It ranges from picking at ingrowns on my bikini line to picking dry skin off my labia lips. I'm married and I'm sure my husband notices that I have my hands in my pants a lot (it's incredibly embarrassing) but I've never spoken to him about it and don’t know how to explain it. It's so weird because it's not masturbation or enjoyable, just compulsive picking until my skin is raw. I'm really struggling

I have read so many stories of people going months without picking before a relapse and my longest is 72hrs. Since starting the program about 3 weeks ago I was on track and felt confident but this week I fucked up and picked badly for a few days. I hate that my brain goes to "yeah it's fine to pick just one of those scabs to find the hair" I know I'm only human but if anyone else is having this frustration I would love to connect or for some peer help

I recently got an LED light therapy mask, the ones that look like a robot face, and I have been having good results with it, and I was curious if anyone else has experience with one of these?
The one I have is a cheaper model, but is certified to have light in the therapeutic range. I've been alternating one day with red light and the next day with blue light. Sometimes on flash mode, sometimes not.
It seems that the places I pick at on my face are healing a bit faster, and that it is decreasing new blemishes from appearing, areas that I would definitely pick at if they were there.
I originally was trying the red light saunas available at Sun Tan City (don't worry, I wasn't using the tanning beds, just the spa treatments! ♥️), but it was too expensive and time consuming. However, if I had the time and money, I would do the full body red light sauna all the time because it's so relaxing and would maybe clear up the spots I pick that aren't just on my face.
These are fairly new technologies, and none of my close acquaintances have done them, so I was curious if anyone else here had tried them.

My brain will give me a headache if I try to resist the urge, making it difficult to stop picking.

Hi. I'm very new to this website. I know this is nearly 10 years old, but I hope someone sees this, as the community seems very sparse. I am a teen guy who is just recently realizing I have the worst kind of dermatillomania; dermatillophagia. I remember from a very young age, I would "bite my nails" all the time except even when I was so young, I knew deep inside it wasn't just "biting nails" and it was actually biting my skin on my nails and eating it. Even though I was still young, I accepted the "nail biting" because I knew it was far less embarrassing than calling it "eating your finger skin." Fast forward many many many years, and now I've adopted more skin picking and eating. I still do the fingers, but now since I'm a lot older, I actually realized I developed keratosis pilaris on my arms and legs (inherited from my dad) and have been since picking and eating the bumps. (Eww, so disgusting to actually phrase it...) I also run my fingers through my head and pick at the bumps and eat those. (Ugh...) There's actually a really big scab on there that I pick often. This leads me to my main question/fear: bringing it up to my partner. I have a boyfriend who I recently started dating a few months ago and it's going great but I have a very niche concern: him running his fingers through my hair and possibly finding the scab. I dread the thought of this so badly all the time it's genuinely insane. Like, what if he's just trying to be lovey to me and all of a sudden he's disgusted by my disgusting scabs all over my head? Sometimes I look at my hairline (another place I pick a ton) and it looks so gross. Anyways, the main point is I'm afraid because I've never talked about it to anyone. Also, recently my baby cousin (mind you, she's 8 years old so she's still not got a very good filter) asked me why my arms looked infected. I had to explain to her it was my skin condition (the keratosis) but the more I look, the more I realize it genuinely looks infected. I'm so ashamed of it. It's disgusting. Please help.
TLDR:
HOW DO I TALK TO LOVED ONES ABOUT MY SKIN PICKING WITHOUT FEELING EMBARRASSED AND/OR ASHAMED?

I have been picking my skin for a long time now, especially on my face. it's frustrating because I don't even have acne, just small clogged pores that aren't even visible to anyone but me. I have two huge scars/scabs on both of my cheeks that have been there for over a year. i cant stop picking at them, but i don't want my face to look like this forever. i'm also the kind of person who cares a lot about their appearance, I try to use makeup to cover it up but it only does so much. I pick at my back and chest too, i want to wear low cut/open back tops but theres redness and scabs everywhere. i'm young, and don't want this to last forever. is anyone else going through this?

Hello, I signed up for the groups but do not know how to get in the meeting. Anyone experience this?

