So embarassing…but skin picking, anyone?

[Anonymous]

I’ve done all of those things at different times in my life, but now that I’m older I’ve run out of pimples, lol, and I kind of miss them. What I do now really drives me crazy though and I can’t stop. I chew up the inside of my mouth–it’s not bad–I don’t make it bleed or anything, but b/c I do it so much, I’ve got more wrinkles around my lips than I should have–I look like a smoker but I’ve never had a cig in my life. Also, every time I see an attractive member of the opposite sex I have my face all screwed up and I hate that.

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[Anonymous]

I thought I was the only one willingly destroying my face! I’ve been very active doing it for so many years. If I ran out of pimples to pop I’d try to feel my skin to try to find any ‘pimple to be’ and pop it too. I’ve been told my pimples were caused by milk products… an allergy or something. So I considerably reduced my intake of milk products and my skin is way better now. As for my need to keep my fingers occupied, I got addicted to video games.

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[billd]

>>i’m a nail biter… oooh! bubble pop!…. and am currently trying…. found some bubble pop here at work!…. to stop biting my nails.

hee hee

<<

And this one:

>> chew up the inside of my mouth–it’s not bad–I don’t make it bleed or anything, <<

ROFLM*O – the dental gal asked me last time ” do you chew the inside of your mouth” and I asked why “never mind, you DO don’t you”.

Yes, and I live for bubble wrap since I no longer have pimples to deal with and once the skin is chewed……… I’m out of stuff to do.

I hardly ever have grease under my nails after working on my cars as my nails are too short!

Yes, seems I have hundreds of brothers and sisters my parents failed to tell me about…….

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[Anonymous]

It’s such a relief to read how many other people do the nail-biting, hang-nail-pulling, paronychia, chewing the inside of one’s cheek and lips, and nose-picking things. I do all of them! Except I did quit biting my nails for a time — I had done it all through childhood, but when I was 27, I thought, “Enough is enough, I’m not that nervous, shy, fidgety little girl anymore!” so I managed to quit biting my nails. Now they’ve gotten strong and fairly tough so it is actually hard to bite them. Everything else, though, I still do. Like Moka, I discovered that if I don’t have a lot of milk (the only dairy I can eat without getting diarrhea and cramps is yogurt or some cheeses — basically, the probiotic dairy), my skin gets much clearer. But as many others have mentioned, I can lose entire hours standing in front of the mirror, literally making a mountainous pimple out of a molehill enlarged pore. I have done it more times than I can count.

And, lostinthestars, I hear you about the nose-picking thing. I started when I was a small kid and I just couldn’t stop. Over the years I learned to hide it — unlike you, I am not unaware of it, I am very much aware of it. I’ve gotten better about it — but mainly because the insides of my nostrils are scarred from a combination of constant sinus problems/allergies, nose-picking, and extremely arid indoor work environments.

The other really bad thing I do, when alone (typically, I manage to hide all of these things — I think — from others by only doing them when I’m alone), is I pick the calluses off my feet. I know it’s gross but sometimes I simply cannot stop myself. I callus very easily so there is never any shortage of skin to pick and tear off. Many times I’ve made my feet bleed in multiple spots by getting overzealous with “removing” my calluses. I have multiple small slender scabs on both feet as I type this, from doing that to excess.

I also pick the calluses on my fingers. For whatever reason, I seem to callus easily on my feet *and* hands… so I often have extra skin at the sides of my nails, and it gets rough and dry and then I *have* peel it off.

I used to think I was great at sitting still because I didn’t jiggle my leg or bounce my knees, etc. But then I realized, I wasn’t sitting still — I was just hyperactive with much smaller, less noticeable motor activities and habits like biting my nails, biting and ripping off my hang nails, running my fingers through my hair to detangle it (it’s naturally curly). Basically, I really *can’t* sit still. Sigh.

