Finger Biting/Picking

[katherine333]

It was great to read all of the posts on this. I am sad to think that there are folks out there who think that they are alone in this habit as I have met and talked to so many people over the years who engage in biting or picking the skin on their fingers. I have always bit/torn at my fingers since as long as I can remember. I don't remember a time in my life when I did not do it (30 years old now). At one time I tore/bit the skin on every finger, every knuckle, including between the fingers and the pads of my palms. My hands looked like a war-zone and were always bleeding. I tried putting nasty-tasting stuff on the fingers and just licked it off. My mom made me wear white gloves to school... that was so embarrassing and I just took them off to bite. Eventually, I started sitting on my hands and clasping them tightly as often as I could think about it. The biting/tearing calmed down some.

I continued to make my hands bleed throughout my adulthood. I started bargaining with myself... only bite on the fingers, not between. Then I told myself I could bite any finger except my pinky finger. What a wonderful bit of feedback to see pretty pinky fingers! Then I stopped biting my first finger. That was GREAT because it's the pointer and the one that people notice the most.

To date the only period of time I have had with absolutely clean fingers/hands (no biting and no picking) was my wedding. It required a great deal of effort and concentration every day, all day. I was so proud of my wedding pictures, though..... great feedback for me! Now that I am 30 years old I am still picking/biting.... mostly on my thumbs, sometimes on my middle finger too.

I believe it's part anxiety-based and part habitual. I think both parts have to be addressed (at least for me) to be able to stop it. I find now that addressing the anxiety through exercise and journaling helps me (there are other ways to address anxiety). The more anxious I am, the more I pick and bite my fingers.  And addressing the habit through conscious effort, including sitting on my hands, folding my hands and increasing my awareness of when my hands get close to my face (and then doing something else with them) have all helped. I also know that if I have a "tag" on my skin that I will habitually pick at it. So, I have bandaids always in stock and make sure I use neosporin to increase the healing process. When it gets to that rough stage and it's kind of leathery, I let myself rub it if I have to touch it, but NO PICKING. It's definately a conscious effort.

I hope everyone who suffers with this problem will be able to overcome it. I really think it's a lifelong effort for some (definately for me) and that I will have be aware of it for the rest of my life. But, I have made GREAT progress and so can everyone else!
Good luck!



This discussion is related to 6 yr old boy picks his fingers until they bleed..