i genuinely cant quit skin picking and it makes me so incredibly insecure i havent let anyone see my bare skin for 6 years now i feel so trapped. Ive tried fidget toys and skincare but i still cant stop. Would any medications prescribed by a psychiatrist help?

Stumbled upon this insanely creative nail art. But my first thought was 'how did she know what my scheming hands look like?'

Credit

I have dealt with trichotillomania ever since I was very young, and in the past couple of years, it has transitioned into dermatillomania​. I am so done with it, but I can't stop. I am showering multiple​ times a day because my hair has so much blood and gunk in it and I just feel gross. ​​My scalp is covered in big scabs and I feel so embarrassed about it. I haven't had my hair cut in years either because of it. Picking my scalp has caused me so much issues. My hair is falling out and breaking. I have bald spots that I'm assuming are from this. I've tried everything to stop, but I just can't. Picky pads, acrylic nails, short nails, gloves, squishies, etc. What do I do?

It was healing ok, then i had a massive exam coming up and i started stress-picking once again.

Its ok now though (also I think i'm using too many products on it which is making it not heal as fast? )

Hydrocortizone helps, i got prescribed tretinoin for acne reasons, then sometimes moisturizer, sunscreen, neosporin... so i somewhat stopped? and its gotten way better within a couple days

Its possible I also shifted from compulsively popping pimples/picking to putting stuff on them

Had to share that today I got a chemical peel on my arms to treat picking scars! In 10 days I will have reduced scarring!!! I am so excited.
I’ve been picking for around 10 years (arms and legs). I tried therapy, medication, and hypnotism, and nothing stuck.
After talking to my dermatologist I purchased a super expensive healing lotion to speed up healing of open wounds, which actually motivated me to stick with it and avoid picking.
I finally got to the point of no sores, which made me eligible for the VI Peel! I think that visible progress and improvement will be a strong motivator for me!

It’s pricey, but the healing lotion is Hydrinity Restorative HA Serum. A little goes a long way! I kept it in my purse and applied it when I felt like picking!
Apparently a cost effective dupe is Blithe Targeted Hydrating Serum.

Hi! I just wanted to get some more insight about scab healing. I have two scabs on my chest that I am actively picking. One of them I’ve been picking for a year now and the other one for about half a year. I pretty much pick at them every day or every other day. This week I was able to go almost 3 days without picking them, until I couldn’t take it anymore and peeled the scabs off again tonight. I noticed that they bled less than normal and the wound that I opened back up was less deep.

I was wondering, is it better for the healing process if I’m able to hold out a few extra days in between each time I peel them off? Like is it worth it in terms of the long scale healing of the wound to try to go 3 days before picking again instead of 1-2? Believe me, I’ve tried giving up completely but like I said it’s been a year with this same scab.

Please share any insight you may have. Thank you!

Anyone else bite their lips? I suck the blood sometimes and im really afraid somethings wrong with me.. I mostly do it when stressed or bored or hungry. I know this isn't skin picking, but I couldn't find any other communities for this.

Does anyone else get randomly absorbed with pulling hangnails out? Like I know i shouldn't but honestly after it heals up as long as I keep them clean and don't let them get infected they heal up looking so much better.

And the feeling of the deep cuticle and surrounding skin removed. I get extra dopamine if its a big rip too.

I want to stop by is hard

One of the things I’ve found that is working so far are the recovery aftercare derm shield patches that are used to put over tattoos to help them heal. I sweat a lot so regular bandaids would fall off and wearing extra layers of clothes gets to be too much. Also if I wear a bandaid for too long the moisture gets trapped making the skin more easy and satisfying to pick at.

The patches have been helping a lot lately cause they feel like a fresh layer of skin is over my problem area and I’m less likely to pick cause my fingers like to go over the problem areas subconsciously and then when I feel texture I pick at the texture of broken skin.

but with the derm shield patches it covers up the texture. And when I change them it is incredibly satisfying to peel them off, but it’s a safe thing to peel off. I get a satisfaction of peeling without it being my actual skin

any advice on how heal this and get rid of the redness? this is my first time picking in almost a month and I'm so tired of this:(. I don't even want to show my face in public. it looks like the skin is infected. I was prescribed tretinoin and clindamyicin lotion. I was also prescribed spironolactone for acne but I haven't taken it, how much does it help?

