Does anyone pick at the bottom of their feet? My story

I do I take nail clippers and clip the bottom of my feet until they bleed. It also hurts to walk. but here's a tip walk very slowly and wear socks until the Feet heal because walking in socks makes it hurt less. I'm just glad I'm not the only one who does this.

i understand about the skin picking as i have been doing it for about 10 years now especially on the bottom of my feet as you can't see that right! also the skin around my finger nails and especially when i watch tv but i notice a lot of people pick their fingers even while they are waiting for something on the computer to come up, tough if you have a slow computer. i think some of us enjoy this picking but not after its done especially if we draw blood, then we worry about infection. thats when the supplies of anti bac ointment comes out and the plasters and heal it up. i find that if its just skin i pick off when i have stopped i just put a thick layer of vaseline jelly over it and an oval cotton pad and stick that on and leave it covered for 2 days and it has healed. if we could only change this habit for a positive habit like putting hand cream on or sitting with our hands in olive oil and then put on white gloves. it is destructive but a hard habit to break. good luck to us all. keep writing it really helps everyone.

I am grateful I have found this site and I find comfort in knowin I'm not the only one who picks my feet. It all starts off when my feet get itchy and I scratch them to hard and I notice a bit of skin so I pick at it and rip it off leaving raw skin on my feet and they often bleed when I do it I hate it I can't stand doing this but I cannot just leave it if there is skin hanging off I have to pick. My feet are so sore that I can hardly walk when I do it my feet look disgusting they are scabby and horrible and the thing is it is only one foot that I pick and the other foot is clear as anything but I'm just too embarrassed to wear flat shoes like all my friends do because of my foot :( so I'm constantly in socks which doesn't help with the itching I've tried all sorts of creams none help. Does anyone else feet look disgusting because of there picking or is it just me?

Oh my God! I didn't realise other people did this! I honestly thought it was just me, and it's disgusting. It used to be worse, I would constantly pick at my feet until they bled, once they started bleeding I'd stop but then I'd be left with bits of skin that I hadn't picked off because it hurt too much. It doesn't usually bleed now although I've got a verruca which is basically the bane of my life and I know that picking it won't make it go away but it makes me feel better to try. My brother caught me doing it a few times when I was younger and he was like "Ew, what are you doing?" so I just hid it by wearing one or two pairs of socks. I'm 18 and I still do it, it's awkward but I do it all the time, I physically can't stop myself, sometimes I actually use scissors to do it. Writing this down just makes it seem that much worse. I also pick at my acne, which everyone tells me not to do but they don't seem to get that it's not something you can just stop. I don't want to tell anyone about it though because it's disgusting. I've just started treatment for my acne so hopefully if it goes away I'll stop that because there'll be nothing to pick. I bite and pick at my lips really badly as well. It's weird though because it's not like I've had a traumatic childhood or anything, I'm a really happy person, got teased a bit when I was little but I'm not a little kid anymore and yet I still do this.

OMG!!!!! I can't believe there are other people who do this! I was so excited when the show "American Pickers" was scheduled to air. I thought it was going to be about people like US! Stupid, I know.................. Like others here, I have become quite skilled at this rather bizarre art. I know, most of the time anyway, when I've gone a bit too far when there is any measure of blood. I have found cuticle clippers are the best way to get that little piece that may snag on the sheets at night and cause immense pain (been there, done that) OUCH!. I typically cut off that little piece and move on to a fresh area and there are MANY to choose from! Lucky me! I indulge in this mostly at my computer reading articles. I prop one foot up behind me on my chair and go to town. I have to switch feet often or else my back begins to hurt.. I'm 50 and just started my habit of "heel picking" a couple of years ago, but picked at my scalp for many years prior to discovering this much more gratifying experience. Problem is, I've TRIED all kinds of potions and creams that DO soften the callouses, but then I'm angry with myself because there's NOTHING LEFT TO PICK! For me anyway, making the skin nice and smooth is just frustrating. What I need is a way to re-train my brain not to WANT to pick!!!! How????? I agree there needs to be a support group out there for us!

Hi- This is for all of you who have the habit/compulsion of skin picking. The best advice is not how to just cope and carry on being miserable. You would benefit greatly by seeing a psychiatrist and a recommended therapist (no need to feel ashamed- you'll feel better sharing your story and doing something proactive to stop it, besides they've heard it all before) The skin picking is a symptom of trying to deal with stress/depression/anxiety(boredom can be a symptom of depression). The best remedy is to learn to stop- not cope. You could also suffer from OCD . Through (cognitive) therapy and the right medication, you'll find the support you need to find more productive habits/hobbies which you'll be able to do and enjoy when you learn to deal with/eliminate your stress/depression.This is not to be taken lightly. It's your body sending you a message that it's not coping well. I also suggest reading "The Happiness Advantage" where you'll learn to incorporate a new habit- takes 21 days to basically reprogram our brains.I suggest exercise,limiting caffeine, a healthy way of eating, meditation, and finding your passion.Don't wait to feel motivated, that actually comes after you start somehing new. It's up to you.

