Hey everyone! Some of us have a growing Discord group chat of 65+ people, and it's such a nice community. We mark our days together, share progress and relapse pics, give tips and skincare recommendations, and more. It's a safe space with no judgement, and everyone is there for each other. We'd love to have you, so please feel free to join!

https://discord.gg/7bW7JSmzf

I'm trying to post this every 10 days or so to give people many opportunities to join, so this may be a repeat post for you!

Just wanted to share. This is a really big deal for me. I honestly never thought I'd reduce my symptoms this much. It wasn't just biting my hands -- I used to also pick and scratch inside my elbows, behind my knees, my face, neck and scalp too, and the bottom of my feet. It turned into a vicious inflammatory cycle of scratching induced eczema and picking/peeling and biting at scabs. I felt like I was always on steroid creams, bleeding on my sheets and I hated looking at myself. I got to the point where I hated myself so much I could barely even take showers because it meant I would be acknowledging I was taking care of myself. I have had these symptoms since I was a child and it took me literally years to even start talking about it with a therapist. I always thought it was a bad habit before. I didn't realize it was a maladaptive coping mechanism tied to my mental health. But just wanted to share this because I seriously NEVER thought I was going to have clean hands or a clear face. So don't give up! Seriously. It is not easy and you have to give a lot of effort and attention, but it is so so worth it. I learned to prioritize my health and relationships and that is what helped me the most.

What should you do after you’ve already done damage to your skin by picking? I tend to pick a lot at both my face and my arms, which I’m prone to doing in/after the shower before bed. For some context, my arms have keratosis pilaris, along with bumps that look and behave like acne (mostly blackheads?), the latter of which I pick at obsessively.
Sometimes, I’ll put a pimple patch or two on my face afterwards, but when I’m out of them or there’s too many spots to cover, I just follow my nightly skin care routine as per usual (face wash, toner, dewy serum from Trader Joe’s, night moisturizer) and go to bed. However, that doesn’t seem like the best choice, and it also doesn’t account for damage that I do to my arms on these occasions. When I pick at my arms, it usually covers them in spots from my wrists all the way to my biceps, so it’s not as simple as just putting on a bandaid or two. Do you guys have any advice for how I should go about treating my skin after extensive picking?

I've been picking at my skin for as long as I can remember, but it progressively got worse the older I got: HS was bad but after HS was horrible and now I pick more than 4hrs a day. It used to be my face, then it slowly became my arms and now its anywhere I feel a bump. I've tried everything that people have recommended to me:
-telling myself to stop (which never works)
-stress toys (but i keep breaking them, especially needoh's or other squishies)
-skin picking toy (works but my skin picking mainly happens in the bathroom or in bed... which is when my hands don't know what to do)

the only time my skin picking stopped was when i had acrylics (which i cant always afford) and was on vacation (swimming everyday in salt + showering every night)

since where i live causes a lot of stress (+ depression and intrusive thoughts) i've been picking whenever and wherever i can... which has now led to really intense pain and swelling

i don't wanna give up but idk what to do and no one really knows how to help me...

Does anyone else have a lip chewing problem? If youv broken the habit what helped?? I rip off rhe inside of my bottom lip with my teeth. I now have a MASSIVE bump and what looks like the biggest kanker sore iv ever seen. I literally could not stop biting the same soot over and over and over until it got to this point. Any advice welcme😖

my hands burn and sting 24/7. ALL. THE. TIME. my skin gets caught on everything and pulled. I just feel like there’s no relief out there for me.
i’m embarrassed and I need help. my skin picking is much better than it was when I was younger, but I just can’t seem to stop.

I’ve had pruritus ani for about 15 years. It started with a health issue that has since resolved, but it turned into an out of control itch-scratch cycle I can’t seem to break.

It’s pretty much become an stress-relief habit before and after work, which makes me even more embarrassed and depressed afterward. I’ve seen a dermatologist and proctologist and tried all kinds of creams, ointments, steroids, and anti-itch products.

I recently went back to Calmoseptine and found that the menthol gives me some temporary relief. But once my skin heals a little and becomes more intact, the cooling effect doesn’t feel strong enough.

Out of desperation, I tried Vicks after seeing it mentioned on the hemorrhoids subreddit. The cooling helped a lot more, but the moisture from the gel/petroleum base seems to make me itchy again once the cooling from the menthol wears off.