Hello! I don't know where to turn. My wife suffers from dermatillomania, and I am NOT a good support. In fact, I am an enabler. I fall into the trap of believing that I am helping by letting her do it or even using tweezers. I have tried even keeping the tools under lock and key, but I always somehow convince myself that it's ok. That if she could get this "one thing" out, it will all be over and she'll heal up and everything will be ok. That just isn't realistic, and I want to be a better support and actually take action. When she's picking, I feel helpless and I can't seem to make myself do anything but panic and cry. Afterwords, every time, she tells me that I did nothing to help her and that I am making it worse. Bottom line is that she needs someone who can take action instead of panicking. What do I do? Where do I start? Please help me. I'm so lost, and I want to help, and I want her to be safe and ok.

Self harm mention trigger warning

For the longest time my loved ones have compared my skin picking to self harm, and they act as if its something I could just stop so easily if I wanted to. Its so frustrating, especially because I have actual self-harm experiences and my skin picking is not that. Its been years but it feels like they haven't even tried to understand. I know they love me and it comes from worry for me, but its hard.

I just started this program, and its making me realize how much I actually need it. But its insane I will unconsciously start picking while I'm actively recording/recognizing an episode right before. When I manage to fully stop I feel like I'm suffocating or claustrophobic and I had no clue it was this bad for me.

Has anyone felt this way? And have you been able to make any progress?

Hi!
I don't see a way to search past posts, so I don't know if there's already a conversation with suggestions, but I'm looking for ways to heal picking scars. I feel the older I get, the faster I scar and the longer the scars last. Mainly redness and skin discoloration in those spots. What have you found that works or works best?

Thank you!!

Do your skin picking urges seem stronger at certain times of the month?

You're not imagining it. Hormonal changes can influence urges, emotions, and behaviour.

In this webinar, we'll explore the connection between skin picking and the menstrual cycle, and how understanding your patterns can help you respond with more self-compassion and less self-blame.

Register: www.skinpick.com/webinar

does anyone else have such a good day with not a lot of picking and then once you see progress or clearness you start picking again. this has been going on for some time now and now that it's summer i want to get passed this insecurity. any tips on how to stop this?

I just got these gloves to help with my automatic picking habits and wanted to recommend them to the group. Cute and useful! I call them my love gloves. :) https://a.co/d/01l5ySx3

Hi everyone! This is my first time posting. I just wanted to say hi to you all. I'm here because of severe skin picking.

I've been picking my ears for as long as I can remember. It has progressively gotten worse the older I get. I am constantly scratching and pick, trying my hardest to pull something out. I don't really get ear wax anymore. I give myself ear infections regularly. I spoken to mental health professionals about this but kinda feel it is dismissed. I have tinitus as a result of this. I feel so alone and embarrassed doing this. Can anyone relate?

Is it just me or does anybody else here find it satisfying to pull hairs out of your arms and/or legs? It's oddly satisfying seeing the hair come out and the folicule. This is what I do mainly for my picking and I was wondering if anyone had any tips to overcome it

Hey friends,

I am new to this group but wanted to see if anyone else struggles with picking keratosis pilaris bumps on your arms/legs.

I unfortunately had a 1 hour picking session primarily on my arms and am feeling so down about it. I'm scarred that the purple and red scars will never go away.

Has anyone had any experience with fading these type of marks on your skin?

i am very lucky to have a support group who will see me picking and let me know that i gotta stop. What tends to happen is my addictive picking brain will get mad at my lovely friends bc they are "stopping me" from picking. anyway

Hi,
My husband has been picking his skin on his face for 4 years now. It started because he had an autoimmune disease and it took the doctors over 6 months to diagnose it correctly. As a way to take matters into his own hands, he started picking at the skin on his face and now his autoimmune condition is under control but he will not stop picking. The worse part is he does not think he has a skin picking condition, he thinks he is picking to help with the autoimmune condition. We have seen multiple rheumotologists, done the most advanced testing and seen so many dermotologists who all say the same thing: He is under remission for his autoimmune condition and that this is a seperate skin picking condition now that he needs to seek counseling for. He refuses to listen to any of them. Claims the doctors don't know what they are talking about and continuously picks at his skin. He spends hours a day picking at his skin and then gets high because the sores on his face are so painful. We have not had a functioning marriage for 4 years now and I am feeling like my patience is coming to an end.
- Is there anything you all can suggest here?
- Is there anyone that is going through something similar who I can connect him with so that he can at least start to understand that he has a skin picking condition and this is not his autoimmue disease?

Thank you so much