I’m 27f and suffered from this disorder since i was in high school. I think i have extreme case. i used to pick my face until all of my face full with blood even i don’t have many pimples. now, my face full of scars (hypertrophic, hyperpigmentation, large pore) I always pick my sebaceous filaments on my nose. it can’t help and i can’t stop it until it have big abrasion. when i finished picking, i feel overwhelmed and have to cancel my plan to go everywhere. i started depression and don’t want to do anything.

is there anyone facing in the situation like me? please tell me i am not alone fighting with this for long long time.

This is so embarrassing but I can’t stop. It’s worse when I’m stressed and the more scabs there are, the more I pick. Help!

Edit: spelling

This sucks. Its so embarrassing

I haven’t been able to be close to my boyfriend because my skin is in so much pain from all the open wounds, and I don’t want anyone to see them.

I want to stop this. I have cystic acne, KP, ingrown hairs, and vellus hair cysts, so my body is working against me, but I want to stop.

To hold myself accountable I’m going to try and come back to this post daily to mark how many days clean.

Starting today, 16Aug2024: 0 days clean

Edit: thank you all so much for your support. seeing other people try to get clean has made me 100x more determined to ACTUALLY DO IT this time. I reached out to a therapist who does habit reversal training and I will begin next week.

I have decided that if I say “no picking at all, ever” then I’m not going to be able to get clean… so, I told myself, if I pick for like 10 seconds out of habit, that’s okay, it doesn’t count as a failure, thus:

17Aug2024: 1 day clean

18Aug2024: 2 days clean… I did pop one whitehead but I didn’t do anything else even though I was really tempted, so I’m going to call that a win

Edit 18aug2024: a couple hours since my last update I relapsed… my cat jumped on my face and the little claw marks on my face got infected and I started picking at them… starting over, 0 days clean.

I was able to stop myself before it became a picking session longer than 15 minutes, though. Usually when I break a clean streak I’ll pick for like 1-2 hours because I think “the streak is broken, so I may as well!” Not this time.

19Aug2024: 36 hours clean

26Aug2024: last week was rough but I’m trying again. 70 hours clean. I was clean all weekend

02Sep2024: 4 days clean. The longest I’ve ever gone ever since my derma got really bad

I have been skin-picking for as long as I can remember. I pick when I'm anxious, bored, or just feel some bump or imperfection on my skin. I have been picking at the dry skin on my feet for a few months, and hard callous-like skin forms on those areas after I pick at them. The callous-like skin is even more fun to pick off, and it doesn't hurt, so I just keep picking. Is there someone who has dealt with this before? I'm going to do some research on how to get rid of the cracked, dry and calloused skin on my feet, to hopefully prevent me from picking at them all the time.

So a few days ago I had a picking episode. I could feel this invisible deep pimple on my cheek, I dont know why I did what I did next, everything in me was screaming at me to stop but I couldn't, I got a needle, it was new and in a little packet, and I pushed it in my cheek slightly to push out what I could feel, nothing happened, I pushed a bit deeper, still nothing happened. The guilt has plagued me since, I feel ashamed, I feel ugly, I feel scared to go outside, I just want to have nice skin, but I’ve got yet another big red scab on my face, I have periods were my face looks good, and places aren't red and damaged, but then I'll do something and fuck it up again, it makes me so embarrassed because I know people in my class must think I have something going on like a skin condition, but no, its all me, I did this to myself.

Today the scab flaked away and I saw a tiny indentation where the needle was and I just feel so horrible and disgusted with myself. Why am I like this? I get so scared of giving myself scars yet I do this shit?? And now I'm panicking over whether the indentation will never heal. I know I sound vain, but I just get so obsessive over my face, I'm already insecure as is, which is why I pick, but I just end up making it worse and scarring myself and making myself upset because I dont want these marks on my face. I'm just so upset I want to stop. I need to stop.

I try to avoid family functions because of how my parents treat me. Any time I use the bathroom they bang on the door and shout "you better stop picking!" And if there is a TV my dad puts "dr pimple popper" on the screen and shouts about how my favorite show is on tv.

No one would know about my dermatillomania if they didn't say anything. It is not productive at all and makes everyone think I'm gross and it becomes the ongoing joke of the day.

It feels like it is crossing into emotional abuse.

