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Hi Everybody...just signed up tonight.
So, as the subject says, I just signed up after poking around on the website for a bit. I've suffered from this disorder for honestly as long as I can remember. I can recall my stepmother telling me when I was in kindergarten that if I didn't stop chewing on my lip I'd bleed to death (real caring woman, that one). When I was a preteen I added picking my scalp to the life long lip picking. When I was in my early teens I started biting and picking at my cuticles and, in my early twenties, this moved on to the tough skin of my toes and heels. A few years ago I started scraping obsessively at the insides of my ears.
I don't know why, maybe because it's always been such a private act, that it honestly never crossed my mind that this was a problem. I knew it was a compulsion, but I always figured I just didn't have the willpower to kick a bad habit. But it truly is a compulsion. I can be mentally screaming at myself to stop while I'm doing it. I've drastically worn down the enamel on one of my teeth from the lip and finger biting.
So I guess I'll hang around here for a while, pick up what I can, and see if maybe I can learn a few tricks along the way. Doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of doctors out there that deal with this sort of thing.
March 16, 2010
cohen, as a child i was told not to pick at moles as they would cause cancer or ... more frightening... they'd never stop bleeding and i'd bleed to death. that did scare me and i've never bothered moles. it didn't stop me from picking scabs, cuticles, scalp, heels, caluses, warts, plucking hair, pimples, bumps, etc. at one time or another in various states of severity. now, likely because of my age or perhaps my tired out immune system because this has been going on for so long, in desperation because my skin is infecting easier, the sores are getting larger, and they're slower to heal, i seriously hit the internet searching for wound healing, nutrition, skin care and cleansing methods, and ultimately this site, i have changed many things in my daily regimen. i hope that in your hanging around here you pick up what you need. there's a wealth of information here and much support. best wishes to you !!