Scalp Picking :/

Hi! I am 18 and I have been picking my scalp since about 7th grade (but I am really not sure exactly when). I also don't know why I do it, but I know that it has become hard for me to concentrate in class and on homework because I waste so much time compulsively picking at my head. I hate that I do it, but you are not alone. I have found that wearing a hat helps to keep me from picking, maybe you should try it. I know that I pick during homework, so wearing a hat really helps me focus on work and not on my head.

I do it as well :/ i cant help it its actually quite embarrassing as i dont really notice i do it. I dont want to tell anyone that i know because i know they will freak. Its weird. I pick my scalp and get more excited at how big some flakes are and then i love to eat it. Please help me stop

I do it as well :/ i cant help it its actually quite embarrassing as i dont really notice i do it. I dont want to tell anyone that i know because i know they will freak. Its weird. I pick my scalp and get more excited at how big some flakes are and then i love to eat it. Please help me stop

Hey there, I do this too. I never knew it was a problem until a few years ago when i was getting my hair done at a salon and my hair guy asked me why i had scabs all over my scalp :P I thought everyone picked at their heads until it bled, i dunno it just felt right to me. since then ive noticed myself doing it more and i try to stop but its really hard. i have been able to limit myself to just picking two spots on my head. anyways, youre not alone and good luck :)

I am seventeen years old and I have just recently discovered that I have dermatillomania. I have been compulsively picking at my scalp since the beginning of last year when I was fifteen. I never thought anything of it because everytime I did it I never realized what I was doing-I just did it subconsciously. It wasn't until today until I finally had the urge to research what was wrong with me. I have bald spots on my head, but you can't notice them because my hair covers them. I have always had a problem with my body image-that I was always aware of. I believe I have body dysmorphic disorder. While I was researching, I found myself in shock when I discovered that dermatillomania or compulsive scalp picking disorder (CSP) can also be linked to body dysmorphic disorder. I wonder how can that be because I never thought anything of my scalp picking-I didn't just one day decide to start picking my scalp because I have body dysmorphic disorder? The scabs on my scalp actually appeared out of no where as little red dots. I had no clue what they were or how they got there, so I began to scratch them off individually. And from there on, the obsession progressed. As the scabs became progressively worse, I became more obsessed with them. I cannot find a way to stop this, it is so embarrassing. Whenever I tell myself that I am going to stop, I find myself picking again. Most of the time, clear liquid comes out and it has a pleasuring smell to me? I don't know what to do. I have really long dark brown hair and everyone tells me how beautiful it is. I love my hair, and I don't want to keep hurting my scalp and leaving another bald spot...what should I do?

I'm fourteen too. I also pick my scalp :( I wish I didn't because sometimes you can see white flakes on my clothes because of it. I pick along my hair line and on the back of my head by my neck. Some things that help me stop is to wear my hair in a pony tail which helps cause picking will ruin my ponytail, clipping my nails really short helps too so I can't pick, and keeping my hands busy helps. I mostly pick when I'm bored or stressed out :(

I started to pick my scalp a long time ago, I think after I got some sand in my hair around age 6 or 7. It has gone in phases on and off for years. I also pick at my ears and upper back too. I never knew there was a name for the picking until telling my therapist about it a year ago. It is mainly my scalp. For the past month it has become the worst it has even been. I have multiple scabs around my hairline and back of my head. My head is really sore now. I never used to pick until I bled, but now I am starting too. I notice I do it a lot when I am driving, reading, watching TV or trying to all asleep. I started on medication 2.5 years ago for anxiety, it seems to have helped the anxiety to a degree but not the picking. I want to stop, but have no idea how!!! I wish there was a magic pill.

I pick everywhere but I pick my scalp the worst. I get dandruff in the winter so right now I have several scabs. I also have the urge to eat what I pick off, no matter what it is. I know it's gross, but it just doesn't seem that gross to me when I do it. The weird thing is when my boyfriend picks at his feet it really bothers me and I tell him to stop. I think I have this urge to stop him because I don't want him to be like me, but I think it's awful that I want him to not pick when I pick all day long.

I started picking at my head around the age of 10. I don't know which came first, it or dandruff. I had really bad dandruf all through middle school and high school. It turned into a cycle, the worse my dandruf got, the more I picked. I finally started to use dandruf shampoo. Once the dandruf started to go away, I picked less. That worked for a few years, but I have started to pick at my head again. I haven't gotten as bad as I was yet, but I am afraid if I don't stop soon, it will.

i do the same thing i think it relieves stress for me i find myself doing it when im bored or sad. i eat them also, but its an addiction i like the way it feels when i pick something and the taste of blood. im wondering if this could potentially be a problem and back up in my digestive track or something.

