Scab Picking

[Nikki_d1221]

For as long as I can remember I've been picking & I am 24. I'll pick at scabs any where on my body and I'll pick at dead skin around my fingers, it's a disgusting habit but I can never stop. it's always a small cut/wound & it triples in size by the time I'm done picking, its turns red due to infection and always leaves a scar. The worse is when I start peeling from a sunburn because I end picking at skin that isn't suppose to come off & I end up with tiny little cuts everywhere & I pick them all. I think my worse scab picking is when my nose was burnt and I picked the skin off, i was picking at it for over a year. The scab would get really really tiny & then i would ruin the healing process. I was very depressed over it. The scab took up most of front of my nose. I would be late to work on daily basis b/c I would be picking at it and then I'd have to figure out a way to cover it up. The more I hated the scab the more I hated myself and kept picking.  This past year I was so good at not picking & that's because I haven't had anything to pick at. Then it all went down here when I got a bug bite in August and I to this day I am still picking at it. I get into this transient state of mind and just pick away. Once there is nothing left to pick I can get up and walk away and not think about it at least for a few hours. Right now I am trying to let it heal b/c I to wear a skirt for a wedding next week. I put Neosporin on it to help speed up the healing but i go right back to picking it. Sometimes when I am in the picking mode I tell myself to stop & let it heal and that it's gross but NOPE nothing, my brain doesn't respond. And I admit I enjoy doing it in a sick strange way. I know there is a scab and it just doesn't belong there so when I pick it off I am successful. Sometimes I pick because I am bored, watching a move or tv, while lying in bed, daydreaming or sad, other times when I am angry. My boyfriend tells me to stop all the time and that its disgusting & it makes me want to tear off that scab even more. i know its disgusting and no 1 understands, I don't even understand & it makes it very frustrating. I just hate that 1 of the main ways to cure this is by medicating w/brain altering drugs. I've noticed if I cut my nails short i can't pick. I'll get irritated & then move on. Maybe that's some food for though. I just want to stop so I can have at least one inch of skin without a scar.
Whew felt good to get that out there to people that feel the same way!


This discussion is related to RE:RE: Compulsive scab picking.

[JordanTorel]

Hi Nikki.... I am 100% the same.......My Name is Jordan.. Im 14 years old... I am an actor, singer, and model.... I cant wear shorts because my legs have scars everywhere.... i need to stop before it gets worse.... My parents have done research and said its a tick because of ADD and ADHD and it will go away as i grow up and have self control..... sometimes i dont have the self-control and im afraid i wont stop..... i go in to the some mode sometimes.... where i just pick and pick until nothings left, I NEED HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.............Please let me know if you find out anything.... if you do my email is ***@**** YOU!!!

[scabba]

I day dream about scab picking every other minute of the day.I love picking mine with pins.there is nothing like peircing the skin with that pin and waiting for that sweet ***** of pain.i also sew the scabs down to my flesh when they are lifting up, so i can have it with me longer.sometimes i daydreanm about having a magic wand which i can use to produce fat juicy scabs when i need to.i love scab.i thinl about volunteering for an ER ward where i can get to pick scab off accident victims-gross and sik!

[Kris_1082]

Wow! That is me 100%  I never really had to put it into words but if I did it would be just like that. I have had this problem since I can remember. I know it will leave scar but pick it anyway then I complain about it after and say how ugly I am. I always joke about seeing a therapist but never knew so many people had the same problem and it actually had a name for it. Thought I was the only weird one. I will have a scab and it seems like forever before it heals. If I see it I feel it's ugly and has to immediately be pick it off. I feel that I have had some sort of scab somewhere on my body for the past 15 years or more. Where no where on my bldy was ever clear of a scab. I hate that I do it and hope I can cure this problem once and for all. If you found something please let me know. Thank you!  Kristen    

[Kuraiko]

Im 20, and I have this very problem. Ive had it since I was about.. maybe 12 or so. I remember meeting a boy when I was 7-8 who had this problem, so maybe I picked it up from him and started "copying" him without really knowing, but its a problem for me now. It doesnt matter where I am cut, Ill get the scabs off. Most of the time Im able to refrain from doing it (much like chewing fingernails as a child, I was able to stop that bad habit just by refraining enough times), but I notice when Im stressed its harder to refrain, or when Im severely bored I find myself lingering to those spots. Also mine isnt nearly as bad as others, I notice too from reading the several threads here - I tend to target the more.. Ah how to say it, the more unusual scabs. If they are relatively clean cuts and the scab is "nice" I notice I dont feel the need to "fix" it. Ive been consciously trying to stop this habit for a few years now, :s sadly medication is not something I can really afford at the moment.

I hope though that everyone else here with this problem finds their solution

[shaz71]

Gosh you described me to a T. I am a spot picker more than scabs but saying that i do sometimes do scabs but i am now getting to the habit of picking anything that is there, i also pull my eyelashes out but i think that goes back to childhood when an eyelash went into my eye and i remember it really hurting so i have got it into my head if i pull them out they won't go into my eyes, my picking is also when i am daydreaming, tired, bored, even though how i can be bored is beyond me i have 4 children, p/t job and house to tidy. Can't help you out but i have noticed my 3rd child does it. If you find out anything let me know. Sharon x

[stephtn07]

I am glad you posted this, I have a two year old that does the same thing, she is a foster child and does this all the time, like you we have to keep her fingernails clipped short, and pray that she don't find something to scrape them with, behind our backs, so please tell me have you spoken to any professionals about this matter?