Need some serious help for dermatophagia :/

Hi all, not sure whether there have been topics on this before, if there are then I'll comment there. But anyway, I seriously need some help/advice. Basically, I've suffered from dermatophagia for as long as I can remember. For anyone who doesn't know, it's compulsive skin picking - sufferers are called 'wolf-biters' (found out on wikipedia). Just a precaution: I might write some things that sound quite gory and disgusting, so please don't read if you're squeamish.(:

It started when I was very young, as something I did whenever I was nervous - I would just automatically start biting and pulling skin from my fingertips, on the tip and all the way around to (and including) the cuticles. It's gotten progressively worse over the years - I spend hours picking every little piece of skin off of my fingers until all that remains is the new red layer of skin underneath, and my fingers burn with pain for days afterwards. I immediately regret it as soon as I've done it, but I just can't stop. I have to get my family to hide the nail clippers from me because I just use them to clip off skin. It gets to the point where it often bleeds, and it's made even worse that I play guitar, so whenever I do it I can't play for a week or so and it's incredibly frustrating. I know it looks horrible both when I do it subconsciously around other people, and it looks like something out of a horror movie afterwards... it's just disgusting and I seriously wish I could stop.

So, to put it simply, is anyone else suffering with this? And does anyone have any advice that will actually work (e.g. that stuff you can put on nails that tastes horrible)? At this point, I don't think I can stop simply by willpower alone. Maybe I should wear gloves until I get out of the habit?? :/ any help or comments are greatly appreciated and thanks for reading. (:

- Serah X

I hear ya! I've been a finger-picker since I was 4. My mom tells me that when I was little I picked to the point where they would bleed. Today, that happens sometimes, but usually I can keep it to the point where there is the red layer on the sides around my fingernail and then stop. I, too will pick for hours My mom is always telling me to stop, but sometimes there's just that little piece of skin that needs to be gone or it drives me crazy! I managed to stop picking this past summer for about 2 months, but I'm at it again. Especially when I'm nervous. I'm the same way with scabs, and especially zits. I'll have to pop them, and then keep picking at the skin where it was for days after. I have red marks on my chin and neck from pulling out hairs, and then picking at where there has been one ingrown for a couple months, that I just want gone! It's a neverending cycle....you want the skin to be gone, but then as soon as you have to opportunity to pick, here we go again!

Hey! Thanks for replying. (: I'm exactly the same, my fingertips just don't feel right unless I've taken the skin off of them. If there's even the slightest piece of white skin there, I'll start from there and work my way across the whole fingertip until it's completely bare and red. I absolutely CANNOT leave it be (trust me, I've tried but the temptation was too much). I was also the same with scabs and spots too, but I've gotten better at that now. It's just my fingers which really frustrate me.

What did you do to keep your hands busy in those 2 months where you stopped?? I can stop for about a week at best but then as soon as the skin's back I'm at it again... it's just continual. I don't think I can remember the last time when all of my fingers were intact for more than a day. It's a crazy never-ending cycle, just as you said. X

Lol there's actually a spot on my index finger I'm working at right now XD When I was able to stop, it was summer so naturally I felt my best and more relaxed. I love swimming, so I spent a lot of time at the pool. I know this can sometimes lead to picking, as once the water dries the chlorine tends to dry out the skin even more, but this time I just let it naturally exfoliate, and used lotion a lot of the time. For whatever reason, I had the urge to pick one day and here I am back at square one. It's like it gives me something to do. I'm one of those people who needs constant mental stimulation, porbably because of the ADHD. I know I should just find something more productive, like keep some Silly Putty with me to roll around in my hands instead

Ah yeah, I get that too. Whenever I have a bath or a shower it always, always leads to picking because I stay in for ages and my fingertips get wrinkled (as they do ). Makes it much easier to pick all the skin off when it's like that, so that's always a problem. I might try lotion and a stress ball or something, anything that means I don't sit down for prolonged periods with nothing to do and have the urge to pick. (: still, I wish there were another way to deter myself from doing it, as it takes up so much time and is painful (which is stupid as I'm the one causing it).

I read a good tip somewhere, dip your nails, or anywhere you bite in nail polish remover ( which if you've ever tried to use on your nails after biting, you will know stings like hell) and leave it to air dry, put this on every few days, or as much as you need to as long as you can still taste it.
Then you will associate that taste to biting, and since it tastes rather bad, this should stop you or atleast help.

You have to believe in yourself too. If you believe you will fail in the end, it won't work.

I'm about to try this myself so wish me luck ^^

Good luck with it yourself
x

I've still been picking a lot this week. Last nite I spent prolly a good 15 minutes using nail clippers to get rid of dead skin. What I try to do is use a lot of lotion....hopefully this will help like it did before!

Thanks to both of you, I'm really willing to try anything right now... emii9332, I think I'm going to try that nail polish remover thing, as I really do hate the smell of that stuff. Hopefully it'll be a decent deterrent, haaah (;

I thought I was doing better for a while, until I realised I don't even notice myself doing it - it's just like a subconscious habit! But I'm really going to try hard next year to stop completely. (:

Thanks for bringing this up as I need some help with it: I started biting the skin around my nail since about 8 months ago (this being the 27th jan 2014) and I know it's not nearly as bad as what most other people do but I am getting nervous as I play rugby and do other things which will get dirt on my fingers and sometimes I literally have to suck off the dirt just incase . I do it to the point of drawing blood and making my skin go discoloured (I have dark skin but my thumbs mostly are pink. I am afraid the pigment won't come back . If anyone could help it'd be great

Thanks... .

I used to do that when I was little. Believe it or not, but things like fidget spinners help.