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Post by PickYourOwn on Jun 10, 2010 20:55:17 GMT -5
I've been a picker since Grade 11. The regrowth of hair always stuck straight up like a rooster.
Decades later, I am amazed that I have not developed an infection and/or alapecia. I have always had thick hair, so the scabs are not easily detected. My hair does grow quickly, though, so I have to get it cut. Sometimes I am able to restrain myself so I will not have open sores at the hair salon. When I cannot - I cut my own hair or miss a few appointments.
I sometimes apply iodine to the scabs and enjoy the pain.
I am also a published author and set designer - and have a lotof success with the latter. I am often complimented for my various talents; if they only knew my bloody little secret!
Creative people often wrestle with some kind of psychological angst or compulsion.
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Post by ukyujtu on Jun 20, 2010 21:24:58 GMT -5
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Post by sgsgeg on Jun 20, 2010 21:25:28 GMT -5
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Post by noinotecka on Jul 24, 2010 13:48:43 GMT -5
I also want to add my story of head picking since I can't discuss this with anyone as it's shameful. I started head picking while living in Belarus-thought it was because of dry air and overheated areas. When I returned about 2 years later to the US and visited a dermatog., she said it was a type of follicar situation and also adult acne and gave me antibiotics. In all I have been to doctors over 8 times and get very short shrift on my condition. They admonish me to stop picking! They insist they give me the right medication, foamy stuff that costs $95 a can or amoxicillan, etc. Believe me, NOTHING has ever worked to prevent this condition. It stopped for a long time and then started again at least 4 years ago, I guess. I have severely thinning hair in several areas due to scalp picking. I create scabs and every day, several times a day, pick them off and eat them. I examine them first and then eat them. Utterly disgusting and so shameful, I would never tell anyone. EXCEPT, a couple months ago, instead of telling my primary care physician that I had head acne or sores, I just stated baldly (pun) " I pick my scalp, make it sore and it really hurts". She looked at it with trepidation and asked a couple questions. I said, sometimes I'm not aware I'm doing it and it doesn't hurt at the time but every morning, the pain sensors kick in and I wake up with a very painful scalp. I sometimes take aspirin for it. I have cut my nails, cut my hair, tried T-Sal, Tar Shampoo, lots of hydrogen pyrox., listerine-anything to try to sooth or heal the scabs. But, it comes down to this: I can't keep my hands away from my head. I sit on them, put little whilte gloves on, cover my head with a kerchief--but I still unintentionally begin tentatively searching my scalp for scabs or bumps. Sometimes, I hold off all day after finding bumps only to fail to stop myself later than night from finally dispensing with the scab. I am on anti-anxiety , zoloft. meds. I don't work now and have more time during the day when I can pick my scalp undetected. I feel pathetic that I cannot control this. I should be more insistent that a doctor work on this with me. It's not really anything a doctor wants to deal with. If I go on vacation and am around a lot of people or something, I do this less. Sitting and reading or watching tv encourages me to have more time. If I garden or swim, I hold off until later in the day from picking.
I also try to pick my roommate's scalp. Years ago, I used to pop blackheads a lot from my boyfriend's back and found that enjoyable. My roommate stops me from doing this although to me, it's just as satisfying to pick his scalp as it is mine.
Sometimes, I feel little tickles and twinges that I scratch on my head probably because it
s irritated. Well thanks for letting me share my sad story. Like the rest of yo, I want to stop this destructive compulsion that is shameful and painful. Good luck.
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Post by Miss Picky on Sept 16, 2010 17:20:59 GMT -5
This board has opened my eyes!
I have an obsession with picking my scalp. It started with me picking my dandruff, which then led to scabs and I started picking these. I mostly do it when i stressed or anxious, which is a lot of the time as I do suffer from anxiety and panic attacks.
I stopped for a few years, only recently (two years ago) when my brother died aged just 35. I havnt been able to stop since then, and actually look forward to going to bed and picking away at todays fresh layers of skin. Its like a form of release. Totally not normal, and not the right way to ease stress - but its not harming anyone! and my kids dont see, so I dont see a problem.
I actually enjoy the stinging I get when I wash my hair after picking, its like washing away all the bad things in my life.
My hair has started to thin as a result, which is why im going to my GP about it to re-start my anxiety medication as I dont want to start losing my hair!
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Post by Scared and Sad on Sept 29, 2010 1:25:33 GMT -5
Hi Fellow Pickers,
I just recently realized that this is an issue. On and off I guess I have picked something on my body, but now I can't stop. Could it be medicine related - Ritalin or concerta or Prozac or lack of vitamin D? I realized that I started about 2 years ago and on and off I have done it. Now for about a couple of months or so, I can't stop. It is a release. It calms me, even though that is sick. My head hurts, I am sad and anxious all of the time and I take anti-anxiety meds and ADHD meds and I am destroying all of my relationships because I am so embarrassed and disappointed with myself that I don't know what to do. My husband keeps telling me to stop and now my kids are too and yes I am starting to lose my hair. What do I do to stop? I went to the dermatologist and got the cortisone shots and foam and shampoo and none of that worked however the cortisone shots felt really good, like a high almost. Weird huh. Anyways, now I am too embarrassed to go to the dermatologist again and I am sad and withdrawn and really nervous and don't know how to get out of this. I feel pathetic. HELP, if anyone has any advice that worked, PLEASE I DON'T WANT TO LOSE MY HAIR AND BE EVEN MORE DEPRESSED.