I totally agree with everything you said. I have been scalp picking since I was in 4th grade and now I'm 31 !!!! Sad isn't it???? I feel like a loser. It's such a compulsion. The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is feel my scalp for scabs to pick. I even do it in my sleep. AHHHHHHH! I can't believe I'm even sayng these crazy things. I never knew that anyone else had this problem. I used to feel good when I only had one scab, I even felt proud of myself for not having more. My mom used to cut my hair when I was a kid and she used holler at me for the scars and scabs. Maybe she should have gotten help for me. I used to pick my back and face too, but now I don't. My compulsion is my head. My scalp hurts so bad at times and my hair falls out and it makes me very sad. I am to embarrassed to get help. http://www.hairandlaserclinic.com

I've been picking my scalp for as long as I can remember. I also used to pick my earlobes around my earrings and my acne, but since I stopped wearing earrings and got rid of my acne, I've started in my scalp big-time. Part of me loves it. It's very soothing. I do it a lot when I do homework or watch tv, or when I'm on the bus. I do it more when my nails are short for some reason, so I tend to grow my nails out pretty long. I'm 19 now, and in college. I'm working three part-time jobs and taking classes and paying rent and bills. I've found that I can't keep my fingers away from my scalp, which is why I started looking up my condition. I am so relieved to find that this is a pretty common thing. Now I just have to find a way to stop.

I'm 13 and I've done it for 2 years now and I have been worried about it for a wile now. I'm inbaresed about it and It all started when I was in the store and put my hand on my head and noticed I had bumps on my head. My mom thought I might have cancer but she found out it was just sores. So ever since then I scratch my head until clear liquid comes out. And then till my fingers are covered in blood. I don't know why I do it and I'm scared... But now wen I got to school everyone noticeses it and asks what happend to it. I make up some lie like my dog bit me or something:) but it's gotten way out of control. Im starting to lov the smell it gives off and sometimes i eat it..t. It's soo weird. Its scarring me and I'm afraid to let people play with my hair or get my hair done because I'm afraid there going to see it and freak out. I tried cutting my nails and it didn't work I always find a way to. Can some one please tell me wats wrong with me, and if it's any disorder... Please and thank you. I'm afraid to show my mom to she might take me to a therapist or something.... Please help me find out wat it is cause I sometimes scratch till I get ligh headed. And i like the pain that it gives off... I'm afraid I'm never going to stop and it's might kill me, loosing to much blood. I have about 5 spots I do it at. Please help... Thank you!

Ok I have had numerous medical issues and 2 years ago was the worst where i was hospitalized for almost the whole year, It started as a hot spot where I started scratching my scalp and then using my nails make a lip on the skin and tear the piece off, hopping it would be long and wide. After a while when I was laying ib the bed with nothing to do I would pick at my scalp and pull any and all skin from the area. I ended up with a bald patch at the hot spot and i just kept going and going and one day I was tested for ringworm because of the circular patch f missing hair. It came back negative. I ended up with self control to stop picking and I have hair where the hot spot was. A month ago I was sick at home and fell asleep, when I awoke I had a bald patch on my scalp again . At first I looked at it and it looked like a Kerion which is associated with a fungal infection (boggy raised spot a reaction of the skin to the fungal infection). I went to my Dr and again no infection, I washed it thoroughly and used T-Sal to breeak up the dried blood and any build up. 2 days later I ended up pulling the top layer off the patch of missing hair. It came off easily and it was a big piece which was amazing (no photo sorry) which reveled pink new skin, it had little bleeding and I restarted picking at the new area now. I now have a bald spot where this happened, I had to shave the area so I could clean the skin surface and get al the stuble of the scalp. I now am obsessed with the spot I use a knife and get under the top layer and push it up untill it comes up. I also use hot water and alchol to clean the knife before I use it, woried about catching something, also use T -Sal to soften the scalp skin which makes it easier by loosening up the keratin protein which gives the stratum corneum it strength and its cohesion. I would like anyone who can give me suggestions to stop quitting since I am on the Federal Medicare which dose not cover this as a medical issue (psychological), my wife told me today I was obsessed with it and she cant deal anymore. So anyone please you thoughts and experiences whould be greatfull. Thanks in advance Steven