Does anyone pick at the bottom of their feet? My story

Does anybody have any ideas to help us all stop? Maybe and extended site with pictures. Or helping to hold each other accountable? Just thoughts. No one knows I do this but I have for 20 years. I don't want anyone I know to be aware so I hide it real good. But my though was if we were completely open with each other or even just a couple people, we could help more that expressing the experience. But don't get me wrong, I felt amazed to read people that were just like me! I would love a partner to success! k

Hi there! Yes I do pick at the bottom of my feet. Although my biggest target is my cuticles, if I get a nitch to pick my feet, I will pick at them the same as u. I usually only go thru phases with my feet, but when I do its really bad. I'm talking huge chunks (mostly where u callus like the edges, the big toe and heels), bleeding, sore, and painful to walk. The way I adjust my mindframe is to think of feminity. Put urself in the mindframe of thinking... what if? What if my husband wanted to randomly rub my feet? I don't want to gross him out. I want him to think of me as a lady who takes good care of herself and her appearance. What if I had to take off my shoes for some random reason? An exercise at work, a new boyfriends house, an exercise at school. How embarrasing. First off, I advise u to read my comment to the post here "picking=trance" I gt some pretty effective and satisfying advise on another forum regarding the realease of anxiety and stress that might help take the edge off of ur urges and also some things that can redirect ur mind at the moments of urges. Secondly, follow these steps and buy the necessary tools to keep ur feet soft and healed. Tools.. Pumice stone (buy from a nail salon) Bag balm cream (I get mine at walgreens) Any form of hydroxy cream (I get mine on amazon but retailers should have it. Try for %10 or more alpha hydroxy) Severe dry skin lotion of ur choice Steps: 1. Get a pedicure and make sure they use the razor (it might hurt a little but its for a good cause) 2. Scrub ur feet with the pumice stone and liquid soap or body wash EVERYTIME u shower. Get in the habit. 3. Use ur alpha hydroxy lotion (this will also sting a tiny bit if ur feet are really cut up but the purpose of the alpha hydroxy is to eat away at the dead skin) use this throughout the day as many times as needed. Use it when u get the urge to pick even if ur feet are dirty. Follow with a severe dry lotion. 4. Use the bag balm cream at night and wear socks (the smell is not pleasant and its a little greasy so u'll only want to use this in privacy or urgently) Give your feet a week of this method. Don't look for instant results. Your skin is precious and takes time to heal so please be patient. The one thing I will mention is that this method will dry your feet beyond belief if not kept up with. You have to do this everyday and religiously. The problem with feet is that we walk on them so much and in the summer they are exposed to the environment more. Of anything else, they take the worst beating off all. The key is to maintain, no matter the season or situation. Don't worry about the healing aspect. They will heal beautifully on their own if u just leave them alone. Make it a priority and I gaurantee u will be happier and pick less if at all. And drink lots of water. It is a natural remedy to more hydrated and less dry skin. Keep in touch and let me know how it works out :)

I cant believe other people do this! I pick my feet so much that they are so sore that i cant walk. Does anyone have solutions???

i could have written that post which is why i am googling dry feet remedies. i think if my feet were not dry i definitely would not pick them, but the back of the arm thing is also me. sadly my face has not escaped nor the backs of my thighs. i cant stand a bump or flake but as you all know i only make it a thousand times worse. help. if you have any

I cant believe I found this site where people actually do what I do . I know it has to be some compulsive thing.' Im sure we have all been nail biting all our lives also?

