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I really need some help
Hi there, I am on here because I need some help. I am 23 years old and I am pretty sure I have a serious problem.
Ever since I was very young maybe 5 or 6 I have been biting my nails and picking my toe nails. When I was little I actually chewed the nails off of my toes.
Over the years I developed a habit of obsessively looking for and pulling out my split ends in my hair. I always have to pull them apart too and don't stop until I find one I am satisfied from.
Around the same time I started doing that I began to pick the skin off of my heels because it is very hard and easy to take off. It gets to the point where I only stop because 1, there is no more skin to pick off or 2, I made myself bleed. When I bleed my heels hurt for days after.
I also have a habit of getting toenail clippers and pinching the skin on the back of my fingers. Not really sure what the name of it is, I guess the "backs" of my knuckles where the creases are. I pinch so that I have skin there to pick off. I also have the tendency to clip the skin right above my finger nails.
If I don't have clippers I use safety pins or needles to pick my skin.
Another thing I do is obsessively look for black heads on my body. I have to squeeze them until I am sure they are cleared out which is to the point that I bleed and they scab over. Never on my face though I don't want people seeing them.
I can spend hours doing these things and when I am done with one or can't continue with one, I move on to another.
I honestly never thought that there was actually a name to this and that other people did these things too. I have very bad anxiety and never really linked any of this, other than my nail biting, to it. I actually came across this website because I think I have an infection on my heel from skin picking and I was looking for a way to get it better. Too much info? lol
If anyone has any advice for me please let me know. I am a Mom and don't want my son to grow up seeing me do this and develop his own habits.
In reply to Why do you think your heel by Feebee
In reply to Thanks for the post! It's by Netalyia
In reply to Yuck, that sounds infected by Feebee
In reply to Thanks, but the infection is by Netalyia