Newbie - Underarm picking? :S

Hi! I'm pretty new here too and I can promise you youre definitely not alone! :) I sometimes pick at my underarms, though not really very much - I have a worse problem with my breasts and it's only really because of that and my obsession with my upper arms that occasionally ive moved to my underarms - also because before I have had literally only a couple of painful spots there, and while its unlikely, i'm big on making sure it doesnt happen again. I do however do similar to what you describe to my bikini line - i become a bit obsessed with hairs that are just starting to grow. I havent picked for 4 days now but of everywhere, just tweezering out those little b*stards is the most tempting! I get a rash on my underarms if I use anything other than roll on deoderant. What kind do you use? Have you thought about changing types? And have you thought about trying hair removal creme instead of shaving? Not sure where you live but here in the UK its fast becoming winter, so I can put off shaving for a good while personally. I would say for the moment dont shave unless you have to. My main attitude to all of my picking right now is trying to think - treat those areas as youre 'meant' to treat your face, cleansing, toning, moisturising. I think it has to help sensitive skin like the underarms heal better. one other thing which may possibly help you - wear a top for as long as possible in the day! I do this with my bra if I feel tempted to have a go at my boobs - I put it on as early as possible in the morning, put it back on as soon as I can after washing, etc so I don't have the chance to look at the actual skin. Sometimes I even look resolutely ahead of me and stare at the wall or ceiling while washing or changing, not letting myself look down and see any 'problem' areas. let me know how youre doing with this problem, I really feel for you. I know how wierd it is to feel like, why am i so fixated on this random part of my body!

Oh my God! I thought I was the only picker with this type of problem. When I'm in an OCD mood and am trying to direct myself from attacking my face, I pull out the tweezers to pluck all of the hairs under my armpits.

I have had a LOT of luck with the amino acid N-acetyl cysteine, which is sometimes sold as N-acetyl L-cysteine, for my 11-year-old daughter who severely picks her skin (arms and legs). I'm hoping that everyone on this group will check it out. We started out at 1200mg each day, 600mg in the morning and 600mg in the evening. Then we worked up to 2400mg, 1200 mg in the morning and 1200 mg in the evening, within about 3 or 4 weeks. The study that was done in 2009 showed the best results were after 9 weeks of continuous treatment with this amino acid, also just known as NAC. We saw great results after 6 weeks. Please consider trying it. I am not a doctor, so please weigh out the risks for yourself. It has truly been a godsend. My daughter used to pick to the point of staph infections. She has scars all over her body. It works by regulating the URGE to pick. You can download the summary text of the 2009 study on this website - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19581567. The study was for hair-pulling, but skin-picking and nail-biting result from similar sets of urges.

Thank you so much for commenting on my thread! I feel alot less anxious about it now I know I’m not the only one. After joining this site I have seen a great improvement in such a short time and didn’t realise how much just hearing what other people have to say would help! *Pochahontas*, this is the same reason I started with my arm pits but now if I am picking at my arms I move to my armpits or anywhere near I will eventually end up picking at my armpits and it becomes so painful! *Animator_1*, thank you for the tips! I have been keeping my bra on as long as I can and it has proved very helpful not just for my breasts but my armpits and arms! Also treating these parts of my body like I would my face has helped them heal quicker which in turn helps break the cycle. I am going to buy some hair removal cream, I think that will really help with my legs too. *kgolden1234567890*, thank you for the advice on the amino acid N-acetyl cysteine. I will check out that link and ask my doctor about it. I have figured out that if I get dressed and sort my face out for the day as early as I can, I am less likely to pick then if I know I’m going to be in all day so I always plan to go out even if it’s just for a walk so I think to myself “I’m not going to pick because I’m going out and have just put make up on so don’t want to make a mess!” My skin picking always starts with my face so by nipping it at the bud is one of the best things for it. I am still struggling at night though when I get in bed to go to sleep, I will be nodding off and find myself scratching and picking and no matter how many times I tuck my hands away I always end up picking! I’ve heard about people wearing gloves but I tried this once and found it annoying and couldn’t sleep. Does anyone have any tips for this?