I'm a woman and I pick my breasts! Does anyone else?

Yeah, it's the same for me, face and chest. It's rough especially since it's a part of your body that is so openly admired/inspected by the opposite sex. I really wish I could stop it, I'm in my 20's and my chest would be such an asset to me if I wasn't completely ashamed to show my skin. I pretty much never wear anything low cut. I buy plenty of cute little dresses and then my roommates just end up borrowing them. I have a pretty lovely body as well, no idea why I seem intent on marring it. Some days it seems intolerable to me but right now? It is what it is.

WARNING: GRAPHIC. Sorry about this but this is really graphic. I hate to admit it but about 8 or more years ago I actually cut chunks out of my torso and breasts due to self hatred and just really severe depression. There was really no good reason for it, I just had the scissors and did it. I finally admitted it to my doctor who put me on heavy meds that made me fat and sleepy and I eventually stopped. I have sadly started to cut myself again and I need to stop. I am very ashamed and embarassed about it. I hope you find the help you need to stop. You do not want to have the damage on your body that I do. I actually have large keloids that look like nothing more than extra nipples. Very ugly and embarassing.

OMG! I seriously thought I was the only person on the planet that did this. I don't know what kind of bump or imperfection starts on my boobs, but I sure seem to get large infected sores on them all the time. I'm so embarassed of them - they are so gross looking. I can't ever seem to get them to heal on my boobs. I have three sores currently as I write this. In the shower, the sores get wet and the scab comes off (okay, I might help it come off sometimes)... then they are open sores. I've actually gone to get undressed at night and my bra is stuck to me, because they oozed or whatever and dried to my bra. This is gross. I so want help for this...

yup, im right there with you. the two places i pick MOST are my face and my chest.

I do the same thing! My two main places are the lower part/ under my breasts& my lower arms. I waas diagnosed w/ OCD & Bipolar almost 20yrs ago (I'm 28 now) But, I never knew there was a name for my skin picking or that so many other OCD ppl did it until I saw Obsessed recently! It feels good to know there are others out there!!!

i do this too and I really hate it it hurts & its embarrassing i need help but it's hard to talk about

I do the same exact thing, though it is the sides and under my breasts. I have actually dug pretty deep into my breasts and have the nasty scars as a result. I started doing that it about 10 years ago. I have been a skin picker since I was like 7 years old. Mainly it is my Breasts, upper arms and upper thighs and occasionally my face. I have scars everywhere. Mine stems from stress and anxiety. In fact my kids were stressing me out today and I caught myself going at my arms.I really thought I was the only person that did that to myself. Sometimes my picking is at its worse when I feel at my best, like when I am feeling a bit of confidence and actually think I look nice I will pick and pick until my skin and my fingers hurt. Then I feel so bad and ashamed that I did this to myself AGAIN, that I pick some more. My husband gets after me when he catches me and then he gets irritated. I wish there was more public information out there so others could understand what we a dealing with and that we need help. It is a bit of comfort to know I am not ALONE in this.

I'm 16 years old and i pick my breast a lot i feel so sad, but i'm trying to stop... i started 2010 going to a Hypnoses (i forgot how i write it, sorry) teraphy.. hope it helps me!

Thanks for the honesty. So glad I found this forum. The breast picking issue is new for me. It's always been an arm/shoulder/back/neck thing, but for some reason, I started on the breasts about 6 months ago. In that short time, I already have scars and some non-healing sores. Any tips on how to heal them up (besides leaving them alone???). This area has really hurt my sexual confidence. I am found attractive by many people, and I engage in sexual relationships, but when it comes down to it, I only want to have sex in the complete darkness, or I don't want to take my clothes off. It's always been bad, but much worse now that I have the "marks" on my breasts. I am so saddened and sick over this... Does anyone else feel like your skin is the problem? I'm really convinced my skin is dysfunctional, rather than the picking being the problem...

Hello.. I am 30 years old and I have always thought that I was the only one. I started picking when I was maybe 15 but it has gotten worse over the years. The thing is I really feel as though I have a skin disorder because I always get these bumps and they dont heal until I get this white "seed" out of them. It is real, I always find a big white hard thing. Sorry.... Im not sure if I cause them by picking small things or if this is a medical condition. I do find that the more I pick in an area the more probs I have In that area. My worst spots are under my breasts and my inner thighs. It breaks my heart that I have destroyed my boobs. Does anyone else pick for these white "seeds"?

