Strange OCD..

I've been looking for information on this certain OCD for quite some time, all with no luck. I've seen numerous doctors about it but all of them are a bit, well, confused. I've been on Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac and even Xanny all to no avail.

Anyway, this OCD started when I was about 6 years old. I'm now 24.
The circumstances that lead to this OCD are quite personal, but since I am in desperate need of some advice I will share a bit.
I was sexually abused from the age of 4 to 7 by a neighboor. I won't get into too much detail about it.

My OCD is this: I -CANNOT- stand to be 'dry'. Especially my fingertips or feet. I constantly have to lick my fingertips and sleep with my shoes on because if my feet 'dry out' I feel like, well, can't describe it. I feel completely insane and I MUST put lotion on them ASAP. After a shower is especially bad since most showers tend to 'dry me out'.
This isn't something I take lightly. The CONSTANT need to lick my fingers is taking it's toll. However, I can't seem to get over this. Like I said before, if for some reason I can't keep my fingers tips moist I feel like I am going to go completely insane. Anyway, does anyone have any ideas? Some strange, off the wall therapy or drugs? I'm quite desperate.

Thanks in advance!

I also just remembered the first night this hit me. I was trying to sleep but I couldn't. My mom had just given me a bath and then put me to bed and I 'BEGGED' her to do something about it. Being that my mom is and was very resourceful and understanding, she came back with a wet washcloth and viola, I slepped like a baby. This happened after my parents found out what happened, by the way.

There were times as I grew up where it got really bad. For about 2 years, when I was 12-14, my feet started getting really dry during school. So I started to get on the treadmill right before school and make my feet sweat so that they would stay moist throughout the day. I wasn't overweight or unhappy with my body, it was just a quick solution to my problem.

It's even carried over into my sex life. Taking my shoes off during sex? Yeah, uhm, really, really hard to do. Also, the constant licking my fingers really can't leave my hands smelling too good. Not forgetting all the weird questions I get from people.

Sigh.

I have no expertise here, but I will try to be helpful...

First of all, talk to your shrink. If you don't have one, find one that you trust and like. By getting at the root cause of your OCD (past abuse), you might be able to alleviate your current method of compartmentalizing or dealing with what happened to you as a child.

Also, try thinking of what would happen if your feet did dry out. I go barefoot in my house almost all the time, rarely use lotion (other than facial moisturizer), wear flipflops often since I live in the SW USA and it's usually warm, and sleep in almost nothing at all. I'm not going to lie--my feet sometimes get a bit calloused and dry as do my hands (I am trying to use hand lotion more often--like once or twice a day). But my point is that I am still fine. I have not dried up and blown away and neither will you.

Nothing bad or permanently damaging will happen if you do allow your skin to be dry. Your body is already 50-70% water, and keeping those parts of your body constantly moist can have consequences like athlete's foot and other skin infections. The effects of dry hands and feet can be fixed in one visit to the manicurist or by putting foot lotion on and sleeping in socks for just one night every week or even less. What do you think the consequences will be if they do dry out?

Use the rational part of your mind to combat this compulsion. Think of the what ifs of dry skin. I sincerely hope that you get help from a good professional. In the meantime, explore your reasoning for doing this in as rational a manner as you can.

I probably haven't helped you. Best of luck, though, and keep writing in.

I use to think i just had dry hands, but I don't see anyone else putting on lotion every 5 minutes, and licking their fingertips. And I've been told I'm wierd for sleeping in my socks. I cant walk on carpet barefoot, and I freak out if my blanket touches my bare feet. I remember it started when I was really young (probably around 5 aswell ) I got really freaked out if someone drug their feet across carpet. And when i see someone using their teeth to hold anything cloth, especially yarn!!!! I cant even hold my boyfriend's hand if i haven't just put lotion on. I guess it's the sound or thought of dry things scraping together. My brother and dad have aspergers, and I kno a symptom of autism includes the feeling of certain fabrics freaking you the hell out. I always associated the lotion thing with the touching dry fabrics thing. (Because if i put on lotion, I can handle bare feet for a few minutes) it's definitely a psychological thing tho! Idk if medication can fix it. But we could probably get prescription strength lotion. What they use at hospitals, I saw it behind the pharmacy counter at Walgreens. That stuff is awesome! But it's definitely exadurated on my feet and fingetips, just like with you. It's weird how psych issues have similar effects on different people.

Very elderly thread but hopefully dysphunktion found the answers helpful (:

Not my usual forum but I cringed all the way through reading this one.. i can relate to absolutely everything and for me it's part of my aspergers.. a sensory issue rather than ocd..

