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MasterPicker , 07 Sep 2010

I'm a little confused...

After posting the topic "Where do you pick" and "Why do you want to Stop" I'm now confused what you guys are doing. From what I read it seems like a lot of you are doing something with skin pores but I dont know what that means. I don't know if I want to know because I might start trying it... When I think of skin picking and what I do is basically (for me on the hand where hard skin builds up from lifting) I tear the harder skin off in preferrably nice big chunks. Its like peeling dried elmers glue off my hand. Is this different than what most of you guys are doing? I cant picture doing this on soft tissue like my face or arms, it would hurt like hell.
6 Answers
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Zananne
September 08, 2010
@MasterPicker - For me it is both hard skin, like calluses, and soft tissue, like acne spots. Any skin that doesn't feel smooth when I touch it or it touches something, draws my picking attention. So if when i wash my face I feel a bump or rough spot, I pick it. If my sock catches on my heel when I pull my sock off, it gets picked. Scabs, chicken skin, dry cuticles; all are reasons to pick. Interesting... I used to love pulling Elmer's off my skin, super glue too.
Zananne
September 08, 2010
Well... I have been known to pull quite large chunks off my feet. Dime and quarter size sometimes. But you can't pull you shoes and socks off at work and really go at it. When I can't get to my feet, I will pick anything. Usually when I pick at soft tissue it is a scab that started out as a pimple or ingrown hair, which I pop or dig out. Each time you pick the scab, the size increases. This hurts more, but oddly is more satisfying the next time you are able to pick the scab. If I can't do that, I pick and chew the cuticles and skin around my fingers.
Inked29
September 08, 2010
Hi, i'm new to this site, I have only just discovered that there is a name for what I do and that there are many other people that do the same. I can't say when or why I started picking, i've done it for as long as I can remember and when I was younger I went through a few years of 'more serious' self harming, I also have OCD. I discovered that this CSP has an official name as I hav just bought a book on image problems to help a family member who has bulimia and it was in there, so I thought i'd do some research. I have just completed a psychology diploma so I know about cognitive therapy, however, i'm not sure if what i'm doing is 'bad' enough to require treatment. I pick at my upper arms, back, thighs and bottom... every scab that I have made gets picked off every day until it is eventually gone and i'm left with a scar, but I have never run out of scabs. My husband sees it as a problem because I pick his back and arms too!! I can't resist and find it so theraputic to do, I also get quite moody if i'm stopped or not allowed to pick?
MAD-am
September 09, 2010
OMG! Inked29 you are so me! i squeeze and pop the keratosis pillaris on my upper arms so much that im covered in scars, basically from where i have squeezed to hard and made myself bleed and then picked the resultant scabs, i also pick my back (where i can reach) my legs and face. i used to pick my ex boyfriend just like you do and i used to get annoyed with him if he tried to resist. my currant partner also has kp on his shoulders and arms and im dying to pick him but he wont stand for it, i ask him to squeeze the kp on my back where i carnt reach but he wont do it and i get cross with him. its so stupid. i think you should look into getting treatment, if you feel its a problem u carnt fix by yourself. i didnt feel my picking required treatment until i had a baby, and i realised i cannot go on picking like this for his sake. i am actually doing cbt atm and it helps to talk to someone face to face about this and report back to them about your progress or lack of it sometimes. i am also trying medication and im in the early stages but it all seems quite promising, lately i have experienced some improvement but its not without complications. anyway im just like you, i have seeked treatment, im happy let you know if it works or not, so i can help you decide if you would like to try treatment similar to mine. :)
username
September 21, 2010
For me, I pick my lips the most. Let me try to explain it, have you ever had really chapped lips and peeled the flakes of dead skin off? That is what I do, but the skin I pick off my lips isn't dead skin, it may start out as a little snag of chapped lip, but I'll pick the dead skin off and just keep picking at it and picking at it untill my lips are raw. On my face arms and back its different. If I see or feel a bump that I think is a pimple or blackhead I'll pop it, this usually winds up with my skin getting very swollen and causes dry patches of skin or scabs, which I scratch or peel off like a sunburn.... not sure what the "pores" thing is either though, I think it has something to do with blackheads, since that is just a clogged pore... -D

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