fingertips, knuckles and cuticles

I'm 16, and I don't have advice. However, I always find it helpful when somebody at least understands where I'm coming from. So, here I am for you. For a few years I've picked my fingertips and cuticles as well. Both of my pointer fingers are my main targets, being red/sore/bloody and painful to the touch. I always try to put band-aids on to cover them up, but I feel like the band-aids tell everybody what I do to myself. My thumbs get the second place attention. Today I just pulled the skin up from under the nail of one hand, and it still hurts extremely bad to the touch. My middle fingers get it next worse, and my other fingers I generally leave alone..But I know where you're coming from. I try to brush it off as papercuts but I don't think I'm fooling anybody..

I'm 16, and I don't have advice. However, I always find it helpful when somebody at least understands where I'm coming from. So, here I am for you. For a few years I've picked my fingertips and cuticles as well. Both of my pointer fingers are my main targets, being red/sore/bloody and painful to the touch. I always try to put band-aids on to cover them up, but I feel like the band-aids tell everybody what I do to myself. My thumbs get the second place attention. Today I just pulled the skin up from under the nail of one hand, and it still hurts extremely bad to the touch. My middle fingers get it next worse, and my other fingers I generally leave alone..But I know where you're coming from. I try to brush it off as papercuts but I don't think I'm fooling anybody..

Hi, I'm going on 36 and started biting my cuticles and skin surrounding my nails at age 8. I've bled all over things and have suffered a great deal of embarrassment regarding the issue. I've gone through extended periods of time in which I stop for months, and then start back up again. I'm not sure how to solve the problem completely and for good, but I do know what helped me stop for months at a time, and what didn't work. Let's start with what didn't work: things that involved a great deal of time and energy, such as bandaging my hands up prior to going to sleep each night with neosporin. In addition, having others around me "support" my efforts always backfired and resulted in negative interactions around the issue (my husband swapping my hand away and telling me to "stop!"). What did work? Having an understanding of when I am more likely to engage in the behavior, something to motivate me (hands looking nice for an upcoming event, thoughts of not being embarrassed when gesturing and talking to others, etc.), and a quick and easy way to make my hands less "tempting" to bite. So, I have now stopped for about a week (for the millionth time). I use some heavy-duty Neutrogena hand lotion (no scent) on my hands compulsively whenever I have an urge to bite (built in a replacement behaivor). It is amazing the results you see in only a week, and that adds to the motivation to keep going. I guess the next step for me includes a plan for "relapse," as it will undoubtedly creep up on me again during times of stress or while I'm bored in front of the television. Hope this helps and hang in there - I understand how embarrassing and annoying this can be.

I know how this feels... I used to bite and chew on my fingers and cuticles, but now I just pick at them, often until they bleed. I use nail clippers too, because I often feel like there is excess skin around my fingernails, even when there isn't. I don't think the nail polish, etc. works, but one thing that does work for me for whatever reason is getting acrylic nails put on. They aren't for everyone, but for me, I stop picking at my fingers with them on.

Hi - I'm the same way. The fingers and hands are my Achilles' Heal. I don't bite them really -- just pick one hand with the other. The cuticles, knuckles, fingerpads - any dead skin around the hands that'll come off with out hurting too much, is fair game. Two pieces of advice that helped me: - Keep the nails trimmed - Get rid of calluses and other dead skin deliberately, using pumice stone, etc. Doing these things I found will 1) physically prevent me from picking skin (the nails thing), and 2) remove the "objects of my desire", so to speak (the pumice thing). If my skin is in great shape, with very few calluses or dead spots, and my nails are too short to do damage, its easier to apply will power to eliminate the last but of compulsive picking from my behavior. Cheers and good luck! FingerFreak http://www.fingerfreak.com