Started out picking my ears...

About 6 or 7 years ago I started picking my ears. Initially it was just my fingernails that I'd use to 'clean' the scabs away. Then it progressed onto using hair grips, paperclips, pen lids, etc. It became a habit, a daily ritual. To begin with it was fairly easy to hide. I'd wear my hair down so it wasn't as noticeable. But then it got out of hand - my ears were a mess. It felt like a release, but ultimately made me feel guilty and ashamed. On some sort of subconscious level I realised that picking my ears wasn't easy enough to hide...over time the picking of my ears was replaced by picking the skin around my vagina and anus. Hate that I just wrote that. But not as much as I hate the fact that I do that. Clearly it's rather more discreet than picking my ears...but a lot harder to actually ask for help when it's such an intimate area! I'm so embarrassed by it but can't seem to stop myself! I'm so fed up of all these failed attempts to quit. But I suppose I'm hoping that maybe I'm not the only person out there that's in this situation?