SO RELIEVED TO READ THIS! I really thought this was my own bizzarness until recently when I asked a psychologist about it. Im a longtime foot picker. Im 35 but started when I was about 10 years. The feeling it gave me was a bit like the satifaction one may experience when they pick at a scab. I now know it is a form of self-harming. Some people cut themselves, I tear at dead or hard skin. I was intrigued that, just like me, its not just the foot that gets favoured buts also lips and scalp. I chew the skin on my inner lower lip. Also I scratch at my scalp which will either weep or bleed and then form a scab. Then I dig at the scab. Sounds horrendous I know. When we do it and feel the pain it makes our brain release certain pain killing and mood enhancing chemicals. Thats what we are actually addicted to. I do take anti depressants but I take them as ive been coping with a chronic illness. I have hundreds of hobbies, am very peacefull etc. Not everyone who does needs psychiatric help as one commenter above said. Self -harming, in various guises, is suprisingly common. Its an instinctual, primal coping mechanism. It allows us to naturaly produce the chemicals we other wise, normaly, lack for needed pain control and anti-depressants. Dont be embarressed about it. Chances are you know someone who also does this. Tell your family doctor. It could prove as usefull information! Most importantly, keep any wounds clean! Wash the areas if possible and use an antibacterial or antiseptic product. Ideally, no more picking but ive not managed it so far. I do go through phases, maybe a few months or longer where I dont feel the need to then I guess something throws my eqaulibrium and im back in the game. So glad I found this site!

I am truly amazed that I am not alone. From the age of 9 years old and I am now 37 I have constantly picked the skin off my big toe, under the big toe and heels. It seems weird but I like the feeling when the skin is being peeled off. It gets to the point that it is so red and raw that also hard to walk but socks and joggers make it a bit more comfortable. I also like having baths and soaking the feet not for comfort but when wet you can see the layers of skin which are still able to be picked. Even more stranger but I get satisfaction out of ripping off the skin and then putting the affected area under the bath tap with the warm/hot water running. I know I am strange but there is a level of satisfaction from this. I also having been medicated for three years for anxiety though this does not stop the addiction to feet picking. My partner is aware of it and when the areas arn't to bad he will actually tickle my feet. He hates it when I am watching tele and ripping off the skin. I felt completely alone and feeling the subject is so taboo it made my anxiety even worse. I would love to go and have a nice pedicure one day but am horrified thinking about the look on the beauticians face when she sees the bottom off my feet. Any ideas on how to stop this strange behaviour???

I'm so happy I found this site! I'm 15, but I have been picking my feet since I was 8. I only bit my fingernails at first, which my mother thought was disgusting, but I did it anyway. Then I started biting the skin around my fingers, until they bled and I'd have bandages on my fingers everyday. One day, I just noticed the dead skin on the under side of my toes and I just grabbed the nail clipper and clipped it and from then on I couldn't stop. Now I pick both the under sides of my big toe and my pinky toe. Sometimes it bleeds and it hurts a little to walk so I have to wear fuzzy socks to help. Now I usually take longer showers now , not to get cleaner, but to see the dead skin that I didn't pick off better. I take the dead skin and put it in my mouth as well and just chew it for a while before I spit it out, but recently I've discovered I get more satisfaction when I leave the skin somewhere to dry and chew on it the next morning. My boyfriend already knows that I pick at my dead skin, but I'm sure he'd be mortified to know I chew on it as well. I know this is really disgusting and I want to stop

I cant believe how many people do this! I started this a few years ago at age forty seven. I have had other weird habits as a kid,such as blinking ,Pucking my lips like a fish! HAHAHa! Thank god I stopped that a long time ago. But I cant believe this feet picking crap. Tonight I peeled the skin the size of a half dollar off my back heal down to the pink skin. I know have ointment and a sock on. I joined this site awhile ago and been wanting to post but tonight I had to. This has to be hereditary no? We are natural pickers? Please bare w/me Im trying to find some humor in it and stay positive there is hope?

