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Dermatillomania (skin picking disorder)

jackieboy414 , 29 May 2010

Does any know what I'm talking about?! b/c I have no clue..

i have a question regarding white pin-head dots that I am pulling out of my skin, and what the long term consequences for such actions will be. Ok so I've been picking since I was 19. Now four years later my arms above the elbow and my shoulders are dotted with dozens and dozens of dime to quarter sized pink scars, mixed in with 5 or 6 "active volcanoes." Typically the raging volcanoes start out as a tiny blemish of some sort; Ingrown hair, small nick of skin, even a pimple. After continual picking, they quickly expand and often become infected. when the wounds that are infected become scabs they are literally craters in my skin. if left alone for enough time the crater will forum a scab filled with a gooey yellowish substance. However they don't make it past that stage without being picked at continually. My obsession is not with the removal of the scab, but with removing tiny white pin head sized spots poking out of the area under the scab. Once I remove the scab the area underneath is more puss then blood, so I am able to see the details of the infected crater. I think the white things I am pulling out are hair follicules. IDK, like I said the wound is infected and has cratered into my skin so I am assuming due to the cratered area there is no upper level skin to hide the hair folicules. I will use tweezers to pull these tiny buldges out of my skin. When I remove one it pulls out like a weed being pulled from dirt, the section I see is only a portion of the entire thing. So if u made it thru this post and understand what I'm talking about, are they hair folicules?
94 Answers
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spb06
August 09, 2014
I would like to say that the De La Cruz 10% sulfur acne medicine ointment has worked wonders for me. I have severe acne at 26 years old. I don't know how I went from blemish free all throughout high school and then as soon as I turned 24, i have a total pizza face. I couldn't find a single acne medicine that worked. It was embarrassing, I wouldn't leave my house for weeks at a time until the scabs were tame enough for me to put makeup over them. Anyways, I would like to say that the De La Cruz ointment gave me results after just 2 uses!!!! I had a terrible centralized portion where my entire chin was covered with terrible scabs and pus underneath them. After just 2 uses, they dried up and by day 3 of use, all i had was a little red spot where they were. These were so bad beforehand that people actually thought I had gotten into a fight or some kind of accident because they couldnt figure out why my chin looked so damaged. I had to special order my ointment from Walgreens. Any Walgreens should be able to order it. It was $6.90 if you go to the store and have them order it for you. It is much more expensive if you buy it online. I am so impressed with this product, and I have never felt so clean and pretty since I was 18 years old. I like being able to wear makeup again!! The only downside of the ointment is that it smells like nair hair remover. BUT, I would say that small unpleasant smell is worth going through to get results in just a matter of days. I 100% back this product and I am truly amazed at how quickly it worked for me.
mikeal03
September 01, 2014
All u did was bring it down. Its still there . It'll return within 4 months. Generally only woman have it do to sexual contamination by administering oral on male. Paricite seeks out of colon and goes to males genitals and scrodum. U get the picture. Don't scab it your further contaminating itself. They look liiberglass strands barley seen with naked eye. Seek help its a form of cancer. Hook warm in my opinion is the cause the silent gun to cancer. Weird I know but its not science. More like common sense. Have them treat u with 30 @200 mill. Once a day also oral antibiotic and antibiotic ointment to better heal or skin. So then what's in Albenza? Gods pill.
sebaceous
September 19, 2014
De La Cruz sulfur ointment worked for me! As I mentioned in earlier posts, I believe these plugs are glands that supply the skin with oil. They're firmly rooted to the flesh deep beneath the upper layers of skin so that's why the spot bleeds when they are pulled out. I found that if I remove all the plugs that I see (or feel) and then treat it with sulfur ointment, the wound will quickly dry up. It's just a matter of not picking the scab for about 24-48 hours during the healing. I know how hard it is to resist but believe me it works./// These glands become accessible when there is a break in the skin that is usually caused by a pimple. Since we are pickers, we can't resist popping pimples and removing everything inside them. The irony is that these plugs are beneath the pimple and belong where we see them. Picking them out only makes it worse by allowing us to see more of them. By making the wound larger, we have access to even more and it can take months to heal./// I've tried just about everything and only the sulfur ointment has worked for me. If I get a pimple, I treat it several times with the ointment for a day or so and it simply goes away. I used to pop it and clean it out but that's exactly how the glands get to the surface. Not only does the ointment dry up the pimple but I've found that after a couple of days I can very carefully remove the dried layers of skin and sometimes even remove the dried up gland. It comes out with little resistance and looks like a dried up and deflated core!
Lk112
August 25, 2014
Help anyone?!? I'm at the end of my rope with this and can't believe there are other ppl out there with this after many agonizing derm visits trying to explain and not being understood. What is the answer??? I can imagine going through the rest of my life with this miserable skin- I'm 26 and I'd rather die than have to spend my life dealing with these sores that NEVER heal. :(
mikeal03
September 01, 2014
Your problems not the acne but more like the blemishes under or skin they are paracites Hookworms the name. If or saying that I'uve scabbed off the top of the blemish stop doing it The part where they seep out infection its actually lil larva. Don't scab it. If u look rite on top and focus u will see something that resembles ring worm but look closer that's a seal sorta . It goes dorment for about 4 months then bak for around 4 to 6 weeks to reproduce Resembles letter c looks like horse shoe symbol. That's ur paricite embedded . Get help soon. Them being borred through or body and become external means you had the. Growing in ur lower intestine at least 3 years Don't waists or time at e.r. set a e Refferal to local c.d.c. the med that works is Albenza. A antiparicite also at same time an antibiotics. At least
RodW
December 03, 2014

I found this site yesterday and I'm already a new person.

