Hair and skin self harm

[Poppers]

Someone please tell me what to do. 3 hours every night, I can't stop. I have to get the unclean stuff out (ingrowing hairs, hairs in general, bits of skin?!) and it's a way of hurting myself too. Picking things, like my lips and plucking hairs, not just my face now but everywhere, digging and digging until I literally pour with blood sometimes, and of course then picking at that. I've had sores on my face for a WHOLE YEAR because I just can't stop. I can't stand there being little hairs, ill use a torch to find the most minuscule things and then I HAVE to get it out, resorting to all sorts of means to achieve it.


I'm disgusting. Thank god this is anonymous. I hate myself. Help?

[RiverRock]

I understand where you are coming from, though I have been able to stop most of the time. I usually dont shave my legs so i cant pick at the razor burn or the ingrown hairs. I do it really bad on my fingers and when I am stressed between my eyebrows. It helps me when I am doing it horribly to carry a rubber band around my wrist to snap it.

[PassedExpectations]

sometimes this sort of compulsive picking is called dermatillomania, and it is often grouped with compulsive hair pulling (trichotilliomania). i've never picked as severely as you're describing, but i lessened my own picking by a sort of retraining… my therapist helped me make a list of times i'm tempted to pick and precursors to picking (like rubbing my cheeks/forehead, running fingers through my hair). whenever i caught myself in one of those situations or actually picking, i had to hold my hands in loose fists in my lap, so that i couldn't pick. at first it was really hard to resist the temptation to just give up and pick, but over time it became a new sort of habitual response. i haven't totally stopped picking, but it has gotten a lot less.

other things you could try are limiting the time you're in typical picking places (like the bathroom) or cover up mirrors that you use. you can also use good skin care to reduce bumps and things you tend to pick.if you pick at night while you're going to sleep, it might help to wear thin gloves. additionally, in public places it can help to have a fidget object to play with in your hands instead of picking. i usually use a moldable art eraser. it doesn't get anything dirty, and you can pick pieces off with about the same force it takes to get something off your skin, and smuch it back together. i would also try making a schedule for yourself at night, so that you can't spend three hours picking… if you have to, every time you go into the bathroom, set a really annoying and loud alarm for a few minutes and put it in another room, so that you have to stop and leave the bathroom to turn it off.

[Poppers]

Thank you for your kind replies. PassedExpectations, I was wondering if you had any tips for the hair plucking issue? That's taken over as the main issue at the moment. I see hairs I need to get out, and then I take the tweezers to them, and then I simply can't stop, and if I think about stopping I get really anxious, and I'll end up creating a wound which is harder to get it out from but I still can't stop until I get it. With skin picking I can wrap my head around not 'needing' to do it, hence the distractions you suggest being a possibility, but with the hairs I feel like they are unnecessary so I would be better off taking them out (along with some of the skin issues feeling necessary to do also). :(

[PassedExpectations]

are you plucking body hair or hair on your head? if hair on your head, try keeping it up or wearing a headband which will make it harder. if hair on your body, maybe use Nair instead of shaving...

[Patent Pending]

Hey there,

I can't add anything else useful that hasn't already been said, but I wanted you to know I do similar. You're not alone.

x x x