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[Anonymous]

I WISH I were a nail biter! Mine get nice and long (and sharp.) My deal is this one little hair that keeps showing up on my chin. Being a girl this is NOT good so it has to go–by whatever means necessary. I’ve left a huge bloody wasteland behind many times. I seem to do it without thinking about it, and it isn’t just that one thing. Bumps, pimples, scabs, anyplace that isn’t smooth or that catches my attention will do. Someone will say, “What are you doing?” and I’ll look to see my inevitably bloody fingernails.

When it gets bad I make sure to keep my nails cut short. Somehow I just don’t seem to have the ability to leave things alone even when I can hear the ‘reasonable’ me screaming “STOP”

People keep telling me things like, “You’ll only make it worse.” Well I know that! Why do they keep telling me that as though I don’t know it?

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[Anonymous]

Because they don’t realize that it’s a compulsion! I am not yet “legally” diagnosed as ADD, but my son has been so diagnosed and it’s like seeing myself in many of these posts. I bit my nails for most of my life until I went to work at PetsMart and could pet the dogs and cats that came into the store on a regular basis and such. Now, I have to cut my nails on a regular basis because they grow so quickly and they’re annoying — especially when I want to type. The skin picking and nose picking are a couple of my “habits,” too, even though I crochet and nibble nuts and knit and write and read, there’s still the feeling of not being able to breathe as freely or rubbing my arms and finding bumps to pick at. WHAT a tremendous relief to find that it’s not just stupid habits, but part of what I am. Soon as I can, guess I’d better get off to a real doctor and see what he/she says, but I KNOW I’m ADD. Question is, which of my parents did I get it from?? My nephew is also ADHD and when I was watching the video “ADD and Loving It”, I began to think about my siblings and wondering if they also are ADD. I’m betting they both are! Boy, would they be perturbed to hear me say that!

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[Guilyan]

Wow. Never expected to come across this topic here. Yep, I do it too; the “facial excavation” (what a great description!) , squeeze those things on my arms, chew the inside of my mouth like tinkywink (thanks for bringing that to my attention) etc. Aren’t we gross

I also pluck hairs, particularly on my face but practically all over, once I even did all the hair on my legs. Ha! No $ from me that month waxing lady. This has become something of an issue lately since I’m digging out hairs that are ingrown or aren’t ready to come out, making it bleed and scar.

It was fairly recently that I realized what I am doing and that losing track of time in front of the mirror or with the tweezers like I often do isn’t “normal”. I was watching the TV show “Obsessed” and BINGO! It’s about people with highly disruptive OCD and while I don’t believe I have OCD, what I’m doing is probably some kind of response to anxiety coupled with hyperfocusing/procrastination because I find myself doing it more when I am avoiding doing something else. It is also possible that the Adderall I’ve been on for the last 3 months for my ADD is fueling this behavior because I think I’m doing it more than I have been.

I hadn’t connected the two until now and I think I’ll run it by my Dr and therapist to see what they think. I’ll let you know

Oh BTW, I used to chew my nails and fingers really bad as when I was younger. The way I broke that habit was by always having my nails painted and as well manicured as possible. Acrylics were good too. Not as satisfying to chew on somehow and it costs money to fix when you do which worked as a deterrent for me.

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[Anonymous]

Well I guess I’m in the right place. I finally threw my magnifying mirror away but not before scarring my beautiful face lol

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[Anonymous]

Amazing! I’ve had all these habits – from nail-biting to nose picking – my whole life. I don’t zit-pop anymore because at my age I’ve pretty much stopped having zits, and i havn’t bitten my nails in years, but there’s a couple of things I still do. I’m a compulsive mustache-hair puller and chewer, and I still pick my nose, but only when no one’s watching. And since everyone here is confessing their deepest, darkest secrets, I might as well confess mine. I’m a compulsive penis arranger (I know, sounds really weird!), it absolutely makes me crazy to have everything out of position and uncomfortable. I’m also a big itch-scratcher, but that’s probably just dry skin.

Man, when it comes to ADD I’m learning something new every day!

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[Anonymous]

I was always made fun of for popping my pimples on my shoulders and back during class… it has caused me to get lots of scars on my back, which is rather embarrassing.