I read through the first page and ended up at Walgreen's purchasing Sulfur 8. They didn't have Sulfur 10. I also purchased a bottle of Tree Oil. By one get one free.

24 hours later the itching is almost disappeared and my sores dried up.

I've been dealing with this for years and this site is the place, for the best information concerning this particular issue. To me, it's nothing short of miraculous.

I think it was the sulfur. I used both at different times.

Time will tell whether I can control this. I sure hope so.

fashionisdead78
December 09, 2014

I have the exact same thing ive bin picking since i was a kid i have scars all over.
Please excuse my shoty spelling im using a phone.
Well anyway its actually just dry skin.
My doctors have bin telling me for years.
It dose not happen on the rest of my body just arms shoulders, and other breakouts randomly.
Id also like to add you have to be very selective about the creams you use on those parts because it gets worse.
Organic soaps help so does bentonite clay( its spa clay)
That's for the white bulbish stuff
Which is usually caused by your skin not being able to clean the pore or folicle becuse the skin lacks moisture.
Then as for the little oil grains in the infected pore they are the "root"
If you are going to pick at them. sterolize everything and try not to let the pore get infected
I know it may be a dumb thing to post especially since we all skin pick ( i still do it to)
But if i actually do it with twezers and sterilized things and toner.
The blemish and root wont come back for a while :)

pthesmith
December 24, 2014

It's Demodicosis. Google Demodicosis people photos. Those white things are the adult mites.

stressed25
January 26, 2015

It is demodex. I had the same thing.. it has caused me months and months of depression and scarring. Treat with tea tree oil and you will see them falling out of your skin within 45 minutes... Also go to the doc and have them prescribe you ivermectin.

stressed25
January 26, 2015

It is demodex. I had the same thing.. it has caused me months and months of depression and scarring. Treat with tea tree oil and you will see them falling out of your skin within 45 minutes... Also go to the doc and have them prescribe you ivermectin.

stressed25
January 26, 2015

It is demodex. I had the same thing.. it has caused me months and months of depression and scarring. Treat with tea tree oil and you will see them falling out of your skin within 45 minutes... Also go to the doc and have them prescribe you ivermectin.

PoodlesRule
March 11, 2015

A lot of these posts sound like they're describing warts, but no one has mentioned a virus. Acne, cancer, parasites, natural formations -- they're all mentioned, but not warts. Those white pinhead plugs just under the surface of the skin contain the virus -- removing the plug removes that tiny piece of infection (the virus stays on the skin; it doesn't go into the bloodstream or lymph nodes or anything), but picking at warts helps the virus spread. I am horrified at the damage I've done to myself by going after the bumps -- I spread the warts everywhere, then picked at them, believing they were acne and would heal if I popped or pierced them, and now I'm scarred with active warts over my entire body. Because I was anxious and had obviously been picking at my skin, the dermatologists I saw (five of them) instantly dismissed me as Mental Disorder, told me my skin problem was self-inflicted, and couldn't get rid of me fast enough. I had to figure out for myself that it's warts (Google, I love you) and then tell a doctor, who confirmed the diagnosis but had the colossal nerve to tell me to stay off the internet and "leave the doctoring to the doctors." The virus should clear up on its own now that I'm not picking and keeping it active. Only took four years to get a diagnosis -- I could have gone to medical school in that time! I sincerely hope that each of those dermatologists develops a severe engine problem that disappears every time they get the car to a mechanic.

Vejoke
June 12, 2015

PoodlesRule,
thanks for the post!

I was also told that my problem is just self-inflicted. Could you tell more, if possible - is that some kind of warts, how were you diagnosed? I was aslo thinking about virus after hours of googling, bur couldn't find the description of my condition - multiple spiky plugs in every tiny wound((
Did the doctor offer you some topical treatment or something? Or just leaving them alone?
Is that possible that this plugs dissolve on their own without popping like a pimple (which I did in despair).

MGH44
July 21, 2015

I've been researching this topic like crazy for the past few days. What I think is that many of us are describing different conditions/ issues. I've looked up just about every condition that has been mentioned relating to this topic and what I think the problem is, is not really a problem at
all. I think the white dots in my sore/ wound is granulation tissue. It's basically the body's repair process. I feel sick now that I've spent days popping these plugs out thinking they were mites or sebum. I think others on here might have another issue but take a look on Google and see if the pictures match. I hope I'll keep my hands off my sore now and let it heal. I know I've done permanent damage/scarring. My advice... Keep your hands off them ( I know its not easy ).

Coffeequeen54
July 05, 2015

hello ... I usely exfoliated using a kitchen pan scrubber with soap on it, reguraly when I shower, that helps the removal of these tiny white bumps ..

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