picking and eating skin from feet and fingers... what is this?

Hello,
I am blown away by this website. I've been chewing and eating my skin for.. I can't even tell you when I began. I remember being 9 and my dad saw my feet.. He duct taped socks to my feet so I would stop. I really believe this made it worse. I'm really glad to know I'm not alone, and there is actually a word for this disease...And yes I definitely consider it a disease! I am almost 23 and have a beautiful child and fiancé. My fiancé doesn't know about any of my habits. I've been with him for over 4 years now. In fact, I have hid this for so long from everyone that it has became my little secret.. Which I'm so ashamed of. On top of this habit I also bite my nails, pick my nose, and eat my acne. I sound disgusting saying it out loud. I think I have gotten pretty good at hiding the gross side of me. I would like more than anything to stop. I'm so glad I'm not alone.

I literally teared up a bit reading all of these comments because for the first time I don't feel alone with this disorder...I am a 25 year old female who has been suffering with this for as long as I can remember. My family are aware that I pick at my skin around my fingers and bite my nails but they have no clue that I mutilate my right foot to the blink of bleeding excessively. And even with that, I continue my ritual. I have grown a pain tolerance, and I am afraid I am starting to grow immune to the pain which will only make it worse. This has been a secret that only my sister knows about, and as of last year I shared this secret with my grandmum. Sometimes I do it out of impulse....it is sad to say, but I even have a set of x-acto knives I use to cut my flesh. Needless to say, I am glad I stumbled on this site and I am also glad to know that I am not alone. I understand that what I have is a form of OCD which brings a little relief to know because it helps me better understand whatI have.

Hi I'm mel I'm 17 I have the same problem I can't stop eating the skin around my fingers I eat my nails and often pick the skin of the bottom of my feet and also bite off skin from the inside of my mouth I've never really thought of it as a huge problem its just normal to me but I'm often told off for biting and eating my nails its really annoying how I can't grow my nails soon as I try I bite them down to the point I have no nails left basically glad I stumbbled across this its been intresting to see that a lot of people have this problem I mean my bad habbit isn't as maybe severe as others but its something I can't stop I do it out of boredom or when I'm down or angry ive read its a mental disorder self canabalisim whatever I'm really unsure think that's maybe ott but its definately a habbit I need to stop just can't seem too:/

Hi , i' am George and i have the same problem, its too hard for me to stop eating the skin around my fingers and feet, i am looking like idiot with that fingers , i fear that someone will see, i had this problem since i was 7 years old , and i am now 18 , my mom saw that thing but she everytiem tells me to stop eating , but i cant , its hard , but still i found something , if i stay too much in home i start to eat the skin . but if i go with my friends, doing sport or anything i eat less , guys its very important to control it , try to not eat , if you want to eat idk go out and do something else..(sorry my english is not perfect , i am not native speaker)

Hi, my name's Olivia. I'm 10 years old and I've been biting the skin off my fingers ever since I was 9. I just can't stop doing it; it's an addiction that I hate. At school last December we did a fingerprinting project and I didn't have any fingerprints. There's no blood, I'm only biting the outer skin. My fingers are all red, and now there's no outer skin to bite off, so I'm starting to stop. Though occasionally I'll chew lightly on the fingers. I've found that when I do things with my hands I'll stop thinking about it and my fingers have a break, so as long as I'm active the habit probably will disappear. You might want to try that; it really works for me!

Hi my name is brianna I am 11 years old I had this habbit since I was in 2nd grade. I chew on them like everyday or at least 5-6 days a week. I chew on them at school and when ever someone sees me do it I normally make it look like I'm willing my face or even if someone ask me about my fingers and what's wrong with them I always tell them that my dog chews on them at night. I always try to hid the fact that I chew my skin. My mom tried to help me stop so whenever she sees me she says she would ground me (but I think that she was only saying that to make me stop ) but whenever she sees me do it I would always tell her that I was resting my hand on my face. Now I just started to chew the skin on the inside of my mouth on the left and right side of the inside of my face like on the cheek part. If anybody could give me any ideas that would help me stop I would appreciate it. I also looked up what could happen if you tell your fingers a lot and I found out that your fingers will start to have a infection and that you will need a special treatment

I bit the skin around my fingers all the time, including my nails, but it seems alot of people have that addiction be that so much the skin, I have bitten the skin and ripped it off around my nail, and on the sides of my knuckles on my first two fingers of both my hands. My first knuckle on my pointer finger and my right hand is chewed off so much, it gets sore sometimes and hurts to chew on it, but I can't help it. It's so hard to stop once you start and I apparently do it when I'm bored, and I do it ALOT during class at school. I'm a 13 year old female, And if skin is sticking up from biting it, I'll bite it off again.

hi i'm Woody J. Wyche i'm currently 15 i just came across this site i have been chewing my fingers since i was a baby and i had been told to stop because it was a bad habit and then it some how became me physically biting and eating myself no one really knows i EAT any thing they think i just chew my left pinky even though i eat my flesh i still have a simple finger chewing habit and thanks to both of these my left pinky has calluses and i feel really self conscious about this stuff recently and i know this is for skin eating so i will get back to the point as i was feeling insane i searched and found here i have developed this disorder where i well find anything i can get off my body and eat in whether it's skin, scab, acne, scalp, hair, eyebrow, eyelashes, toe nails, finger nails, calluses,the bottoms of my feet, my own blood or pretty much anything i could go on but i'm probably disgusting even the people who would be here to help (i apologise) i want to stop but i always go back to it and sometimes i even enjoy it (not on purpose) and even like the taste. thank you for your time you are wonderful and definitely deserve praise for surviving reading about my horrible habit's thus you are a wonderful person and have a great day (or night depending on time) (please copy and paste the praise to feel better when ever your glum).