I’m thinking about asking a compounding pharmacy whether they can make a stronger menthol cream in a zinc oxide base, similar to Calmoseptine.

I also have compounded 0.006% capsaicin, but I’m holding off for now and trying the gentler menthol option first.

Has anyone else tried menthol or peppermint ?

I feel so disgusting, it's like an addiction I can't stop :(​

Just found this subreddit, so glad to know I’m not alone! As a thank you for having me, here is a tip I learned about reallocating the compulsive behaviour I experience.

I pick at my face, chest, back, anything within reach really. I mainly do it when I’m bored or seeking stimulation- or when I’m overwhelmed, nervous and overstimulated. Thanks to ADHD there is almost always one of those things happening 😂

I’ve found that I “graze”. My fingers skim over my skin, looking for imperfections or pimples. It’s a nightmare. I realised that I’m looking for a release, a snap, a letting go of pressure.

So I started clicking my fingers. Finger snapping, you know? The way a music teacher would keep time- I’m not breaking my fingers or popping the joints I promise 😅 I’ll post a gif if it lets me in the comments

Anyway, that release of pressure, the sound, the way it occupies my fingers. It helps to let the urge go or at least partially be satisfied.

How have you managed to stop picking or tearing at the skin on your fingers? I also have OCD and a fear of serious illnesses. I was in Crete, Greece, with my family from October 6th to 13th, and I’m a huge animal lover. As is well known, there are many stray cats on the island; one day, I used my fingers to move a metal food can—bought from a store—from which two stray cats had been eating less than a minute earlier. I’m terrified that some of their saliva got onto my fingers and that I might contract rabies—EVEN THOUGH Greece is officially a rabies-free country. The mother cat hissed and spat when I approached, but that was likely just because her kitten was nearby and she was protecting it. In any case, this habit of picking at my skin causes a lot of stress—even while traveling—and it is EXTREMELY difficult to stop. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! My thumb was probably not that bad looking when I were in Crete, now I have eaten it even more, maybe due to stress etc. For my own peace of mind, I left a callback request to my local healthcare emergency service regarding the risk of rabies, even though there should be none. Thanks for the help!!

Hey everyone,

I’m 32 and have been popping zits and picking scabs for my entire adult life.

Recently I decided to quit substances entirely as it felt like booze and weed and everything else was just a way to artificially reduce stress. I used these apps that pretty much just track abstinence day by day. It worked SO well that I decided to try it for skin picking.

I downloaded a free app that just tracks minutes/hours/days that have elapsed since a set time. I’m now about 4 days in and I haven’t touched my skin once. It feels like magic. I don’t know what sort of cognitive or behavioural thing is going on behind the scenes but there’s something about timing and tracking progress that suddenly makes it feel possible. It’s like “well I made it 1 day, may as well try for 2.”

I don’t normally post on reddit but really felt like sharing. Try it out for yourself! Maybe you’ll have some luck like I did.

Hello, tentatively sharing here because I'm embarrassed about this and don't feel like I can talk to anyone about it.

For the last couple of months I have been going through phases of obsessively picking at my gums, around where my teeth sit into them. Gross, I know. I've never done this before, but when I start I can't stop. The worst part is, the more I do it, the more bits of the tissue stick out and make me want to pick them more. I can't ignore it, because I can feel it all the time with my tongue. It hurts, it makes my gums feel a bit raw, and I'm worried that they won't self repair if I go too far, or (actual nightmare) that next time I go to the dentist, he'll be able to tell?

I've tried to Google this and can't find much, but read a bit about BFRB so I said I'd try here. For reference, when I was a teenager I used to obsessively pick at the skin/spots/blemishes on my face, and it took me a long time to grow out of it. I guess I've been known to pick at my skin sometimes on my feet also. But I've never really linked all these things. The gums are the worst to date.

Any help or advice on why I am doing this or how I can stop would be appreciated...

I’ve been dealing with this for years it’s so exhausting and I feel like I’ve tried everything. Meds for my ocd, short nails, long nails, no mirrors, no lights, $100 skincare, no skincare, you name it. I can’t put into words just how TIRING it is, and it makes me sick to admit it takes up hours of my day. Not to mention the serious toll on my confidence. I’m glad I’m not the only one but sometimes it really feels like it.