30 Day Challenge! Join In!

this is my first post. i am incredibly amazed at how i came across this site. it's actually serendipitous. oddly, enough i was looking to find out if i needed to go to the doctor for a possible sinus and was googling the weird things coming out of my nose. the first site that was returned was a forum on this site about someone eating their boogers. although, that didn't resonate with me, i noted the URL' skin pick' and figured i'd take a gander. welp, i was surprised to find that i wasn't the only that was dealing with chronic picking and that maybe i've been in denial about what i do to myself. i've always, since a young age (as young as i can remember,) 'enjoyed' picking scabs. i remember my mom giving me a hard time about it as a child because i would always pick at my bug bites. i didn't realize that maybe it went deeper than that until finding this website. my compulsive picking began in middle school after i'd moved to a school where i was incessantly tormented, beyond the normal scope of being teased, for normal adolescent acne and being too skinny (which has payed off in my adult years.) picking my face has just been a cyclic problem since then. picking almost non-existent pimples and turning them into massive lesions. knowing that what i'm doing is only going to make it worse but not being able to stop myself. someone mentioned in some other forum post, feeling a bump or imperfection and it being this thing that needed to be expunged. i cant stand ANY skin imperfection. which, with my genetics and complexion, is unrealistic and unreasonable. yet, i still am tormented by any bump. my sister has suffered from bad acne at time, but it has never been debilitating for her the way it has for me. which has always left me feeling less about myself...am i THAT shallow? i also pick at my scalp. which, until my mom called me on it one day, didn't realize that that was a problem as well. it was completely unconscious. especially, since there were no visible repercussions like there were with my face. i had no idea my mom picked until she made me aware of what i was doing. then, it came out that her mother did it as well. so the whole hereditary thing is mind blowing. i've had a stressful few years, medical problems with almost every member of my family (although, they are hands down the healthiest people you could ever meet and relationship issues) since then, i have had a scab smack dab in the center of my hair line that i have been unable to stop picking at. to the point where i have a small bald spot. it's unsightly and embarrassing, yet i cant stop. i've had a victorious week or two where i've been able to not fuck with it but i always end up going back to it. it's horrible. i haven't been able to let this spot heal since i first picked it in 2008. prior, to that my scalp picking wasn't nearly as compulsive or destructive as it's become. at one point, it was literally a pea sized hole. it's improved a lot since then, but it's still a 'forever' scab that i can't leave alone......and yes, as much as i am embarrassed to admit it, i eat those scabs. that is literally, the first time i have EVER admitted that. yeah, my pimples too. the waxier the better. how crazy does that sound? WHY THE HELL DO I DO THAT?!?!?!?! i have no idea what even possessed me to TRY it that first time. it's just something that i've always done i guess. in the more recent years, with shaving and waxing my bikini area, i've taken to picking at ingrown hairs. i've always rationalized this with, "hey, i can't just leave it alone to fester under the skin!!" BUT i see now that it's an extension of the already present dermatillomania that i haven't consciously been aware of. i have turned my bikini area into a freakin' war zone many times. again, it's the uneasy feeling of some imperfection under or on the skin that i just have to get rid of. i would love to take this 30 day challenge but i find that i get started completely unconsciously. and like pringles, once you pop. you can't stop. anyway, i'm 31, gong on 32. i'm finding that my skin isn't as resilient as it used to be. where i used to be able to pick and i'd heal and scar and then go away....well now apparently my skin is more delicate and i'm creating these pox marks. so yeah, sorry /novel. this is just my first time vocalizing ANY of this. glad to have found this site.

I found this site yesterday. What a revelation, to hear people talking the way I think. I stopped picking yesterday lunchtime, I have started my 30 days. I took a picture this morning (well my hubby did - I haven't shown him the site yet, but i have told him a little about it) I feel like I am coming out of the closet! I have picked all my life, cuticles as soon as I can remember, arms and legs through teens, now everywhere I can reach. I waste hours. I almost daren't think about the freedom not picking might give me. It is only day 1 after all. Please keep posting people, knowing you are out there, and that some of you have stopped picking is making me feel so full of hope.

Hi guys! Haven't been able to write for a while because I've been uber busy, but I'm glad to see that more people have joined the challenge :) Welcome! The more, the merrier! Hopefully some of you who commented earlier will come back and let us know how you're doing! I find that once I stop regularly checking in with everyone, I start losing my resolve and give into picking. Which is, unfortunately, what happened to me the other day :( I picked my whole face. But what really gets me is that I knew I was doing it. I was fully conscious of it, but I couldn't stop. Luckily, I felt so satisfied after popping all the pimples and flattening all the zit bumps that I didn't overdo it on the random stubborn ones. So my face looks decent (can't really see my forehead under my bangs anyway). That was the bad news. The good news is that I have abstained from picking the kp bumps on my arms for 18 days!!! The reason why I started this forum was to quit picking at my arms, and I think I'm almost there! Sooo excited that I can finally start shopping for scar removal products! On one hand, I'm disappointed that I'm struggling to quit picking COMPLETELY, but on the other hand, I'm super proud of my soon-to-be-beautiful arms. Who knows, maybe I will just have to quit picking one body part at a time? Maybe it's less overwhelming that way?? I think I'll give it a shot!

