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The below is a forum entry made by one of our community members. If you want to know more about your condition, we suggest you read the following article written by a mental health professional on
Dermatillomania (skin picking disorder)
picking and eating skin from feet and fingers... what is this?
first off, I want to say how happy and amazed i am to find that there are other people out there with the same condition as me and that i site like this even exists... it's great. i feel supported and not so crazy and alone.
i am a fourteen year old female, but please don't take me any less seriously because of my age. i am fully capable of communicating just as well as any fourty-year-old.
to the point... i pick and eat the skin from my feet and fingers, chew and eat it. i've done this for so long i have just accepted it as normal. i try not to think about it too much. even when i do it, i don't admit it to myself. i pick and pick until my skin bleeds and is sore to walk on for days. right now it's not too serious, i don't obsess. but i'm still young, i'd like to stop this habit before it forms any more!
if you can tell me the name of this compulsion i would really appreciate it. or just tell me your story...i want to hear about YOU.
take care.
hi. i would like to keep my name hidden out of shame. but i’m 21. i have severe eczema on my hands and feet for as long as i can remember. so even without picking and eating, i’m in pain. i was bullied a lot about how ugly my hands were. my hands have thankfully cleared up, but they get bad in the winter. this winter my hands and feet have become horrible. since i have eczema i have plenty of dead skin to pick and eat. i don’t remember when i started. i’ll rip the skin off my feet so bad that’s i rip new skin. i’ve picked until both of my heels are raw and bloody. i’ll begin to eat the smaller pieces. since is hasn’t been this bad since i was about 14 it hasn’t really limited my life that badly. my feet are ugly year round so swimming, sandles, and anything like that is a no go. i’ve gotten back in the habit of ripping the skin off my feet. so badly i have to wrap them bc the cracks are so deep. i’m so ashamed of picking and eating. my mom thinks is disgusting so i really have no one to talk about it. i struggle with depression and anxiety as well. i’ve also had a drug addiction, but i won’t go into that since there are younger people on this site. bottom line is that i have an addictive personality. picking and eating is just normal to me. it’s apart of me. it’s what i do. i just fount this site and when i began reading i started to tear up. i never thought there were people like me. it’s comforting. it has also made me want to get help. i don’t feel comfortable telling any of my current doctors. i have body focused repetitive behaviors (BFRB). look it up. it might shed some light on some of our problems. thanks for letting me share. i just truly think i’ll be doing this forever.
hi i am 16 years old i don’t really know when this problem happened to me. but i know it was elementary school. it first started when i saw my dad biting his nails, picking his nose and eating it, even trimming his toenails and eating it. i decided to try it one time and now i can’t stop. i bite my nails trim my toenails and eat it, bite the skin off the side of my nail beds, and i even peel the skin off of my feet and eat it, i sometimes cut some off, i also pick my acne and eat it and my “dandruff” and scabs. i can’t stop. it’s addicting. i don’t feel depressed or anything, it’s just impulsive. my nails are always short and my friend and i always y’all about how i can’t grow them because i eat them because her nails are long. when i grow them a little above my finger tips it’s like and accomplishment but i bite them off soon after or i just bite them and leave them there with the sensation of biting. i also eat the insides of my cheeks and my lip skin. i guess this is more severe then i thought.
Hi my name is Rj and im 13 almost 14 and I have a problem. I pick my skin and I hate it because I walk around on my feet barefoot sometimes and with Covid-19 right now i am scared that im gonna get a virus because of my skin eating problems. What should I do?
I have found no man's land beef jerky helps with my bitting habbits
I alwys bite the skin of my fingers. Even if it’s throbbing and bloody, if I see the slightest bit of skin sticking out I will chew it off. My thumbs looks the worst. I’m constantly hiding them in school. I’m 13 and this habit appeared this I was around 4-5, I remember the exact time I started. It was right after watching This movie where this girl would eat her skin when there is nothing to eat and she ended up killing her friend. I kept thinking about it and was disgusted, but I found myself getting nervous and started eating the skin around my fingers. I don’t really know why that day was the day I started. I alwys chew and when people notice I get so insecure about them. I try to force myself to stop, but I just can’t it calms me down. My parents are alwys taking about them and saying how bad it is. There would be days where I stoped chewing them for weeks and then fall right back in once I think about it. I always wash my hands every five seconds because when I finish chewing and I look at my fingers, I would feel dirty.
I can say the same about me,I eat my skin and pick it and stuff im very young like you .As im writy im eating my skin people think it is discusting and they tell me i should stop,but i just cant i just cant!I cant stop myself as i do it.When it do it in that spot im biting or picking it It gives a sharp pain and in less than a second it goes away..I feel like a monster..