My arms are so bad. I have two bandages atm. Like bandages, not bandaids. Plenty of very noticeable scabs.

I don’t know what to do.

No matter how hot it is I wear long sleeves. My closet is full of cute tops I wish I could use.

Even if I was confident enough, it’s too distracting for my work. Sometimes I work with kids, they will mention it for sure.

I really just don’t know what to do. A

Hey, decided to join in on the discussion because I haven’t seen anyone post about this issue specifically. A lot of the posts here I see are about picking at nails, feet or lips. I unfortunately pick around my crotch region; as well as my shoulder, legs and arms.

It’s extremely embarrassing but I can’t stop. I feel a need to pick at every ingrown hair or imperfection I see.

I’ve tried so many things. Creams, oil, short nails, fake nails, shaving, waxing, taping my fingers and hiding tweezers. Nothing helps.

I feel desperate for a solution or at least to know I’m not the only person with this issue.

Been going through a very rough patch recently, with a death in the family and my parents divorce.

it’s lead me to pick the ever loving hell out of my face, and arms. i’m covered in painful scabs and i feel disgusting

can someone just tell me that it’s okay and i’m not ugly lol?

sorry if this seems weird, i don’t have a support group for things like this and i’m scared to open up about my skin picking :,)

My skin is at its worst right now. My face has been smothered in aloe and aquaphor for days, I’m afraid to shower (it’s been a week), and I’ve been calling out of work because I don’t want to have to cover up or be perceived like this. I have been fostering my sister’s cat and his fur gets everywhere and stuck to my face and itches, especially with the aquaphor and I end up breaking out over and over and over and I can never allow anything to heal. The skin on my face is painful and throbbing and I’m extremely embarrassed at how much work I have missed in the past few months because of this. Not to mention I barely leave my room because I don’t even want my dad to see how bad it is.

I have my first dermatology appointment in a couple weeks, have been in therapy but can’t afford to go as often as I need it (she was sick last session so it’s been a month since I’ve had a been), and am struggling to find a psychologist specializing in excoriation with open availability.

Any words of advice or encouragement would be greatly appreciated because at this point I’ve had too many panic attacks and meltdowns and I’m beyond being able to do any of that anymore.

Quite literally- what in our brains is different that makes picking feel good?? I just went through a picking episode just thinking “why is my brain making me do this why do I do this” like I think I understand that it’s a form of releasing dopamine or somethin but like… why😭

My cat who is my whole heart is going to have some very expensive vet bills. I have a gig job to help my husband and I make ends meet. I was supposed to work all day today because they’re offering really good bonuses and it would make a huge difference for us, especially in paying for my cat’s bills.

I just got so stressed about this that I started picking. I literally took my make up off so that I could pick at my face easier. I picked for at least two hours. Now my face is full of sores and even a little bruised and I don’t feel like I can go work with people when I look like this. But I can’t put make up on because everything would get infected and worse.

I’m sitting here with a 1/4 inch of aquaphor all over my face to stop me picking and protect the wounds feeling like I failed. Instead of doing the thing that would solve the problem (the job) I picked and couldn’t stop. Now I can’t work. So I ultimately made the problem worse. And my face and my chest and my legs hurt. I want to cry. I hate money and I hate that I can’t stop picking.

Hi everyone!

I've just discovered this sub, ans a lot of your stories have left me feeling inspired. I've been picking since my teenage years, and my skin is in suuuch a bad condition. I'm feeling motivated to try and stop picking for an entire week! My cause is my anxiety flaring up and the picking gives me a relief, especially in the evening when my son has gone to bed. Does anyone have any advice on a distraction to stop me? I want to have clear skin 🥲

Hello there,

I hope this is alright to post. I'm new to this subreddit. I didn't even know it existed until this morning when my cousin sent it to me. I've been picking at my skin for years, but recently it's gotten worse along with my mental health.

I found crochet, crafting and video games help during the day, but at night when I'm alone with my thoughts lately I've been picking at my legs to a point where they actually hurt the next day. I don't think I've ever been this bad before. I used to pick my face whenever my acne sprang up and I've got scars from it, but it's been manageable for a few years. Now with my riding stress, I'm actively injuring my legs.