My daughter has the same problem and it breaks my heart when I see it. I am so scared she's going to cause an infection. I am trying to find ways to help her stop but so far nothing has worked and I lack money to do others. In 7 more days she will be off Vyvanse completely and I am hoping this will help as well. I still believe these ADD drugs caused it as she had never picked before.

You're definitely not the only one. I've had this problem for a number of years. My face is another problem area for me as well. I've tried to stop, always without success because it's such an obsession and compulsion. At the same time that it's overwhelmingly frustrating, it's also so satisfying. I had no clue that there were so many other people who suffered from the same issue. Though I don't know what I'll be able to do to overcome it, it helps just to know that there are others out there. It's good to know that while my behavior isn't exactly healthy or normal, I'm not a freak either. Thanks for the encouragement in that way.

I have a lovely scar on mine that I'm horrified won't go away, and a current spot that is healing. When I get them in these places i usually get more nervous and actually pick at myself more in other places. x_x

I did the same thing for YEARS. I finally broke my habit by using using a qtip with a rubbing alcohol that eventually dried up the sores. It had a small burn but it was worth the small amount of pain to gain freedom from excessive picking. It really is a mind game. You have to gain control of your thoughts and actions! Hope this will help someone!

I do. I get whiteheads on my boobs and they eventually get destroyed into scabs and then scars. I am trying the 21 day challenge with the help of light weight cotton gloves to keep on my hands (I wish I could glue them on) so I am physically unable to pick and destroy my skin.

I thought I was the only one! It hurts....but I can't stop.

Wow, I thought I was the only one too! I'm a 31 year old woman who can't stop picking...wow I can't even type it...my breasts! It's awful. Sometimes when I'm done I cry from not being able to control myself and how disgusting I think I am. Seems I'm not the only one...thank you all for your honesty. Does anyone have a real solution or tried therapy for it?

you are not alone - and neither am I it seems. I have picked at my breasts for many years - since my teens and I am 35 now. It started when I had a bit of acne there and blackheads and it's just continued on and on. Some of it is habit, some boredom and some anxiety. It makes me feel calmer in a strange way and satisfied but also replused at myself after. It stopped me from entering into sexual relationships for a long time and even now I am scared to have sex in or be seen in daylight. I hate feeling like this as yes, the boobs are what most men go instantly for. I can't get it out of my head that as soon as they peel my bra off they will be as repulsed as I am. Even when I stop pocking I have dirty blocked pores though which I have tried everything to fix, but it all just looks so disgusting. I am scared to even try with men any more now and that thought is extremely lonely and depressing as all I want is to find someone to share my life with and look after.

I also pick my breasts. it makes me feel horrible. I'm 16 and im so scared im making more and more scars on my body which i will regret. my whole chest area looks absolutely horrible right now. im so ashamed. it scares me that i could do such a thing to myself. my chest is covered with scabs, completely covered. and i still have been managing to find a way to pick and find zits -_- the main reason i pick at my boobs is because it seems like my hair follicles get filled? and turn into black heads. which i repetitively pick at. i really hope to stop.

Hi I'm 32, and yes I used to pick at my breasts also. As I suffered from acne in this area aswell. I will still occasionally squeeze the odd whitehead in this area but nothing like I use to...phew! Unfortunately I have a lot of scars on my chest from picking at the large painful acne that I used to get, although my friends have never noticed the scars, and I've even asked my sister about but she dosen't believe that they are noticeable, but I can't help but feel permanetly damaged.