hey guys, super glad i came accross a forum for this topic because like all of you, it has been tormenting me for too long. im 19 years old, going on 20 and this is supposed to be the best time in my life, where i start to find myself and all that jazz... dermotillomania really screws with that doesnt it? It amazing how much damage it has on my self esteem.. less about the after effects of popping/picking, but more so just feeling like ive failed, like i wasnt strong enough to fight the urge. Its almost like a smoking addiction ive decided, its a stress release and a cause of stress at the same time. The part that bothers me the most is how amazing I feel on the days that I dont pick or touch my skin, I feel free and self confident. This never lasts though, as soon as I start doing well, there I am back at square one again. My biggest problem is my breats.. its awful because theyre actually quite nice and i happen to like them, but i ruin them all the time since i discovered how fun it is to pop the pores on them. I have a boyfriend and I wont let him see or touch them when I mess with them, its a vicious cycle. I see one imperfection or a pore that I know will be especially rewarding to pop and bam..I can't stop. I get sucked into this weird state of being where my mind is telling me "stop doing that youre going to immediately regret it when you look in the mirror" but my fingers wont listen. The days when I'm good and dont do damage are the days that I refrain from examining my skin.. its the examination that is the trigger. If i never looked at my breasts or arms or face up close, I would never feel compelled to pop. I do a little damage here and there on my face and arms but not nearly as bad.. on my face though, when i pop/pick and develop a scab I cant leave it alone. my fingers pick at it subconcsciously when Im stressed or driving or anytime really. Anyways, it feels good to vent about all this. I wanna kick this thing to the curb so it stops controlling my life and destroying my self esteem.. if anyone has any tips on how to stop it would really help.

HUGE NEWS! I have found 2 things that have worked for me: 1. CALMOSEPTINE ointment, available at amazon.com. I put this on my open sores at night, and they are healing so fast that I have less time to reopen them. 2. Clear adhesive SPOT bandages, the tiny ones, available at Walgreens as a package of 50. I was buying regular assorted bandaids, and using only the tiniest ones but this was wasteful; now I can buy a whole box of the tiny ones only. I buy 4-6 boxes at a time, and go through one box at a sitting. Good luck to all!

I'm 48 and I have been picking for about 10 years. In the last few years, it has become much worse. My arms are severly scarred as are my shoulders and a few spots on my legs. I always have open sores which I try to hide under long sleeved shirts. I am an insulin dependent diabetic so I tell people that my "dry skin condition" is because of diabetes. I don't know if they believe me or not. My husband thinks it's because of anxiety/diabetes but he doesn't know I do it myself. At least, if he does know, he pretends he doesn't. I travel a lot but in the last year, after I've been away for 4 weeks at a time, I have to work especially hard to hide the new scars from him. My famioy know about my problem. they are in 12 Step programs and have been to counseling... so i felt they would understand. They do but no one - least of all me - knows how to stop. i have a history of anxiety diorders. I am an alcoholic with 11+ years of sobriety and I was bulemic all through my teens and 20s. I have been taking zoloft for years and I wonder if it contributes to the problem as it started shortly after I began taking zoloft years ago. My doctor suggested that I increase zoloft to see if it would help but I actually feel it's made the picking wworse though it's helped considerably with the anxiety. I'm desperate. Don't know what to do. I'm gong to look into hypnosis. Have any of you tried? Very pleased that I found this website. Thank you!

:-D WE CAN DO THIS! WE CAN DO THIS! STARTING TODAY I WILL BE BETTER TO MYSELF. I WILL LOVE MYSELF LOVE YOURSELF:-D:-D:-D <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I really want to join this group. I am 23 and have been picking my face since I was 18. It all started when I was put on Accutane... My skin would look beautiful if I didn't pick my pores and tiny bumps excessively. It has now developed into picking my chest where it has left white marks, and even my armpits. I also pluck the hairs from my knees every night. I'm hoping to start with at least stopping this habit first as it is my face after all, and I would like to not increase my chances of making any of the minor scars I have worsen.

Yes we can do this. I just found out today Im not alone in this, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by this feeling of its not just me. But now that I know what it is and how it is controlable I am determined to stop doing it. i gave my tweezers to my daughter to hold on to for me. I have overcome alot of things in this life time, just please give me the will to get through this so I can feel better about myself and treat others better also. P.s I really wanna a life..............

Day 1- A horrible day today. I guess when you say you're going to start getting better, the most tests are sent your way. I managed to make it for 24 hours without touching my face. It wasn't easy, my skin actually started feeling itchy. Then I got into a big fight with someone who's close to me. I felt guilty, angry and frustrated. I picked at my shoulder and back. But only three small bumps. (I'm not going to lie, it felt good). Then I told myself it wasn't doing me any favours. Hurting myself isn't solving anything. I stopped. Not exactly a huge victory, but still not a full blown attack either...I haven't let myself study my face in the mirror today. Kept me from finding imperfections.

Hey everyone. I'm so happy I looked at this site just now, to find this 30 day challenge. Im marking it down in my calendar. I need to focus on one day at a time. One moment at a time. I picked very horribly an hour ago and everything hurts. Hopefully after the thirty days are over I have lessened my urge to pick. I wouldn't mind doing another 30 day challenge right after that haha. Sorry i tend to think too far ahead...one day at a time. Good luck everyone. Alex, 23 If anyone want to email me to talk more about it, my email is agordichuk02@gmail.com.