I'm very confused about this disorder. I chew the skin off my top part of my finger and down the sides of them. I chew the palm of my hand and the whole ball of my foot. If anybody could talk to me about this that'd be great

Hi, I'm DeeDee. I'm a 13 year old female, I pick and bite at my hands and feet and have done so since I was...about 5? I hate to admit it but I also eat my acne, scabs, and dandruff. I never really knew how it all got started but so far this is what I THINK started it. When I was little, my older bother would pick at his scabs and feet but I don't ever remember him eating them. The first time I ever remember seeing this I was about 3 and he was 13 or 14. We were always close but when my brother went to go live with his dad it was like we got completely cut off. Years would have passed whenever we talked on the phone. So I guess since he was gone picking at my skin was just my way of keeping him around somehow. Either way, I hate it because whenever I have to be barefoot I completely freak out because I don't want anyone to see my feet. The few people in my family who know I pick at my feet think I'm a disgusting freak when really I'm just as confused as they are. I use to have a bad habit of biting my fingernails but that's pretty much gone away so now all I do is pick at my cuticles. I didn't start eating my acne until a few years ago. I was curious because I had popped a pimple and I saw this tiny thing that was like 1/3 the size of a grain of rice and I ate it now I do that on a daily basis. I honestly hate this all I just want to stop but I don't know how! I don't want to feel insecure about this anymore, I just want it all to stop

I honestly thought I was alone in this. I'm 15 years old. I'm so embarrassed about the bottoms of my feet and I will never let anyone see them. If I pick way too much at night, I am sometimes unable to walk to the bus stop in the morning. It causes a lot of pain, and a very long healing process. The longest I've ever gone without picking was three days. I'm just so glad that websites like this exist because no one else seems to understand.

My name is Marcus. I'm 17 years old. I honestly don't know when this disorder started because I've been doing it for so long. I don't know if I'm in the right place because I eat my scabs but it seems in the ballpark. I don't have a specific spot where I eat my scabs. Doesn't matter where it is, I don't know why, but I just eat it. I've tried to stop myself but I just always find myself doing it. The worst part is, whenever I get a cut, a scrape, or whatever you want to call it, I feel myself getting excited for it heal so I can rip it off and eat it. The most I can go without doing it a couple of days. When I'm distressed I feel myself feeling all over my body for anything I can pick at. I wish I could stop but I don't see any way of me doing that.

Ah, I've researched a little about my "condition" I'm really glad I found this blog because I read threw almost everyone's thoughts and feelings and I feel better because I'm not the only one. I'm 14 and I've been biting my fingernails and the skin around them for the 13 years of my life. My mom always threatens me about biting them because she has never cut them before. I always felt disowned because I wasn't the daughter my mom wanted. When I grew older maybe around 10 or 9 I started to peel the skin off of the balls of my feet. I really would just throw them away but I ate one and I became addicted. I usually use nailclippers to peel the skin off. It's become pretty bad that I started to do the same with my heels and recently I had a hard time walking. I always either have to walk really slowly or run so my parents don't ask whats wrong with me. I've tried not to go "without biting my skin and nails" for a few weeks and it works. They grow then I get this urge and I just bite them all off. When i was little my nails were so bad i used to get infections. I'm trying really hard to stop this but so far I have gotten no were... But I'm glad some people know how i feel. >^<

Hey if this isn't dead already I'm 20 I used to do this a lot more in high school from basic pressures. But I don't do it as much anymore only once in a good while does it happen. It will get better dint worry

Glad to know I'm not the only freak lol (jk). But in all seriousness, I've had the same problem since I can remember (8 or 9). I'm 35 now and I've been peeling and eating my skin ever since non stop. I eat my nails too but skin especially. When I was a teen I actually used to take a needle and carefully pierce it through the thick areas of my skin on my hands and feet, similar to when you sew, and pull upwards to rip the skin and then I'd just peel it and eat it. I don't do that anymore. What I've been using for many years is a nail clipper. I clip the skin around my nails, the skin on my fingers where the joints are, the rough parts of my hands as well as the skin around my toenails, my big toes and my heels. I can't explain why I do this but I just feel a sense of satisfaction afterwards. Sometimes I do it out of hunger and sometimes boredom. Hopefully this can stop some day. But until then, bon appetit lol.

Hello. I'm Llavon and I'm 12 years old. I have a habit that started when I was 11of keeping my nails short, so I praticly clip my nails every day, but I saw dried skin on the sides of my fingers and toe nails. So I clipped them and decided to eat it. It so became addicting and I did it with my nails too. And I still do it today. I just want to find a way to stop this habit, but I do feel a bit better now since there are others who kinda have the same problem too.

I'm 15 and have this problem for as long as I can remeber I rip skin of my body and can't help but eat it also when I clip my toe nails I eat them glad I'm not the only one

Hi I'm Nikhitha. I'm a 14year old girl and I have this problem of picking my skin off my fingers ever since I was 6. I just can't stop doing that. People say I'm addicted to it and some say I'm depressed. I just can't find out the actual reason for it. Mostly I do it when I'm stressed. I even tried covering my fingers with cloth and plastic covers but didn't work.Few days back I found this new technique to control my habit, i started to solve the rubics cube or play batminton which really works. It kinda distracts you from picking your skin. And most importantly I'm so happy to know that there are people like me with the same problem.