I was adopted at the age of 1, and as a small child I picked the inside of my mouth, and picked the skin off of my feet till I could barely walk, part of the picking was pulling the skin slowly as far as I could pull it makeing large sores, At the age of 12, I was molested by my adoptive mothers son from her first marriage. him and other men were always interested in my breasts that were large. I never told a sole about the molestation fearing noone would believe me as noone liked me because they felt I was an unwelcome invasion of their family. At school I was 14 and always teased about my breasts being large, depression set in I attempted suicide, didnt want to return to school etc... I eventually was able to get breast reductuion surgery, cuts below the breast, I always felt one was way larger that the other, wasnt happy.I picked at the scabs forming,I pulled slow and long and deep flesh pieces relieved stress building up in me. I am now 47, and have never stopped picking my breasts, and still do it. I have seen a psychiatrist in the past and admitted to it , I was put on anti depressents for depression and anxiety. I am on disability for chronic depression, and no longer like seeking relationships, I am in one, but I dont want to ever meet other men because of shame.

uuummm...hello everyone...im kinda new to this soo i dnt really knw wat to say. im recently 16. i began picking at myself since i was 11 and i havnt stopped since ive treid jus about everything i can to stop but its not working. i have this fear that since ive lost a large amount of blood in my breast that i might have to have them amputated..but we'll see..i hope i dnt have to

I'm so relieved to see that I am not alone. I've been a picker since I was around 11, I'm 16 now, and the first place I can remember picking is my breasts. Since this thing, which I can only describe as an obsession, has progressed to other parts of my body such as my arms, legs, and face, but my breasts remain the most heavily attacked area. I pick at my breasts at least once everyday. The thing is, once I start I can't stop, I go into a 'trance' which I now know most other pickers experience. These sessions can last anything from 5 minutes to (on one occasion;) 5 hours. The end product of my work is hard enough as it is, my breasts being an anatomical representation of my femininity, I don't feel sexy or feminine at all, in fact I feel hideous. But I think the worst part of it is the emotional roller-coaster I have to endure every single time I start up one of these little sessions. First comes the irritation, then the fight, then the surrender, then the release and peace, and then it all ends and I look at what I've done to myself and I feel so guilty and ashamed and angry at myself for giving in. To be honest I don't know how much more of this I can take. Everyday I wake up and I promise myself that today is going to be different. But it never is. It's just this vicious circle and it never seems to end. I don't know why I do this to myself. There is no explanation. This thing dominates my life and I have absolutely no control of it. And if I were to try and explain this to anyone 'normal' they would probably laugh at me and tell me to just get over it, which is why I'm so happy that I've found this place. I know that you guys understand. And I truly hope that one day, we can all break free from this obsession. If anyone would like to talk, here's my email: helen.lewis28@hotmail.co.uk

I've only just found this forum, and it's amazing to me, as well as comforting, how similar your stories are to my own. I've recently turned 20, and have been picking at my skin for as long as I can remember. I have been in treatment for anxiety since I was 11, and I believe that is a big part of why I do it. My breasts are the worst area, at the moment they are so bruised, sore and swollen that my bras feel tight. But I also pick at my face, scalp, shoulders, back, arms, buttocks and the soles of my feet. I feel so guilty about it, because I am aware I am doing it but I can't seem to stop myself. Lately I have even been using sewing needles and tweezers to get at blackheads etc. I don't really know what I hope to achieve by posting this. I guess it's just a release to share what I'm struggling with. Good luck to all of you with getting your own picking under control.

Came across this site this morning, and comforted to know there are others out there, I'm not as alone as I have felt. I have been a compulsive skin picker for as long as I remember, my mother says I was about 13, think it was closer to 9 and my parents separation. I turn 30 in January. It started with my arms and legs, with puberty and acne, my face became another target, then my back, butt, stomach, and finally my breasts following my 2nd pregnancy. My primary trigger is stress, during a prolonged period of stress ( or knowing I have another court date nearing regarding my ex) the picking will become substantial, and even if I realize what I'm doing, it is the one thing I can't seem to control. I spent 4 years in an abusive relationship where Severe Depression set in, and my picking went from bad to horrific...and I've never been able to slow it down since. Medication didn't help, my family doctor is trying to get me in for hypnotherapy to see if that can help... I'm just glad to find others with remarkably similar stories...at least I know I'm not the only one struggling with this...thank you

Hey, I'm 23 and have been picking at my boobs for about 5-6 years now. What's worse is that my hair has gotten darker and longer at the spots that were the worst for me. Has anyone else had that?!

Hello - I'm 20 and have been struggling with this problem since the onset of puberty. I actually have a question for others with this issue - how have you brought this up with your significant other? I have not had sex with my boyfriend because of my embarrassment about this issue, but I feel ready to take that step. I am scared he will find me ugly because of this but even more scared of the prospect of spending my life alone because of my insecurities about my scars and so forth.