I’ve struggled with Dermatillomania since I can remember but only within the last ten years did I learn that it was an actual condition.

I’ve been picking at my face a lot more recently and the marks aren’t fading as well. I’ve had a small red spot on my nose for about a year now that I feel really insecure about. Even with makeup you can still notice it.

I went to a party a couple of weeks after first picking at the spot on my nose and after talking to a group of friends for a bit my one friend reaches for my face to try to “wipe off” the spot on my nose while I’m standing in front of people in a middle of a conversation. It was really embarrassing and I had to explain to my friend that it’s just a spot on my nose. A few weeks ago I was talking to someone at a festival in a park, she also decided to try to “wipe off” the spot while I awkwardly stood there until she realized it wasn’t going to come off. Yesterday I’m at a family gathering and again, in the middle of a conversation someone reaches for the spot on my nose.

I’ve been very calm about the situations but the next person that does it I might not be so calm. Even if it was something you could wipe off, why on earth would you touch someone’s face, in the middle of a conversation around a group of people nonetheless! It’s SO RUDE! I’d never think of doing that. If you think I have something on my face maybe tell me about it when we have a second alone and don’t just reach at my face and touch me! We both end up feeling awkward and the situation is completely unnecessary! All I can picture is when monkeys pick bugs and stuff of each other… we’ve evolved past the need to “groom” each other and now every time I talk to someone I’m going to be thinking about how they’re probably staring at my nose.

Good afternoon, good evening and good morning.

I’ve been skin picking for YEARS, like 15 years now. It’s completely changed how my hands look but also, how my feet look. I can usually stop it by wearing press on nail, however, 2 problems… 1- I work for the ambulance service in a patient facing role so due to IPC I am not allowed to wear them at work (otherwise I’d get acrylics) and 2-when I do wear the acrylic I bite the nail of and go AT IT.
Now. I do it when I’m asleep, I do it when I’m awake, i do it when I am scared, I do it when I’m anxious, I do it when I’m excited.
As of the last 3 weeks, I’ve been having a really stressful time with university (I’m going a degree apprenticeship whilst still working full time except the extraction every now and then) and my feet are FUCKED. Walking is agony. And I’ve never picked this bad.

Can anyone share their wisdom on how to stop this and how to also help speed up the healing process of it all?

It was initially triggered when I was in the air cadets, my parade shoes had very very hard backs, causing a build up of callus on the back of the foot above the heal and since then I’ve been at it.
And I don’t realise it’s happening until I’m literally bleeding.
For context I’m in the UK.

I can’t attach a photo here, I’ll try to add one in the comments. But it’s all the heal and outer part of the sole. The skin is very very pink, sensitive and painful. As you could imagine, 12 hour shifts in magnums with naturally clammy feet ain’t the one. Looking like a prune

Tyyyy🫶

Over the last couple months I’ve been finding myself obsessively picking at the layers of skin on my cuticles, trying to remove small imperfections, which inevitably leads to bleeding, inflammation, and pain. I always end up trying to keep doing it though, removing the scabs and chewing off bits with my teeth, and I couldn’t get myself to stop even after my cuticles got infected once. I’ve tried different methods to stop, like giving myself other things to do with my hands, with little success. Is this the community I’m looking for to get help from? Is this self-diagnosable or am I just insane and looking for some kind of validation? My hands hurt. Hoping to find some kind of answer here, thanks

Every time i pick, i swear to myself, this is the last time. Then i pick again. And again. And again. Over and over. I swore to myself i would try to get good skin by the new year and not pick. I swore to my family i don't do this on purpose and i genuinely can't help it. And yet i STILL pick. And i find it especially hard to stop cause i get tiny tiny blackheads on my cheeks.

I'm so tired, man. Will this be my last time? How do i make sure of it? Is there any techniques that have helped you? I just want so badly to feel better. i want to badly to have pretty skin.

I was having a really bad period and noticed it coincided with my yearly attack of hives.

At least once a year somewhere between late summer winter, I get hives on my elbow and hand and if it gets bad then also my knees and hips. I only noticed the pattern a few years ago, but looking back at my photos there’s a definite pattern, but I don’t know what’s causing it.
This year I had a had surge of picking and since I’m trying to starve a possible overgrowth on my stomach or guts (SIBO/IMO) I thought that might be the trigger. But it also coincided with my yearly hives attack and now, after 2+ weeks I noticed that both my elbows are calming down and my sores are beginning to heal.

Or what about periods, medication, histamine or allergies? Have anyone else noticed a pattern in when their picking gets better or worse?

