The Serious, Long-Term Repercussions of Picking (Spoken from Experience)

Hi, Everyone. I just joined the forum today and after reading A LOT of posts, I just wanted to post a note about the long-term damage caused by skin picking. I've suffered from dermatillomania since I was 12... I'm 36 now. As some of you may see from one of my other posts, there are long-term effects of skin picking that you may not be aware of... yes, my skin is scarred and often inflamed and bumpy and, well, a mess in places (I'm talking about some of the "healed" parts here). But the damage goes much further than that. As a result of leaning over my skin, towards the mirror every night, sometimes for hours, I developed osteoarthritis throughout my spine. My neck started showing degeneration in my mid-20s. I now have pinched nerves in my head from the degeneration that feel like I'm being stabbed in the top of the head with a knife. I have damaged traps, all the way from my neck to behind my shoulder blades. I am in pain 24/7. The arthritis has recently spread to my fingers, and I can visually see the damage of 20 years' worth of picking (the same enlarged knuckles that you probably notice on your grandmother). I've been working out regularly since I was 20 and I now have to use gloves, wrist wraps, and sometimes forearms wraps just to be able to hold a weight for any length of time. I can't open jars. When I pick, I get shots of pain through my fingers and down through my wrists, and I can barely turn my head in the morning. Food for thought, guys. I can't just tell you to stop - because obviously, I haven't figured out how to do that for myself - but find your means of getting it under control before you end up aging before your time, like I have... especially if you're still young. I just can't stress it enough.