I do the exact same thing I also bought solarcaine because yes it does soothe the pain dont feel alone I also do it as well and I understand the feeling

Happy Feet Treatment Steps Since you are reading this, then you are having problems with excess foot callus and possibly callus cracking and infections. Please read the following instructions carefully before beginning to treat your feet. As you get older our arches fall, which causes an increase in foot size. Poorly fitting shoes and shoes without good arch support affect your distribution of weight, body posture, foot position in your shoes, and foot size; all of which can lead to buildup of calluses and related problems. If you suspect that fallen arches may be causing this, then you need to have your feet examined by a professional foot specialist or a podiatrist. During the examination they will determine the shape of your feet and arches, type of shoes you typically wear, pressure points and walking posture; to determine if you need different shoes and possibly ‘orthotic’ arch supports to relieve pressure and stabilize the foot position. Steps for Removing Excess Foot Callus Step 1– Foot Soak: To remove excess foot calluses that already exist, once each week soak your feet for 20 minutes with a mixture of 24 oz of very warm water (115 - 120º F.) that is not too hot or uncomfortable to touch, and 12 oz. of white vinegar (acetic acid concentration ranges from 4% to 8% that you purchase at the grocery store) into a tub that your feet can soak in or approximately 12” W x 18” L x 6” H. Next, remove your shoes and socks, place both feet in foot soak treatment, and let soak at least 4 minutes. This treatment will soften the callus. Then remove one foot from the soak and cross it over the other knee, then using your fingernails and/or coarse pumice stone to “gently” message, (avoid bruising), and exfoliate the excess callus from the areas of the foot. After a couple of minutes with one foot, repeat the process with the other foot while the other foot soaks, and continue this until most of the excess callus is removed which should take approximately 16 - 20 minutes. The tips of your fingers and fingernails can feel where foot callus is thicker, which needs to be removed; whereas a pumice stone is less differentiating. The softened callus will collect under the fingernails or on the pumice stone as you rub it, which needs to be cleaned after the treatment with an old tooth brush. After four to six weeks of foot soak treatments, this will remove or most of the excess callus, which will begin to minimize callus cracking and the side effects of infection and discomfort. Cautionary Notes & Suggestions: • During the foot soak treatment, if a piece of healthy skin should remain attached; do not pull it, which will tear the healthy tissue and cause bleeding. Instead carefully cut and remove it with scissors, but avoid cutting healthy tissue. • Since dry callus is prone to cracking, each night before bed and in the morning apply a good quality lanolin cream lotion that is rubbed in to soften the callus. Consider CeraVe Moisturizing Cream. • If you have a callus crack, do not use hydrogen peroxide to disinfect it; because this can cause the callus to become dry and brittle, and prone to cracking. Consider using good disinfecting ointments like: Bacitracin with Zinc or Neosporin. • To fill a callus crack, do not use Super Glue; because Super Glue is brittle and does not flex, which the skin on the bottom of the foot requires. Consider using New Skin Liquid Bandage gel, which dries quickly, is flexible and waterproof and has an antiseptic. For deep callus cracks, several applications of New Skin can be applied. • When the skin is dry, do not use a pumice stone to remove callus. The pumice can cause the stiff callus to crack. Step 2 – Routine Washing & Brushing: Each day wash your feet vigorously, (especially around and between the toes) with wash cloth, Ivory soap and water. Also, at least once each week use a stiff boar bristle bath brush, like one from Bass, to vigorously remove dead skin and clean the top and bottom of the feet during your shower or bath. Step 3 – Allow Feet to Breath & Keep Dry: Our feet not only need proper fitting and well made shoes, but they also need fresh air so we minimize extended periods of our feet being enclosed in a moist environment, which promotes the growth of athlete’s foot (see treatment below). Each day apply some good quality foot powder to your feet, (especially around the toes), to keep them dry. Also as often as possible, wear good quality sandals, (with firm arch supports), both indoors and out, which will allow your feet to breathe. Periodic and limited exposure of the bottom of your feet to the sun is also healthy. After 4-6 months: This will remove most of the callus, your feet will be much better looking, and the tissue will be healthier, for a more active life style. However, this does not mean you should discontinue these recommendations. If you find this treatment helpful, then copy it and share with others. t_texas@msn.com

