i have done this ever since i can remember. it first started when i would pick at my scabs on my legs and arms and now have scars because of it, and I would also bite all my nails down.

When i was in the sixth grade i was very stressed and i would pick at my face and found relief in that and recently i pick at the bumps in my legs because it releases all my stress.

i feel like my mom did it when she was young so i think i get it from her and sometimes if i feel like i don't have anything to pick at i will pick at my sister's face and know i feel bad because she also picks at her face and i don't want her to be like me. she is only one year younger than me, though.

My problem started in my early twenties when I started to notice tiny whiskers on my face and neck. I would tweeze and then realize that another hair would pop up. In a short time I was 'tweezing' every other day to rid myself of a whisker or two.

Eventually I noticed an ingrown whisker, and instead of just leaving it alone I started using pins, or needles to dig them out. Needless to say my right jaw was scarred by my late twenties then in a cruel twist of fate when I turned thirty the left side of my jaw starting sprouting whiskers. Sometimes I feel cursed. Recently, I made a terrible mark on my left jaw where an ingrown whisker that already has scar tissue around it is repeatedly torturing me.

I am very good at covering the marks and scars with high-end facial treatments, hundreds of dollars worth of prescription skin care products, and very good mineral make up.

I have even convinced my Doctor to give me antibiotics more than once because I know when one of my 'spots' is infected from repeated picking. All I want to do is be free of my inability to stop picking at the same spots on my face over and over again and I hate doing this to myself.

I'm 21 years old. Along with many of us here I've suffered from picking at my skin since the onset of acne in middle school or so. It was the worst when my acne was the worst, freshman, sophomore and junior years of high school.

As I grew older and my hormones began to balance and when I decided to stop taking birth control pills which kept my body from finding its own hormonal balance my acne began to clear and it has been easier not to pick.

Talking to my sister and friends about my problem has also helped and now I pick rarely- but still pick from time to time. I have large pores on my face and it's easy for them to appear like blackheads and sometimes tempt me. I just try to remind myself not to and reassert control. Unfortunately lately small blackheads around my nipples can sometimes tempt me to pick and it's very hard to resist as this area is visible only to me.

In addition to this and far worse, I pick at the skin around the edges of my nails. The left side of my left thumb is the worst. If I become highly stressed I can pick at these until they bleed. I have scar tissue around my fingernails and although recently I've been doing better, this seems to be much harder for me to control than ever my skin was.

It's good that we're all talking about it though, maybe it will help us. I've found that trying to divert the urge to pick into an urge to shower or moisturize can help- developing cleansing rituals that aren't harmful and accepting and loving my body.

I love all of you and have faith that we'll overcome this.

I have severe ocd. I also have eczema and i pick my scalp and ankles. Only reading these comments I have realised I have another skin picking problem. I pick my scalp and then gather all the skin/scabs together as I find it rewarding to see what I have taken off my scalp and feel more clean. At first I just thought it was eczema so I am pleased to learn I can get help!

For me it's not just limited to one area. I will pick at anything that isn't smooth. I don't feel there is a reason I do it other than boredom at times. It's a compulsion.

If I don't keep myself preoccupied with things I will find myself picking at everything. Often when I have insomnia issues I will pick at myself in bed while I can't sleep.

I always thought it was weird, but I don't feel like I can pinpoint a specific reason for my behavior.

I do the same. I pick my scabs and after must eat them. I know this is some weirdo crap but it just feels so good and I don't feel I can stop. I have been doing it since I was six. I am now 23 and it is becoming progressively worse. I totally agree with the trance. It's like when I pick I am totally in a world fixated on that particular scab and just in the moment. I can find anything on the net that will help me. I thought self help info for problems like this would be free? I actually wish this was never an issue but now I am starting to see the payment for this problem in a big way.

I have the same thing. I will pick at anything that is rough or abnormal. Dead skin, scabs, etc. Don't know why. I empathize with the piece about the "trance state." When I'm picking, I'll sit there, unable to give up until the object of my attention is removed.

i've been picking at my gums non-stop! what can i do to either stop picking or begin healing my gums? i don't have any noticeable damage. this has just been a recent issue and i'm 28. my smile is amazing. i'd hate to have to hide it due to gum receding or whatever comes due to gum picking/gouging. i heard it may be related to a sinus issue as well! please help!

