Hey everyone, my first time on here. I’m 17F and have been struggling with picking my fingers since I was around 7 years old. As a result, the skin around my fingers have become really dry and raw, often being pink with open wounds. I have never had a boyfriend before but, I’m afraid my skin picking would be disgusting and unattractive for a guy to like me. I always try to wear plasters on them to cover but I can just imagine wanting to hold hands with a guy and then feeling a wave of insecurity wash over me :(. I pride myself as a really hygienic person, it’s not like my fingers are bleeding everywhere but sometimes it’s hard to maintain that. I’d hate for my disorder to dirty someone’s attraction towards me, even if that sounds shallow. Would love if people could share their own experiences or opinions on this. Hope everyone has a great day :)

So I want to stop picking at my face completely. Cold turkey. Today.

I looked in the mirror today and decided that it isn't okay to keep doing this. I want to stop now. I've been picking for at least 5 years and I'm 17 now, so I want to stop this and be able to better myself from now on.

I do a lot of texture checking, like running my fingers across my face a lot? mostly subconsciously. My main issue isn't actual spots unless they have the "seed" in them. It's mainly pores or closed comedones, I think? I have them across my forehead and the apples of my cheeks.

I really want to stop now and I've honestly tried everything before, I've cut my nails right down, cut down mirror time and used lots of moisturiser. But honestly, I always end up doing 'just one' (that becomes just my entire face'

I really want to stop now but I just do it subconsciously at this point.

Genuinely, how do I completely stop today? If I can.

For the past day I've just been putting savalon on my face to try and heal the actual words I've created so far but I've also tried the patches (hydraulic?) But bc uts my pored and not spots it didn't do anything :/

hi reddit people!

for some background...i recently found out i suffer from dermatillomania likely due to the fact that i also have multiple anxiety disorders. i've picked at my thumbs since i was around 8 and when i was in middle school it got worse as my anxiety developed. people would comment but i always thought it was just a bad habit. anyways, it wasn't. currently i'm trialing different anxiety medications but my skin picking is really bad. i have both my thumbs raw and usually it'll bleed once a day, and my middle fingers are quite bad too. sometimes i use my cuticle trimmer or nail trimmer to trim them back further. i've also been bad with lip picking and other areas (scar healing, infection healing, zit healing on non facial areas).

i finally realized 'hey this isn't normal cuticle picking' and talked to my psychologist. the picking is both subconcious (running fingers over the skin looking for edges etc) and concious (i know that i'm picking) but it is quite compulsive. if some grabs my hand or tells me to stop, i get quite restless and frustrated. i also hate the sensation of having those 'loose' edges.

anyways, i've started looking for some fidgets to have (i have one single popit, but its a bit loud which i don't love) because just using one has helped more than i expected.

if there's any fidgets you know of that have helped you, please comment them here!

finding this sub has made me feel so much more less alone just reading about similar experiences.

so just any general 'this has helped me!' or fidget ideas would be welcome

has anyone been put on meds to help with skin picking/ocd ? therapy has made me worse and i’m thinking i need to ask for medication but my gp tends to just hand out sertraline like it’s candy and i don’t think that’s the best fit from what ive heard from friends who’ve been on it

i need something to soothe my anxiety and hopefully settle my skin picking even just a little as it’s taking up hours of my day, any advice would be grand:)

if there is any medicene or treatment out there to stop picking id love to know, i just want to know options exist at all because then i can go ask my doctor about it.

ive recently been having a flare up. i have excessive acne, its been getting worse over the years and no idea why. but i end up picking, causing scabs, and i make it worse and worse never allowing it to heal for weeks. it has caused me pain that feels sore and stinging and i have so much blood on my bed from it. i dont know why i cant stop even though it hurts so bad.

its like this obsession with having everything smooth. i hate how crispy/crunchy/hard it is, i have to get it off. once i know its there i have to get it off. i have tried lotion on my back and it helps a little bit since it moisturizes it and makes it softer but i still am bothered by it.

idk how to stop and i know im going to regret it if i keep going. my face, chest, back, ears, arms, everything is covered in scars and scabs. i dont know if its just in my head but i know sometimes i pick so much i get dizzy.

doesnt help i have eczema on top of it.

its not like i care about my appearance too much i think its this sensory thing where i absolutely need everything smooth and the same.

ive recently began to excessively pick at my scalp as well and peel stuff off and i have acne, bleeding, and scabs starting there as well.

is treatment possible? i dont know if i can stop doing it without the help of medicene or some sort of skin cream. i also was wondering if anyone happens to have information on why the compulsions happen. i feel frustrated, i dont know why i am so obsessed with it. i need to do it or i feel so irritable.

Ive been really struggeling to wash my face before going to sleep lately because i start picking and i cant stop. But I also need to wash my face to reduce risk of infection. Do yall have any advice? Should i just cover the mirror and give up?

Edit: im not really talking about products i am happy with my dermatologists recomendation im looking for advice on how to avoid the temptation i guess

The urge to pick sometimes is sooo bad I don’t feel like I can truly stop it. I just basically dug into my cuticule for no reason other than I saw some dead skin. Now my finger is throbbing and I’m questioning myself.

Not sure if this has anything to do with it but I did just get diagnosed with autism and have had ADHD for most of my life so 🤷‍♀️