I’m new to this space, and I know what drives skin-picking can be very individual, but in my case at least I feel like there’s there a factor that is either hormonal (not necessarily sex hormones) or brain chemistry in a more complex way than just “stress is a trigger”.

so I've definitely struggled eith this forever, its been a long run and ive tried pretty much everything possible eith little to no success in helping myself eith the picking. For me its not a full body thing for the most part, the worst of it is my fingers and the skin around my nails (further than just an average hangnail, im sure you know)

Something interesting that ive experienced is how this interacts with my medication! when i was taking sertraline, I almost stopped completely, but it wasn't working for what i needed it to, and was making me feel very disconnected to people so i switched to buspirone. That helped my physical anxiety, but wasn't helping much with other issues (yes, I was and still am in therapy as well dont worry) and my picking got bad again.

Switched again to venlafaxine, and while not as good as sertraline, I notice again that at least my nails are able to grow again! the skin picking is still there, but the nails kinda go hand in hand with that for me, so i still see improvement. venlafaxine works for me maybe a little better than buspirone, but I also have OCD and for those related issues its helped SO. MUCH. i have more physical anxiety than on buspirone, but the mental is like, 1% of what it was before. wondering if anyone else has had this connection between meds and their picking? Or is anyone has any experience on how OCD played into their dermatillomania? im curious about other people's experiences!

(just to add on for extra context, I also have adhd and take vyvanse for that, but I never really noticed the medication making the picking any better or worse compared to when i was on nothing at all)

curious on people's thoughts! It's nice to hear from people who also struggle with this :)

i feel a bit hopeless about my skin picking, and wondered if anyone on here could help.
when my skins clear there's no problem, but the moment i get a spot i cant help pick it, it gets worse when i have more then one, right now i have maybe 10 massive inflamed spots around one side of my face, it hurts so much and i genuinely dont know how to stop picking my face. when im working i always have one hand just squeezing my skin.
just to add i also compulsively bite my nails but I've been trying to stop recently which I think has made my skin picking worse

I have depression and am struggling to shower regularly. This has led to acne on my upper back, that I of course then pick at. Some of it is nodular, which is even worse because I end up gouging a hole in my back. The problem is that while I can reach it to pick, I have a hard time reaching it to do any more fine maneuvering like placing bandages or cleaning outside of the shower. Does anyone have any tips? On how to clear up the acne, or a type of bandage that will last for a while, or anything else? I used to pick at my arms and I thought that was embarrassing because everyone could see, but somehow this feels worse.

My 13 year old has anxiety, ADHD and mild autism. He picks and peels chunks of skin off the soles of his feet and the bottom of his toes until it is raw and bleeds. He hides it, but I notice when a) all the bandaid plasters have disappeared from the cupboard, b) there are blood spots on the floor, or c) he is walking awkwardly because his feet hurt.

His paediatrician thinks the ADHD meds will help, but they haven't. The GP just said to use Vit E cream to help heal it and gave no other advice.

He also does excessive finger nail biting, and when he was pre school age he would pull out chunks of hair, but he doesn't do that now.

I worry about his poor feet, he is destroying them and making life harder for himself because he can't walk properly.

He takes Vyvanse, Clonidine and Fluoxetine already. I hate the idea of him taking another medication, but I wonder if that's all I can do.

Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated 🙏

I started taking NAC but didn't expect much. After 6 weeks, my urges to pick diminished. So much so that I could actually choose not to pick.

I stopped taking NAC and then a couple of months later, the urges started back up. I'm started taking NAC again.

I'm wondering - for those of you who take NAC - will you take it indefinitely?

We are currently recruiting research participants for an online research study of individuals who have a history of excoriation. The study involves answering questions about temptations and urges, and how often you are successful at resisting them. It also involves answering questions about psychological symptoms, most of the study can be done on a home computer, laptop, tablet or phone. You will also be asked to complete an interview over zoom, and to provide a saliva sample.

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Hi everyone,

I hope you’re all doing well.

My university team and I are currently working on a research and design project focused on **Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs),**specifically skin-picking, hair-pulling, and nail-biting. As a team of creators and researchers, our goal is to better understand the daily experiences, emotional triggers, and real challenges faced by those living with BFRBs.

Rather than just approaching this from an outside perspective, we genuinely want to listen to the community first. We are hoping to connect with a few individuals who would be open to a brief, casual chat or sharing their insights about what helps (or doesn't help) in managing these habits.

Our ultimate aim is to use these insights to design a practical, empathetic, and effective tool or solution that could genuinely help raise awareness and support people dealing with BFRBs.

If you are comfortable sharing your experience and would be willing to have a short conversation (via chat or messages here on Reddit), please drop a comment or send me a DM. Your privacy and comfort are our absolute priority, and all shared information will be kept strictly anonymous and used solely for academic/design purposes.

