I've been picking and peeling at my nails and skin for years now, but it's getting worse. I pick my nails till there's not enough nail to peel, and I move on to the skin around the nail and the cuticles. Just yesterday I picked at my cuticle so much that it started to bleed almost uncontrollably. I know what it's like to peel until it bleeds, but it was shocking to see the amount of blood yesterday.
Does anyone have the same problem? Picking until it draws a frightening amount of blood?
I have this problem. It's only happened a couple time that the blood was that bad- I usually stop before that because it's too painful to go that far. There's this page:
http://www.fingerfreak.com/side-effects-of-picking/physical/picking-until-it-bleeds
I have this problem, too. It's the worst feeling to look down and realize my fingers are covered in blood...again. I've gotten blood on school papers, library books, clothes, etc. and it makes me feel so ashamed. I seem to do the worst damage, drawing blood, without even realizing it. At the moment my hands are looking better and I'm working hard to keep them that way. This website has helped so much.
Same here, I'll be so absent minded and/or thinking of something else (usually stressful things or I'll do it just out the plain satisfaction I get from doing it) and at some point, I'll feel this sudden sharp pain on my finger that almost makes me jump because I just didn't realize I was going that far, and then I'll see the blood. I'll apply pressure to get it to stop and then I'll just pick my toes or another finger until my previous finger stops bleeding. Reading over what I just typed makes me feel like the biggest freak in the world since I've never met anyone else who does this! I have a feeling talking openly to people on this site about my problem is going to help me more than any source of willpower I've ever tried (and failed) to depend on to get me to quit picking at my own skin.
I've picked my face so bad that the blood has streamed down my face. As a result my parents start shaking their heads and yelling at me to stop picking...I really don't know how to get anyone else to understand this problem...the bleeding is scary and everytime I do it (more than 10 times a day sometimes) I tell myself I'm going to stop. I just keep having nightmares I'm going to die from an infection - I just can't stop.
I am truly amazed. Until this moment, I have felt totally alone with my picking obsession. This has only added to my feeling of freakishness. I am 48 years old and have been picking practically all of my life. The earliest I can remember attention being called to it was in the 6th grade. Without even realizing I'm doing it, I pick until I bleed. I, too, have gone through life getting blood on everything. When people notice the blood, they have every right to be grossed out. When people notice my picking, they study what I'm doing and soon notice the cuts and tears around my cuticles. This leads to embarrassment, stress, and more picking. I've also picked at my toes all this time, but to a lesser degree - presumably because of the need to wear shoes and the awkwardness of huddling over one's feet. About 5 or 6 years ago, I discovered the bottoms of my feet as prime picking ground and now my evenings spent in front of the TV or while reading a book include both finger and feet picking. I pick all day at work when I'm not typing. Sometimes I find a little pile of picked skin on my chair from picking my fingers on my lap. I'm sure other people notice this too. My wife is the only person who knows the extent to which I pick, but after being together 25 years, she still doesn't understand it. She probably never will. I don't really understand it myself except that it's an obsession that I seem to have little or no control over. Or maybe I do have control but I just haven't exercised it yet. Anyway - it's good to know I'm not alone. I'm looking forward to exploring this site more. Maybe this is what I need in order to get a grip and overcome my obsession. Even if my habits remain unchanged, it's still good to know I'm not alone. Thanks for speaking up and thanks for sharing.
Wow! I never realized that other people endured the same torture as I do. My fingers hurt
so bad that it is even difficult to type. Recently, I have caught myself picking in my sleep.
Why do we do this? It is so painful and embarrassing.I need help but I don't know to start.
Thanks for being there.
I just got engagement pictures taken and was shocked to see the close-ups of my hand. (The standard up-close of the couple's hand displaying the ring). I can't order any of these beautiful pictures because it's so obvious that some of my fingers are scabbed and torn. I've picked for years, often to the point of drawing blood, but just shrugged it off as a bad habit. I'm so glad to hear that others are going through the same thing, and maybe those pictures plus this group will be the wake-up I need. Thanks for sharing, everyone.
Like so many of you, I was surprised to find others with this problem too! I have been doing it all my life, mainly just my cuticles and fingertips now, but as a child/teenager I would also peel my big toe and the thick, tough skin on my heel. (that area would always get noticed in the summer ) I can't understand what is so gratifying about it.
The worst part for me is that my 5 year old son has started picking his own fingers. It's pretty much uncontrolable for him already! His teachers have noticed, and are constantly asking what I'm doing to curb his habit. Little do they know, I'm struggling with the same problem.
Hopefully becoming more aware of the "gritty" details will deter me. Thanks for listening.
SO grateful to have everyone out there that are feeling all the same emotions of a mental struggle, like a war inside your head. You don't want to pick, you know it's going to hurt afterwards: throb, ache, sting... But you keep doing it. Re: ocdfreak's comment... Please don't feel like a freak. We are all going through the same stuff here. That helps me more than I can ever say.
I never knew that I wasn't alone and that provides so much comfort. It has become part of my normal routine in life, to constantly have ready available bandaids for such incidents. There is never a moment that I will not have access to bandaids to comfort my sore, throbbing fingers.
Even when there is no blood or raw skin, bandaids help so much when I bite or tear my fingernails down so low, they begin to sting. I can't help it, the whole process has become routine for me.
I have also formed an unhealthy obsession with antiseptic cream. I'll pick my fingers, and then spend an hour or so, rubbing the cream onto the raw, torn bits of skin.
Does anyone else have this problem? :(
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FingerFreak.com is a community site dedicated to helping people afflicted by compulsive finger picking and other related disorders