people who have eating disorders like binge eating... I also bite my nails, chew on them and swallow them.. And I bite the skin around the nails, what's it called? Cuticles? Anyway, that gives me ugly, short and flossy nails and ugly fingertips. I really wanna stop doing that.. I am however not embarrassed by it, I find that it is generally more accepted than the rest of my bad habits. This is so great to find that I am not the only one who does this.. It does however seem like we are a very small group of people who do this... Or at least own up to it...

Purple Egg Salad December 02, 2016

I am so glad that there's other people with these habits! So I've picked my nose and eaten it for as long as I can remember. It used to be a lot worse of a habit than it is now, though. I used to not be able to control my urges very much at all, and picked my nose in public seeing no other option. My nose bleeds more often than it should, because of this fact. At least now though I wait until I get home to take care of my business. Then, in the last year or so, I've started digging in my ears. I like to sew, and my favorite way to do it it to take one of my needles and use the eye of it to scrape the earwax out. It feels so good to pull a big gross gob out of there, and I always feel so accomplished afterwords. When needles aren't available, bobby pins are a really great alternative. I've also been known to use pen caps and my finger nails. And, my last thing, my nails. I don't exactly BITE them, I kind of just...scrape under them with my teeth. I don't know why, it's just the most pleasant sensation to put my tooth in between the edge of my fingernail and my finger. I scrape dirt and stuff out that way too. I was diagnosed with anxiety a couple months ago, so I'm sure all my nervous habits are a manifestation of that. But I'm glad to have found a community that doesn't see what I do as weird and gross, even though it might be. Haha.

Nos June 08, 2019

i do pretty much all of the above, its normal and hell if its not then we can all be freaks of nature together.

mcknzlrk June 10, 2019

Wow, I have not admitted this to anyone. I eat my boogers. It is so gross, so embarrassing. I am so happy that I am not the only one!!!! My husband is the only one who knows. You have no idea how much these posts make feel! Thank you for being so open and honest!!

mcknzlrk June 10, 2019

Also Nos, you just made me laugh so hard haha

anonymouspleasu... March 13, 2021

Hello, I am 39 and I find much pleasure in habits similar to you guys. In the world, I am a cool guy who is married with two dogs and is very normal. I was very successful from a young age making 6 figures a year. You would never expect me to have a secret like this if u knew me in real life. I am glad I can share my secret in this safe place. When I was younger maybe 20 I would pick my nose and ears and eat the wax and boogers. I would try to keep it a secret if I was in my town where people knew me. If out of town alone I would do it in public cause people did not know me. As I got older I started eating my dog boogers cause they were slimier and bigger also i will scratch my bare but when pooping and lick my fingers. My wife does not even know. I also just eat my dandruff but not too often.