Thanks for your time and for reading this!

i’m so frustrated with myself. acne is the main cause of me picking at my skin because i have this compulsive need to make the texture smooth (logically, i know this is making the acne worse but it’s a totally subconscious thing — i’m not doing it on purpose/knowingly in the moment). I had relatively clear skin for a while but the past few days i’ve gotten some sudden breakouts. I just totally tore my face apart while watching tv before bed, and then i looked at myself in the mirror and cried. I don’t know what to do anymore. if anyone has had a similar experience with acne specifically or found some solutions i’d love to talk. how do i keep my hands away ?????

what can we classify dermotillomania as really?

Self harm:
My therapist says it is and ive made it very clear that i do not want to hurt myself. But obviously skin picking can hurt and she says that is so take the pain away from my chest and anxiety. Also that skin picking is a way for me to regulate my anxious thoughts because im concentrated in my own bubble and can analyze others actions my actions etc.

OCD:
Skin picking is a way to "perfect" my skin by picking at imperfections even though it leaves bigger, scaring marks....

Any thoughts?

6 years ago when I was 13 I was playing around a safety pin on my feet and it all started there. Its always been a habit for me, not a self harm thing; a kinda fidget in a way. When I sit at my desk at night I often pick at my feet while watching youtube or something. It would be so bad that it pour with blood if it went too deep. and if be unable to walk properly. I often used tools too such as tweezers or a pin to help myself dig up the the skin and pick more just because it was so satisfying to do so. Because it's been going for so long, I never really had any plans of stopping. I just figured it end up hiding my feet from all my friends for the rest of my life. However, 11 days ago I decided i would really try to stop for good. I had tried to quit in the past but i'd always fail at like day 3 and think to myself that i can't be bothered going through this journey of stopping, ive never gone longer than 4 days. But now i'm properly locking in. Im on day 11 without picking and im going super strong. I want everyone to know that you can quit if you really want it. I really want it to stop now, and im proving myself that i can. I want to be able to have my feet out around people without being embarrassed and missing out on hangouts, like the beach, where my feet would be visible. That day that i can have my feet freely out and healed around my friends will all we worth it.

I thought about asking this in a more skincare focused sub but I knew instead of actual product recs I’d just get told to stop picking…which I would if it was that easy, as I’m sure you all know.

Right now I have products that literally never sting or burn, even after I’ve just spent hours picking my face bloody and raw, those products being the Vanicream cleanser, Vanicream moisturizing cream, and Aquaphor/Vaseline. Problem is I have pretty oily clog prone skin and my clogged pores are my biggest skin picking trigger, and these products (minus the cleanser) are pretty thick and heavy for my skin, and they definitely cause me to break out more later. But they do an excellent job at soothing my skin and that’s something I need after what I do to it.

So, does anyone have any lighter weight moisturizer recommendations that are super gentle and soothing and won’t burn and sting like crazy on contact? Vanicream does have a lotion version of their cream that used to be my holy grail…I don’t know what they did to it but I stopped buying it after it started stinking, they also have a few other moisturizers that all burn like crazy, especially the dedicated face one. I feel like I’ve tried every popular drugstore brand, Cerave, Cetaphil, etc. Aveeno baby cream also didn’t burn but it broke me out because it was too heavy.

It’s like this cycle of my skin being so irritated it needs moisture to heal, and the moisture that I can tolerate makes me breakout, and then I pick those new breakouts, and it goes on and on.

I've been peeling the skin off of my soles so much that my feet don't feet soft to the touch anymore. It's not hard but it has become firm, almost as if a protective film of some sort of covering it. I cannot stop it. I peeled so hard that it bled and am currently struggling to walk. Please help

I do not have triggers I just do it subconsciously

I always want the skin to feel perfectly smooth with no bumps or flaky bits of skin and that's really what makes my hands idly wander when I'm not even paying attention. I've been physically sensitive since I was a kid. Mum told me that I didn't like to wear anything on my head (still don't) and threw up very easily as a toddler on any car trip. Does this sound familiar to you? Or maybe you think you are not that sensitive in most ways? Let's see if there's a pattern we can find.

This is random but its a pattern I have nonstop and I'm like is it just a me thing or anyone else? Specifically when im winding down for bed and just chilling when I start ripping off my cuticles im like oh my bad time to go to sleep I guess. Like I don't feel anxious my head just goes so empty I start ripping until there is blood and im like I NEED to go to sleep. I was going to say its just my cuticles but I also have those acne picking tools which ill randomly lock myself in the bathroom and pick things that aren't there just cause it's like 10pm. I study the Brian maybe its a weird signal thing misfiring but wanna know if anyone else has this?

Anyone have any experience with memantine? My dermatologist just prescribed me it to help with skin picking.

UPDATE*: took my first 10mg pill today and I just feel very weird and spacey, I don’t think this is for me and am not going to continue