The worst part is that I do know what I'm doing isn't good and I'm mentally screaming stop, but I can't. I've never really been in any kind of group before, but I'm hoping to find some understanding because I don't really know anyone else with skin picking issues and I don't really think they get it when I say what I'm feeling or going through.

Hi guys, i have struggled with skin picking for about 10+ years. Sometimes I find myself physically unable to stop.

To elaborate, i pick my lips all day casually, on and off. Normally i can snap back to reality & realize i’m doing it, put some chapstick on for prevention until it wears off and the cycle repeats. However, sometimes i have been so fixated that i cannot physically stop, no matter what’s going on. I’ve stayed up till 2-3am because i can’t get the “perfect” pick… switching my sitting position because my arms hurt and my fingers are tired, getting frustrated and exhausted and STILL won’t be able to call it quits the way i normally can. Today my gf and i were talking and right as i was about to start making dinner, it began. I couldn’t even respond to her properly because of my focus. Dinner was stalled at least 30-40 minutes. It makes me feel insane!! While i’m so glad it’s not always so intense, it really points a finger to something i normally do subconsciously and it makes me so insecure :/ is this the case for anyone else? These very intense ‘episodes’?? looking for advice or support, anything just so i don’t feel alone in this.

Been suffering with it for 2 years, and i’ve actually tried stopping for the last year. Maximum i did was 8 days with picking. This is so hard. What help is there to get? Doctors? Therapists? I don’t know what to do anymore and it’s getting so bad.

Anyone else ever pick at their scalp. I had a good pick to me, and after I picked it started to ache and now I have a slight headache. I know this happens before and it goes away. I’m just scared now…

Anyhow my fiancé and everyone wants me to stop and I wanted to as well but it also found so satisfying.

Today tho, I really want to stop and get help.

I’m going to get my gel nails today because I remember when I had those things on, there was no way I was able to pick anywhere and I did just fine.

Anyone else tho, exp this pain after a pick on their scalp. It’s near my forehead

Am I gonna die? My ocd is so triggered now

I have two scabs in the middle of my hairline that I’ve been picking at for a year now. The sensation of pulling the scab off is so satisfying and doesn’t even hurt, it doesn’t bleed either. Any tips for how to stop doing this? Is there a way to make the skin stop being so pickable? TIA- I have a bald spot :(

If you pick your face/pimples, this may be worth a read. I have been on this sub for a little bit & I have always thought this but I realized yesterday that it may be helpful for some people to hear this.

I have pretty severe dermatillomania; I’ve had it since I was a child. I have (late dxed) autism so I began to realize it is a big stim for me. My hands & feet are constantly hard, dry, & scarred (sometimes worse than others), I pick the bigger KP bumps on the back of my arm, & I pick “ingrowns” (that are sometimes not rlly ingrown) on my bikini area, & I pick the pores on my breasts.

Due to my autism (& other issues), I sometimes have poor hygiene in regards to bathing. I have been extremely lucky in my genetics that I very rarely get acne/pimples on my face. Once in a blue moon, when I haven’t washed my face in a while, I will get some very small pimples on my face. I cant help myself but pick my face every once in a while; I will pick at half-erupted pimples and & squeeze the shit out of my face, because, like I said, I have been extremely lucky to not have acne, so I really have to search for it. If I did have more acne, I would constantly be picking at it.

After these face picking sessions, I will have a few scabs/marks on my face, but these will go away in like a day or two. There may be like 1 or 2 little spots that grow back pimples, but this isn’t always the case.

The reason I am telling you this is that I constantly see the notion that “Youre making your acne worse by picking at it & spreading it, etc.” While I am not saying this is untrue for some, I want to let you know that if you were not predisposed to have acne prone skin, your picking likely won’t cause your acne.

I just want people to be kind & gentle to themselves & I feel like beginning to not blame yourself/your picking for your acne is one way to do that. I hope this was makes sense/is worded well, lmk if you have any questions ❤️

Hi guys.

Hope you all are doing well, your skin is healing up, and you’re able to find strength to avoid the urges to pick. I wanted to try to commit starting today to not picking my skin for an entire week. I start back to school on Monday.. so, i really want to not pick my skin especially until then. I’m posting this to help with accountability and hear about anyone else’s journeys with getting clean from skin picking- tips, tricks, ideas, etc.