I purposly went looking on google to see if anyone does this. I started a year ago when I got my art kick for my freshman year of college. My calluses have always bugged me but I had no real experience with picking at them. But when I got my art kit for school it came with an exacto knife. I use it still to this day. quite a few times its been to the point where I've had blood pour outta my foot because I've cut too deep and the next day it kills. I try not to cut them raw but It happens all the time. it really doesn't hurt till the next day. Then the next day when I'm limping around my 9 hour shifts with no breaks at work I tell myself I'm never going to do this again but a few days later I go back at it. Its seriously an addiction. I also bite at my fingertips right by the nails. its really bad on my thumbs. I have a horrible addiction with all of it

Isnt it nice to realise youre not the odd one. Since i realised that the bottom of my feet was pickable, ive been pickicing the living f##k out of my feet. I have utility/art knife and sharpening stones to keep it ultra sharp for slicing and dicing the almost concrete like parts that have gone dry. But mine is pretty severe couse ive been working in construction for many years and the bottom of my feet is about 2 mm thick and its peeling off all the time. What i can say to the other fellow pickers is to be very careful when picking because its very addictive and can leave scars. Ive never gotten over picking to me its impossible when im frustrated i automatically look for something to pick.

Wow i was thinking that something is wrong with me mentally or I am getting weird because of this bad habit of peeling underneath my left foot. I know it is menopause and my anxiety that is causing me to start picking and peeling away. I am now starting to have problems with my husband because he keeps founding dead skins on the carpet or behind the sofa that sometimes I do hide the dead skin. It always happen at night time when he goes to sleep and I stay up to do it. Especially, when I end up peeling off a big side of skin it starts to turn me on mentally which is kind of weird. I feel as that I am alone in my own little world and having a pleasurable moment. I really need to stop because it is starting to affect me wearing shoes and walk at work. The dead skin hard surface are turning colors and it looks really unattractive wearing sandals. But, when I start getting that urge I peel all the way. I am so happy to know I am not alone on this, and it is better than taking medication for my anxiety. I really need a cure for menopause that is my next search. Well, that is my story God Bless!!!!

and here I am at 63, thinking I was alone in this...if it is menopause, I am past that;if it is mental, I agree. now what to do to stop???

I should have known there's be a website for this. I've struggled with picking at the skin on my cuticles, and feet calluses, and even the inside of my lower lip, for years. My heels would crack so deeply I'd bleed into my socks. My cuticles on my fingers would be so bloody I had bandages on them most of the time. No lotions would work and I thought it was some sort of obsessive compulsive problem until I found that if my skin was healthy I quit picking... Here's what I've found and maybe it might help you. .. I read a small ad that said that dry,deeply cracked, heavy calluses can be a dry form of athlete's foot. So I tried Lamasil and it actually improved my heels a lot, but not so they were smooth and so I kept tearing away. Then I tried Mycocide CX Callus Exfoliator, which comes with a sanding tool and was amazed when after just 2 weeks using both the tool and the cream my feet were baby smooth and soft and there was nothing to pick on! I've recommended this to 2 other friends who also have thick deeply cracked yellowish heel calluses and they've had the same remarkable results. This particular brand might not work for you, but explore the idea that you have a fungal infection that causes this skin problem. It's been such a relief. BTW, I told my podiatrist about this stuff because HE has dry cracked heel calluses and told me it's because he stands all day. He totally blew me off and said it was callused because my feet were out of balance. It couldn't possibly be athlete's foot. Yet, when I stopped the cream, the calluses slowly came back. and when I got the cream again, it all went away. On to cracked cuticles. I was always picking away at my cracked peeling cuticles. I work at a preschool and we don't have hot water. I have to wash my hands several times a day and since the problem would get better in the summer, I figured it must be the cold water. I always used antibacterial liquid hand soap for all these washings and then, two years ago we ran out and I substituted plain dish soap. Big surprise! My cuticles healed up! I realized that I never use this stuff at home during the summer. So instead of the washing being the problem, it turned out to be the antibacterial hand soap. Think about what you're using on your fingers and toes and heels. It might be that you're really just sensitive to some product you're using. I had given up trying to find out why I chewed on my bottom lip. Doctors said it was a habit, but I would notice that on the rare occasion when I had to use a antibiotic my lip would heal and I couldn't bite it if I tried. Then last year I was treated by a GYN for a chronic vag infection that took a 2 month treatment of antibiotics. I hated doing it and don't really like using antibiotics, but it did clear up the infection and, surprise again, my inner lip has been smooth as silk for 1 year! No more biting on my lip. There's no roughness to bite on. So here's the bottom line for me. I truly believe I tore at my skin because it was irritated. In all 3 cases it wasn't some OC problem, or terrible habit. The origin was irritation. Look at what you're putting on your skin. Try antifungal creams and see if you can find one that heals your feet. See about an antibacterial cream for your cuticles. We get treated so terribly and feel like we do this to ourselves and don't have the, I don't know, strength of character or something, to stop picking at ourselves. Could it be that subconsciously we're trying to get an irritant away from our skin? It turned out to be just that for me. When the irritants were gone I just naturally stopped picking at my skin.

