Poll - What do you pick?

[Tebryn]

Hi Girls,
Wow,I love the poll!!!It helps me feel not so alone.Ok,at fisrt I picked my face alot.Then I had to try and find a new,not so disfiguring place to pick,so I pick my scalp.Don't get me wrong I still pick my face,just some of my picking energy is detoured to my head.I also picked my butt for a while,but I have finally let that heal,because I didn't want to deny my husband doggy style sex anymore....hahaha....it's the truth.I still have brown spots there but they will go away in like 6 months.I'm sure he would rather see a couple brown spots instead of big ass scabs on my butt.Ok...so my answer is head....face....and butt.May I choose another,because I have more.Have a great pick free day ladies.Lots of love to each and every one of you.Love Ang.

[scarreddaisy]

I;ve picked on my tushie as well.. I hadn't seen anyoen else mention until I read this post and I was a little ::blush:: embarrassed about saying it.. I used to claw at my back but since I've been on meds for my moderate ance.. thats all but cleared up ( though the scarring is bad).. My scalp is the aresa of choce at the moment.. and it is horrible... that and the area where my face and neck meet...

[angelkiss]

i have picked (and still do pick) my arms, shoulders, back, butt, thighs, shins, hands, fingers, cuticles, feet, lips, chest, and of course, face. i have picked my scalp once since i read about people doing it, so don't give me anymore ideas, i might use them!!

[Becca]

I am soooo glad I found this site! I'm 13 and I thought i was the only one with this problem - i thought I was crazy!
I started picking about...almost a year ago now....my lips were really dry and I just picked them and then it turned into pretty much an obsession......and now at the corner of my lips i hav a red, sore area which i always pick and i always end up bleeding - actually i just pciked a few minutes ago. A few months ago I cut my finger at skool on a nail by mistake and having been pciking that sopt which is now dry and peeling. I tought I was the only one! I stopped for a short while and got better then started again. I can stand in front of the mirror for about 20 minutes just picking my lips. At one stage I felt suicidal but i didn't think that was realted to this syptom but it mite of been. I amtrying 2 get better but it keeps seeming 2 get worse - my family are always telling me to 'stop picking' and my 9 yr old sister is always saying 'Ewww! Your gross rebecca!' which is a little hurtful.
Sorry 2 write so much its just i saw this documentry on tv just b4 and it was about hair pulling and they mentioned skin-picking so i decided to search for it on the internet.
If anyone has any advice my emails are
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Thankyou!
p.s i always bite the inside of my cheeks and my tounge - but i dunno if that is in anyway related to this.

[Gorillagirl]

Hello, I'm new. I just found out yesterday that what I've been doing for the majority of my life on this earth is an actual medical condition. I feel like a freak. I'm scared to get help cause I don't want anyone to know. I pick my back, shoulders, arms, neck, back of my ears, iside my ear lobes, my hairline, my scalp. I used to bite my fingernails but have been nail-biting free for almost five years. I do pick at my cuticles. I have ruined many shirts, because I pick until I bleed. I chew the inside of my mouth when concentrating until there are large gapping canker sores. I'm ashamed and a little scared. I've been doing this since I was little. I remember in grade school my friends calling my sores volcanos. I'm just glad that I'm not the only one out there with this problem. Maybe someday I'll have the courage to get help.

[Neurotica]

I'm amazed at what I'm reading. I thought my mom and I were the only people who picked at their scalps. Actually, I can't speak for my mom, but I also pick anywhere there is anything to be picked. My bad spots have moved around on my body, the scalp being the one constant throughout most of my life. I just can't stand to have a scab or a bump on my skin - it must be scratched off at once.

I feel like I can also admit here, something I would never admit to anyone before, the picks I enjoy the most are the ones that bleed the most. I like to feel the blood on my fingers and I feel like a complete psycho for that. The irony is that I faint at the sight of blood if it's coming from any other source, like a cut with a sharp instrument, or an accidental injury. For some reason, if it's a result of my picking, it doens't bother me one bit.

I do kinda go into a state when I'm picking. It's like time stands still, only it doesn't really, and I end up being late for work. If I go into pick mode at work, I don't get as much done as I should. And then I wonder if anyone saw me and knew what I was doing. I guess only a fellow picker would really know.

My scalp is very tender and sore as I type this and I really would like to stop. I'm on Paxil, which was given to me for anxiety disorder. I read that it's supposed to help with this picking thing, but so far it hasn't stopped it. I just wish I didn't derive so much pleasure from picking - and I wish I could understand what it's really all about.

All the best to all of you. I know what you're going through.

[downtimeheals]

Try Proactiv. It's topical. Accutane is pretty harsh on the body.

[Neroli]

I pick:

top of arms and legs the most, which are covered with clothes... then my bum....
then anything that has a bump on it. I just scratch it off so my skin feels smooth. Don't know I am doing it until my skin is such a mess.
Going abroad on Saturday, was hoping to have clear skin, but know I be ashamed when I wear sleeveless tops and my swim suite.
Have done this for over 30 years, sometimes worse than others. Only found out recently that I wasn't the only one doing it!!!!

Will check this board now daily for advice and support. would love to stop doing it.

[Kathy]

My dermatologist put me on Accutane. The side effects were horrendous! I only lasted three months on it, and then finally I said, "No more." It made my face red and peeling, and my lips looked like I had walked across the Sahara Desert. The picking problem was not with my face but with itchy, tingling sores on my thighs, upper arms, and buttocks, which the Accutane did not help. No, Accutane only added a new problem. I didn't need that!

[Kathy]

I pick wherever there is a bump, scab, pimple, itch, or persistent tingling sensation. I've been doing it for eight years, because the picking and scratching
perpetuates the problem. It all started with a small area on my left hip and has spread all over my legs, arms, butt, and back. I haven't worn a bathing suit in eight years! Isn't that sad?

I have tried every dermatological treatment in the book but to no avail, because I AM THE PROBLEM. I am determined to stop this self-defeating behavior, which has made me my own worst enemy. I know I can't do it by willpower alone, so I'll also use meds, creams, therapy and this forum...whatever it takes. (I'm not going to take antibiotics or Accutane anymore, though. Too severe side effects with little improvement.)

[passtheneosporin]

You ready? After a lifetime of picking, I have strayed from my face. I find it's too obvious and now I have the fab-o Tazorac and antibiotics to keep the bumps at bay. It's all about the upper arms and my armpits. Seriously. I've had lots of time to narrow down my obsessions, and the newest one is squeezing out the beginnings of body hair. I have light skin, so when I see a little darkness beneath a pore, I can usually procure a tiny baby hair or some other strange dark blob.