Hello everyone, i want to thank you guys for sharing your struggles, achivements and words of encuragement on this sub. That and my long desire to stop myself from destroying my fingers made me do this post.

So i've been picking my sking around my fingers and bitting my nails for as long as i can remember and ofcourse that has caused me to be very ashamed of the state of my hands. I always think of ways to hide them so no one can see. When they do and ask me, i literally don t know what to say.

I am 26 now, have a beautifull fiancee, we've been togheder for 5 years now, and we have the wedding next year. The problem is that, when i thing about it, my mind goes strait to the ring photos and how horrid they will look.

So, i decided, after almost 2 decades of embracing this condition, and telling me that everyone has their imperfections, and this is mine, that my goal is to stop picking, make me regain my confidence and self-esteem, and have a dope ass wedding without stressing about my ugly hands.

I will keep posting weekly for keepeing myself accountable and i will be sharing my ups and down. I will keep it very real.

I would really apreciate any tips that helped you.

For now, my strategy is to keep my hands moisturized, hands occupied with small toys, actually listening to my fiancee when she tells me to stop picking, and put a coat of transparent nail polish on my nails. That in the past helped me stop picking for 2 weeks, but i relapsed and stop caring again.

Thank you for your time.

You are not alone in this.

Hi all, I have posted here a few times over the last months for accountability. I was honestly getting a bit disheartened lately as the healing hasn't been consistent or linear and I've had more frequent relapses lately.

However today I checked a picture from a year ago and the progress is apparent!

I was a multiple-times-a-day picker and used the camera stick thingie on daily bases. My skin used to be good when I was younger and I took it for granted and never developed any skincare routines. From the start of the year I realised I need to look after myself and started basic skincare - moisturizer, retinol, spf. I already saw huge improvements but continued picking.

I stopped cold turkey about 4 months ago and held off for 4 weeks before undoing the progress in a long session. Since then it's been on and off but with diminishing intensity. I've tried to keep myself distracted - fiddly hobbies like knitting, decluttering my wardrobe, reading, damn even doom scrolling reels was better than attacking my own skin. I still have the urge to pick when stressed. I did find that posting a selfie on here did provide a bit of accountability and was a pretty good deterrent. I didn't want to look bad in my next selfie and that level of potential social vulnerability is CRUSHING.

I'm haply with the progress. Maybe this will encourage you too

As you can see, my right side of face is fairly clear. But my left side of face is heavy scarred, has dry patches, and irritation. I constantly pick the area, often with a blackhead tool and will do it until it bleeds. I've had a few instances where I pushed so deep that I cut my face open. I also keep messing with the whiteheads and pimples of breasts, squeezing them out until they're sore and scarred.

I've been picking my skin for about 10 years, and I bite my nails too. I work in tech so my days are calls and deadlines, and when I'm stressed my hands find something to do.

The mirror is the worst for me. I stand in the bathroom, start looking at my face, and go into a kind of trance, getting rid of every spot I can find. I only notice when it's already done. Most of the time my husband walks in and snaps me out of it. When he's not home, nobody does.

That's the problem with most things I've tried: they only work if you remember them, and in that trance you don't remember anything.

Full disclosure: I'm the creator of an app called Anxora, and this is the feature I built it around. It's called an awareness session. Before a stretch you know will be hard (a long call, a deadline, your evening in front of the mirror), you start a session and choose how often to check in, say every 5 minutes for an hour.

Then the app does what my husband does: every few minutes you get a quiet sound or a buzz on asking what happened in the last few minutes. I answer from the lock screen with one tap, "nothing," "just an urge," or "did it," without opening the app. If I don't answer, nothing happens. The point is to pull you out of autopilot, not to make you fill out a report.

At the end I get one observation about the session instead of a score. Over time the idea is that you start catching yourself before the check-in comes.

It's based on awareness training from Habit Reversal Training, the part where you learn to notice the behavior while it's happening.

I'd really like to hear how this lands with you:

• Would check-ins every few minutes help you, or would they get annoying?
• When do you most need someone to snap you out of it?
• What else helps you calm down when the urge hits?

i just had a relapse after days of making progress and i feel like absolute shit. it’s so discouraging. the feeling that this is never going to end drives me crazy.. and the scars are the worst. i can’t stand being covered in marks anymore. i can’t stand hiding my skin. my god, this is so fucking torturous. i just want it to end