I also have a stress problem called Tricchotillomania (I believe that’s the right spelling), which is made worse by hyperfocus. It’s terrible >.<

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[Anonymous]

I’m a skin picker/pimple popper, but it’s not usually on my face.

I also compulsively tweeze. It started with lip hair & eyebrows, but now I do it on my calves. I almost never show my legs in public. Like Gullyan, no waxing lady for me. (Actually, I still have to shave the back of my legs) I used to wear shorter skirts in the summer, but this past summer I couldn’t because people would stare at how scabbed my legs are! Now the hair isn’t growing back as much, so there’s not as much to tweeze. I also pop pimples (or ingrown hairs) on my legs. They look totally disgusting. And when I’m stressed, I can do it for hours and hours.

Is there any kind of medication that can target that hyperfocus?

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[gforcewarp9]

Oh, guilty guilty. Picked skin, have some faded scars, and I pick my lips until they are bleeding! So how’s that for wierdly obsesive behavior! Picked lips are pretty unnatractive.

So, wow. Allways suspected but never knew these a.d.d weirdnesses.

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[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time on here but I can very much relate to the zit popping..i do it all the time and mostly when i’m bored. I can’t stop myself either so when its all said and done my face looks all picked at and it take a few days to heal….I also have a problem with chewing on the inside of my lips until they start bleeding or I get a headache…i keep telling myself to stop but I just can’t…I can see sometimes people watching me out of the corner of my eye…but I just keep doing it because i will go nuts if i don’t……I do it the most when I am really stressed. I’ve found that keeping gum with me helps but if I am really stressed nothing works……I also twirl my hair but not to the point of pulling it out.

Thanks for letting me share

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[Anonymous]

Wow! What a lot of posts! Don’t have time to read them all now but wanted to say that I have bitten my nails….since I’ve had teeth!!! And, being 65!, that’s a lot of years! But I also bite my cuticles, the skin in my finger tips, and the inside of my cheeks. What’s left, I ask you?!! And I do the fingers (the tips and around the nails) to the point of bleeding and pain, and then STILL pick! Oy! It drives me crazy but I’ve never been able to stop. And, interestingly (I think), when I am biting off a particularly “tasty” piece of skin I have picked at and am chewing it (O.M.G. this all sounds dizzgusting!) I cannot concentrate on what is being said around me, so sometimes I save the treat (or piece) for later. Now…if this is NOT ADD/ADHD, then is surely is some other disorder. I say this because the test I took showed that I probably don’t have ADHD but to me, so many behaviors would seem to belong in the ADHD description. Wish I could afford a real diagnosis. It would just make me feel better to have a label for myself after all these years of, for example, being terribly down on myself my being, f LAZY–a sin in our culture. From the Long Winded Lady–a former character in the Talk of the Town!!!

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[anniea]

I am a picker and a popper…somewhat reformed on the zit front since I am older…But I did make a self esteem connection from when I was younger..really working at my face when I was in the dumps and beating myself up..mentally and literally. But used alcohol swabs dabbing at the offensive site helped me break this habit eventually..Bit my nails until I had a job where it was gross to continue…so I got a buffer and got them shiny…never did go back to full time hard core biting down to the quick, but find my self “nibbling” if the top gets ripped or nicked down, then get the emery board out and am back on track til the next time. I pick at my head especailly when I drive, a friend pointed it out,,I was unconcious of it..but I still pick/scratch sometimes from nerves, frustration??…

I doodle when on the phone, or at work..that helps like crazy, I used to say I can’t talk unless I have a pen in my hand to help me rmember the conversation…and not to mention focused on what I am doing. I crochet, tat, sew, read, that helps at times… especially when I worked night shift and had a lot of time on my hands…I think becoming aware of the behavior and deciding to change it helped me. But alas I still pick my nose.. I still find myself in front of the mirror sometimes, and then aske myself why I am mad at myself?? This helps me stop and figure out what happened to get me picking at myself again…

I find reading the forums sooo helpful!! I have been treading water most of my life, and now I see it is NOT just me!! That it is ADD a LOT of the time!! PHEW…thanks everybody

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