I've had this problem a while now. I know how to take the pain away over night from picking my feet. " Bag Balm" will take infection and pain away in a matter of hours. I suppose if you pick till you bleed it would take a couple of nights of treatment. If I've picked at my feet unusually bad I know I won't be able to walk without a lot of pain the next day so I glob on quite a bit of the Bag Balm and wrap my feet with kitchen plastic wrap. Then I put on foot socks to keep everything in place and then overnight all pain or infection is gone. Unfortunately because I can do this I might tend to pick the next day. I always say never again but there are times I can't seem to stop myself. If I keep at the Bag Balm it can really clear up my feet but then I break down and do it again. Anyway, to avoid infection or clear it up fast this works perfectly so at least you can walk the next day. As a kid I'd chew my nails and cuticles then as I got older my feet seemed drier and drier till I started peeling the callus off. I know it's purely stress related because it comes and goes. If I make it a point to relieve my stress I can quit for a while but then when I forget to concentrate on stress relief I find myself going at my feet again. I no longer chew my nails now because I transferred my stress to my feet (less obvious than hands). So with that I will wrap my feet tonight and tell myself I want to quit this but then I wonder what I'd substitute for my feet? Life goes on. I can think of a lot of things that would be worse. Good luck everyone. :)

I was in the middle of peeling the bottom of my feet to the point of being raw and bleeding when I decided to find out if others do the same thing. It's nice to know that I'm not alone, but it still disturbs me that I HAVE to do this. When I was little i used to bite my nails well into my twenties. I was also fascinated with picking scabs and stuff like that. As an adult I don't bite my nails or scratch. Recently I went through a nasty divorce and I have found the need to pick at myself and it manifested into peeling my feet. I just wonder if there is a cure or behavior modification to end this insanity.

heey,im 18 an have a really big raw patch on right heel i pick it everyday until it bleeds and it hurts so bad to walk i miss alot of school because of the pain. on my left foot i pick at the skin on my big toe an it gets really sore i use too think something was wrong with me i found that hydrogen proxide you can get from the chemist helps dry out the raw flesh i have put a plaster on and were socks at night i have set the goaal to leave my skin alone, i also bite my my nails an pick at the skin around my nails this will be harder for me to stop as i can pick at them more easily. i really thought i was going insane, i really am obsessed with peeling my skin to the point of bleeding an being raw, but i am trying too stop. will keep you updated on how im going.

Wow I'm amazed and surprised I'm not the only one with this kind of addiction. I am so embarrassed of this but can't find the way to stop. It feels so relaxing but my husband finds it disgusting to look at. What can I do? I go threw so much stress and tension daily and this really calms me. This comes with a price because the pain is bad. Someone please help!