I'm a foot-skin picker. My family knows I do this and they get "grossed out", but I enjoy it, and I'm not going to stop. The bottoms of my feet are quite calloused, which is great because it gives me more to pick. If I'm careful, which I have the skin-picking perfected, I don't get so deep that I cause pain or bleeding. But I have been doing this long enough, the bottoms of my feet are very hard and I get to pick newly calloused skin every 5-7 days. It is so relaxing to me. I don't eat it , like some people have said they do. I find it quite hilarious to gather up a pile of it from what my family calls a "sole-ectomy", and mess with my husband with it. I've tricked him into holding it by saying "Here I have something for you" and dropping it in his hand when he has no idea what I'm going to do. It totally cracks me up to see his reaction. I know it sounds rather "cookey", but I don't care, my family loves me and understand my somewhat warped sense of humor. My foot skin-picking thing pretty well remains our secret and stays within the walls of my home. They know I do it, would rather I don't, especially if they find a piece of skin laying around, but I do enjoy it very much. The situation, I will also say, does cause my feet to itch. This can be a problem if I'm at work or somewhere that I cannot just kick off my shoe and itch them, but when they do itch and I can "dig in"...I love the way it feels to kill the itch. Anyway...for those of you who feel shame about your foot picking...I would like to suggest that you don't worry about it unless you are trying to hurt yourself, in which case, that does sound like a bigger issue. But for me...it is not something I will share with everyone...but I have no intention to quit. There are a lot worse things I could be doing than this!

I'm a foot-skin picker. My family knows I do this and they get "grossed out", but I enjoy it, and I'm not going to stop. The bottoms of my feet are quite calloused, which is great because it gives me more to pick. If I'm careful, which I have the skin-picking perfected, I don't get so deep that I cause pain or bleeding. But I have been doing this long enough, the bottoms of my feet are very hard and I get to pick newly calloused skin every 5-7 days. It is so relaxing to me. I don't eat it , like some people have said they do. I find it quite hilarious to gather up a pile of it from what my family calls a "sole-ectomy", and mess with my husband with it. I've tricked him into holding it by saying "Here I have something for you" and dropping it in his hand when he has no idea what I'm going to do. It totally cracks me up to see his reaction. I know it sounds rather "cookey", but I don't care, my family loves me and understand my somewhat warped sense of humor. My foot skin-picking thing pretty well remains our secret and stays within the walls of my home. They know I do it, would rather I don't, especially if they find a piece of skin laying around, but I do enjoy it very much. The situation, I will also say, does cause my feet to itch. This can be a problem if I'm at work or somewhere that I cannot just kick off my shoe and itch them, but when they do itch and I can "dig in"...I love the way it feels to kill the itch. Anyway...for those of you who feel shame about your foot picking...I would like to suggest that you don't worry about it unless you are trying to hurt yourself, in which case, that does sound like a bigger issue. But for me...it is not something I will share with everyone...but I have no intention to quit. There are a lot worse things I could be doing than this!

I'm 53 and have been picking at the bottom of my feet for many years. My son is the only one who knows about it, and he used to try to get me to stop. He knows I can't though. I just sat and read through every post here, picking the entire time. I put all of the skin on a paper plate, and if I get up to do something, my dog will come up and eat it. I rip and rip until it is too painful to walk. I also use neosporine and cover with bandages until it heals, which is pretty quickly usually. I've even had to wrap my foot with an Ace bandage just so I could walk. I have a plantars wart on the bottom of my left foot. I went to the foot doctor (had to try and let my feet heal before the visit) and he froze the wart several times but its not going away. Each time (after the severe pain goes away) I take sharp toenail clippers and cut away at it. The calloused skin just grows back in a couple of days. I wish I could stop, but I have panic disorder and do find this comforting in a weird way. I do it mostly when I'm watching TV, but I also mindlessly do it if I am wearing flip flops when I am sitting in a doctors office or other waiting rooms, even restaurants waiting for our food. My son catches me and tells me to stop. I've even done it in my car waiting for the light to change! I used to pick at my cuticles but I don't do that anymore. I wish we could all find something else to take the place of this!

Wow I thought it was just me I pick my feet all the time, I have tried everything to stop and eventually i just end up doing it with out thinking late at night is the worst for me my feet are raw and bleeding as I sit here trying not to feel for that rough part. I sometime use my pet pedi to smooth my skin out so I don't pick it seems to work the longest, I also pick my cuticles around my nails, it drives my husband nuts

I pick the skin off my feet in long calloused strands. It started after getting a pedicure, about 4 years ago. The guy used a razor on the callouses (something that has been since banned) on my feet. It made the skin FALL OFF. SHREDS AND SHREDS OF IT. It was gross and amazing. I've since bought one myself, and do it about once a month. In between times, I just pick at them. Here's the truly horrendous part. I'm a nail biter and sometimes I bite the sides of my fingers if I have a hang nail. I just chew on that lil bit of skin and throw it away or spit it out. Well....now I actually chew on the skin I take from my feet. Only from my clean feet of course. I know I'm weird, but I can't help it.