I remember distinctly being eight years old when I started picking at my skin. It started with just having an utter disgust for the look and feeling of scabs, and so I'd pull them off. I'm 26 now and find myself still doing it constantly-- mostly in places that are usually covered, but it often prevents me from wanting to wear certain clothing because it will show the spots. It's an everyday habit, but I find myself less in control of it when I am in an unstable emotional state. I grew up with a rageaholic father and now face dealing with similar characteristics in myself and my husband (who, by the way, is the main person I am embarrassed to allow to see my spots). My parents even took me to a dermatologist when I was a kid and made me do these expensive treatments on my arms for a while. It may have helped the skin, but it didn't help the habit.

Everyone seem to me picking at their scalps? I pick at the tips of my fingers. On the top. Not at the nail. All around and I've done it since before I can remember. I just can't stop! But it doesn't hurt. I guess I've done it so much it becomes numb.

though my skin picking is not that severe, i have been picking scabs and my scalp since i was little. i would take a pen and dig into my head until it caused scabs that i could pick. things aren't as bad now that im 16 but its still weird. my mother asks me why my mosquito bites last so long, and its because i pick them, so they never have any time to heal. how do you cure this???

ive known for a very long time ive had a "picking" problem. only more recently when i was in a long term relationship did it truly become an issue as i began to pick at my boyfriends scabs and pimples(etc). im a manic depressive with obsessive compulsive tendency. when i was younger i would pick scabs but now i pick at anything possible including my scalp legs arms or anywhere something may "need" picked, even now i cant help but reach for a scab on my head.. my problem seems to be getting worse.i think i cant stop because of my past cutting, i was told im addicted to the pain.. could the urge to cut, and fighting it, be causing my intense compultion to pick?

My mother came to me yesterday and told me that she thinks I have this disorder. I laughed at her, thinking she was just over-reacting. However, I just read this article and I realize I have every symptom. I pick at zits and things on my arms, face and chest. I also think I may have BDD and I used to pick at my scalp when I was younger. I think I have some anger management and depression issues, but I don't want to tell my mom. I'm a teenager and my scabs are embarrassing enough. I feel that I don't need outside help. What should I do?

I have suffered from skin-picking since I was a small child. The area that suffers the most is the inside of my mouth and my lips. I have a constant urge to bite or be chewing. This becomes confusing when I have to distinguish hunger from urge to bit something. I remember as a teenager being embarrassed to kiss members of the opposite sex because my lips were cracked all the time and I could not stop biting. I have tried to stop, but it makes me feel like I am going to go crazy, it feels so unnatural not to be biting. I don't ever see this going away, and it makes me come off as a constantly nervous and insecure person. I refuse to take anti-depressants and wonder what else could help me. When I was a child, I had scars all over the joints in my hands, and they were always puffy and sore. I finally got over that but have been unable to beat the disorder in full. My gums are destroyed.

ive had onycophagia for as long as i can remember. i started picking on my skin a bit after i hit puberty. its taken 6 years for my condition to get noticeable. my skin used to be flawless, i just always thought if i could just get rid of that one occasional pimple i could learn to love my appearance better. iv learned after 6 years, theyre all just excuses. i want out.

I, too, from childhood to present, suffer from the urge of scalp-picking, I'm to the point that I worry that I will get bald spots later on?? I am considered very attractive, but I am ashamed that I do this, I also pick at the skin on my fingers. My father says that my estranged biological mother had the same thing. I wonder if this is hereditary or a learned habit??

so i have been picking at my scalp for a while since i was maybe 11 or 12... and i always thought it was a parasite problem but when i bought all the lice combs and shampoo and stuff i still didn't stop and now i have noticed that it never itches i just pick i would also pick at the dry skin on my arms and i when i get zits its rare i pick at them as well but mostly my scalp...well my real question is would your environment have something to do with it? cause i was raised by methamphetamine users and manufactures... my mother is the one that had the "meth bug" issue and she'd would spend hours picking at her forehead with razors. she'd even go to the extreme of picking at us... do you think it's possible that watching her doing that at my young age could have caused the issue i am dealing with now. childhood habits?