Everyone that knows me in 3d knows that i have this issue - my friends actually keep a tub of moisturiser for me in their bathrooms because they know that i can't handle the feeling and if i forget to take my moisturiser with me then i'm going to be leaving very very quickly.. it's awful. The feeling of dry hands and feet is horrible.
Right now i've got a tub of body butter in the kitchen, one on the sofa next to me.. one in the car - i have a small bottle of moisturiser in my handbag..
as for walking around in bare feet = just no.. even the thought makes me cringe and want to reach for the tub of body butter.
I like the summer a lot more than the winter - my hands sweat a little bit and it feels so much nicer than the dry skin feeling in the cold of winter.. plus i can wear flipflops out.. never indoors though.
I even chose carpets specifically for the texture of them - i have autism friendly flooring here
every aspie that's ever visited has commented on how nice the floor feels to them.. most carpets are a bit ''ick'' and make me cringe but mine are touchable and i can put my hands and feet on it without getting the same cringe feeling as though i'd just been chewing on cotton wool..
and holding yarn in your mouth = *shudders*
it's squeaky and rough and squeaky.. and yuck and ugh..

for people that don't have this.. it's difficult to explain but i've had a try with a few people over the years.. the explanation that many seem to understand is that if you can imagine putting a piece of chalk in your mouth and chewing it.. the scrapy, chalky texture..
or if you can imagine the sound of fingernails scraping down a blackboard - or metal screeching against metal.. that's how i feel when my hands or feet are dry.

Wow. Ten years later and I find myself back to my original post!
I completely forgot I even made this post too. I was just sitting here googling "OCD finger licking" and here I am, almost 10 years to do the day.

It's comforting knowing that I am not alone in this. I just wish I could get over it. I also love summer due to the sweat! I remember as a kid, I would get on the treadmill before school so my feet would sweat. I do notice a difference between myself and those of you that posted: Socks.
I CAN NOT wear ONLY socks. Oh no. No. NO. The feeling of my feet in the socks moving against the socks, OMG NO.

It gets worse when I clip my finger nails too. Also, I absolutely -HATE- touching cardboard boxes. I also HATE the sound of cardboard box lids scratching against eachother...omg, just got super goosebumps.
The same with Popsicle sticks on teeth. Ugh, bumps again. I need to stop thinking about this.

I work in an environment where wearing those disposable rubber/latex gloves is common. So, I tend to wear them ALOT. To the point that people are always asking me why I still have them on. It's the sweat. Precious sweat, lol.

Anyway, aside from lotion, has anyone figured this thing out???

Nothing to add here, just welcome back! Don't be such a stranger this time...

SBB sweet pea, you had me at fingernails on a blackboard....

I absolutely -HATE- touching cardboard boxes. I also HATE the sound of cardboard box lids scratching against eachother...omg, just got super goosebumps.
The same with Popsicle sticks on teeth. Ugh, bumps again. I need to stop thinking about this.

ugh..
I hate those and i'm cringing - I also hate those little wooden chip forks that fish and chip shops give out - or the wooden tongue depressors that the docs use..
the worst one though is definitely pizza boxes from Dominoes.. they make their boxes out of cardboard that's sturdier than most - yes it stays together really well but waahh.. that just makes it super scrapy when you try and close the lid..

SBB sweet pea, you had me at fingernails on a blackboard....

^^ sowwy.. glad you kind of understand though xx

dysphunktion wrote:I CAN NOT wear ONLY socks. Oh no. No. NO. The feeling of my feet in the socks moving against the socks, OMG NO.

I can't stand when my hands and feet are dry either. With my hands, in the winter, it's never ending. I used to run my hands under the tap constantly until someone pointed out to me that the tap water dries them out even more. I can only use hand cream at night because otherwise I become aware of all the things that I am touching and getting greasy. I start retracing my steps and cleaning everything I touched, which makes my hands dry again. So now I'll put it on before I watch TV, if I know I'll be sitting there for a while.

As for the foot/sock thing, yeah. What I can't stand is the feeling of lint between my toes. The only thing that helps is copious amounts of vaseline, or some other (cheap) moisturizer. It actually pulls more lint from the socks onto my toes, but since I can't feel it, it doesn't matter.

What I never understood is why I only have this foot lint problem in the summer. You would think that in the winter, when skin gets drier, it would be more noticeable. But for some reason, it only bothers me in the warm weather. I think it has more to do with simple physics than OCD, but I haven't been able to figure that out out either.

There is this spot on the ridge of cartilage behind my ear that is weirdly irregular. If, for some reason, I touch it, that's it. It drives me crazy for hours until the memory of how it felt fades. Plus, I have this overwhelming desire to touch it again, as it touching it the ''right'' way will undo the skeevies touching it the ''wrong'' way started. Sometimes, when I think about it, like now, I get a strong urge to touch behind my ear, but it's easy to resist.

I have no problem with needles, but if a doctor touched my wrist, in that slightly depressing manner to take my pulse, or if he pressed into my abdomen as they often do in exams, I will jump a mile. Something about tendons and veins and body organs you can feel with your hands is like a million nails down a million chalkboards for me.

Luckily, I don't overly stress about these things. My OCD is mostly based on worrying, cleanliness and contamination, and decision making.