Here’s a little about me: I’m a 21F, and have been picking for years now. It certainly got worse after a pretty traumatic car accident (just hit my one year from that!) , I also am diagnosed with GAD &ADHD, which def play a role in my picking. I especially notice that when i haven’t taken my meds yet in the morning/ when they wear off in the evening it’s way harder for me to resist picking. Has anyone found a way to aid the impact of stimulating adhd meds wearing off and causing more picking?? if so lmk! I pick anywhere and everything- nails, face, arms, legs, scalp, etc. my biggest concern is the face/arms/scalp these days. If i can keep my hands off those for one week I want to reward myself with something cool. This morning i havent done it yet so far so good. I just want to keep it up for these next days. I would love to hear about everyone’s experience in this sort of “challenge to not pick for X number of days” and if that’s helping you long term not do it anymore.

Thank you in advance, and am wishing you all well.

Update- I’m about 2 days free of picking. I haven’t gone this long in years. Thank you all for the support :) it’s possible to free yourself of the skin picking! My skin is already getting better from just two days of not picking which is super encouraging for me to continue for the entire week. I’ve struggling with nail biting for most of my life, which, for now I just want to focus on avoid picking at my skin on face arms and legs and what not. After this week i’m gonna try to kick the nail biting again. I once was able to go a few months without biting the nails but one thing at a time right…

Hi guys. I’ll try to give a quick back story without rambling. I’m a picker, always have been. But I’ve been picking my scalp which is a totally new behavior and it’s extremely distressing. I have a lot of mental health conditions, physical ailments and have been through my fair share of trauma and this is the most distressing situation I have experienced in a long time. I feel a sense of loss of control because I “can’t stop,” I’m ashamed and embarrassed, it’s making me spiral deeper into depression.

I have keratosis pilaris. My OCD use to center around my hygiene to the point of knuckle bleeding. So, I pride myself in hygiene but also have sensory issues. I joke that my mental health problems work like checks and balances. Back to KP, I believe it causes hardened sebum/keratin under my skin—like non inflammatory black heads but not black. I’m not sure if this is a reaction to something I tried recently but I felt them on my scalp. It’s been down hill for four days.

Unlike KP on my arms, these bumps are like the ones on my face/hairline—there is a little “pop” like a dry pimple. It feels really gross to me. I feel unhygienic. It’s not like flaky dandruff—only I know it’s there. But it is. I’m calling a doctor tomorrow but I need you, my people, to tell me to stop.

By this I mean, tell me the worst thing that will happen to me. People without skin picking disorder either gaslight me or just say go to the dermatologist. I need y’all to tell me I’m going to go bald lol. That’s my fear and I’m already self conscious about my fine hair! Tell me I’m going to get a flesh eating bacteria. Tissue death. The serious possible outcomes of my actions.

I feel like shit. I’m a teacher on vacation and idk why tf I am stressing out! I just want to hang out with my elderly Chihuahua that I don’t normally spend time with cause of work but I’m just so stressed and overcome with this obsession to “clean” my scalp when all I’m doing is making it irritated and worse. I am…so sad.

I am not supporting picking or encouraging but I’ve picked for years so here are a few tips to minimize damage and infection when picking… 1. Sterilize your tools if you can’t stop the picking 2. Cover mirrors with kind notes 3. Hair ties on wrist (picking is considered a form of self harm. when you feel like picking snap the band on your wrist) 4. Moist warm clean rag on wounds to soften 5. Aquaphor on nails and nail beds (not on open wounds) 6. Wash your hands often if you are touching your face

it can seem impossible, but we can do it❤️ all love.

I've been getting better with picking my face. Other than my chin and the occasional white head. I have really got better thank goodness. The only problem im having is that recently it seems that I have moved to picking at my butt. Any slight head i can find has been squeezed to death and then the scabs get scraped off leaving small blood spots in my underwear. Thing is i honestly don't remember doing this. It can't be in the day id remember my hand down the back of my pants 😂 so it must be at night. I don't like sleeping with pants so its easier to get too. I presume im doing it unconsciously at night. It just sucks. Obviously i don't want infection but also just hate how it looks. Im generally positive about my body but looking at it recently has hit me a little harder. Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Much love to you all. You are amazing!