Please post a reply!
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Post by Anxious picker on Nov 18, 2010 15:34:14 GMT -5
Obligatory Phrase..."I can't believe I found this website and that I'm not the only picker!!!!" I too have compulsive behaviors that shame me. When I am home alone I can spend hours in front of the mirror picking at my skin with my nails or "tools". I have been known to use needles, cuticle clippers, safety pins, black-head removers, etc. Pretty much anything that will dig into my skin to remove the perceived imperfection. I get a strange excitement when I feel a zit forming on my body. I love using multiple mirrors or objects to pop a zit in a weird place. I feel like I should get a trophy for my achievements in skin picking. I have recently started picking my head to the point that I have about 15 scabs at any time all over my head. I usually do this at night while lying in bed, but any time when I am alone I can usually be found doing one or more of my compulsive behaviors. I used to bite my nails to an extreme,and that kept me from picking, so now I let them grow so I can dig into my skin better. I hated the marks it would make on my face when I would pick, so I started picking my husband's back. This way, he wouldn't see the damage I was doing, and the fact that I was picking at things that weren't even there. I left many scars on his back  I feel really bad about that, but not bad enough where I feel I can stop. I have a 2 year old that has a skin condition that gives her bumps on her legs and arms......and it's torture for me. If a white head is visible, I have been known to squeeze it even though my daughter cries. I tell myself that I am just grooming her, but I know its wrong. My second child is a baby still and she has cradle cap. I pick at it every day. Am I a bad mom? God I hope not. All I want is for my kids to be happier than I am. I just recently started a new form of self mutilation where I use a needle to poke into my skin. My dog has diabetes, so I have lots of hypodermic needles. I just take the needle and jam it into my skin. It usually leaves a bruise, so I can just lie and say that I bumped my leg/arm. I started this when I had a compulsion to cut at my legs. I didn't want to leave a mark or let anybody know what I was doing, so a needle was the answer to my problem. At one point in my life I would lie in the shower and cut the skin on my hands and feet when they would turn white. After I got out of the shower it would throb, but I kind of like it. I would also turn the water on as hot as it would get and slowly burn my legs. Weird huh? I have even been known to pick at my dog!!! I pick at ears (dogs, mine, husbands) and EAT my nails. God I'm gross. I disgust myself, but I know its just a way that I try and deal with the crazy life I've been dealt. I am on Zoloft but it hasn't helped much. I hope putting this out there makes somebody feel more normal. |
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Post by Guest18 on Nov 22, 2010 20:27:29 GMT -5
Hi, I'm so glad to have found this thread!! I didn't realize how many people did "scalp picking". I'm 18 now but I remember doing this in middle school, generally when I was bored. I vaguely remember somebody else doing it as well! It seems to be a habit I've never grown out of. Now I try and do it ominously. I don't necessarily pick my scalp until it bleeds but I love doing it. Like some people say, it's quite satisfactory. I'll usually put it on the edge of my fingertip and marvel at it but that's as far as I'll go! When I say it, it sounds disgusting but I can't help it and ovbiously, I'm not the only one  scalp pickers unite!! |
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Post by I do on Nov 24, 2010 13:42:19 GMT -5
i pick my scalp, and at first it was to get of dandruff or something, but now its a habbit. its never bleeded, but it is a bad habbit. how do you do it?
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Post by PickerStop on Dec 10, 2010 21:37:12 GMT -5
I'm an imperfect person with lots of problem.  I'm 11 and I still pick at my skin  I may be too young for this but I'm so bothered right now with my scalp picking I have to make and account to share my thoughts with you  . We can probably remember you're not the only one that's doing this, and things like this takes time to complete our goals. |
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Post by Casandra on Feb 9, 2011 1:32:40 GMT -5
WOW. I am truly and amazingly shocked that I found a site where I can relate like this. Its such a terribly embarrassing secret to reveal. For my situation its only a little different. I have sort of odd scalp disorder that the doctors are not able to identify...sounds wierder than it is~ Remember cradle cap from babies? Its like an entire layer covering your entire scalp.. now with cradle cap I think it is typically more of a yellow tone but anyway Mine is like a layer of dandruff in a giant scab form and it can be generously picked off sections and crumbels at a time..Sorry to go into so much detail but I have never been able to really talk about this outloud- maybe somebody knows what is really is.
Anyway ever since I was in my mid to late teens I have been obessed with the picking. I will pick it and totally salivate when I can feel on my finger tips- a big one.. IT CAN NOT BE NORMAL !!! Its so strange because I too have taken a deeper noticing that I think the obsession is actually in the finger sensation. So yea.. I continously pick (and it does not look good.. I mean if I don't really pay attention I can have chunks of dandruff looking stuff all over) I pick until it bleeds and then almost enjoy the tingeling pain when I was my hair with the Coal tar shampoo. Which has now been discontinued and I have NO control over the scalp now, the picking runs rampid. Ipick all day~
Other than that I think I am mostly normal in that I enjoy to peel sunburns and such but nothing like my obsession with my scalp.
I am VERY interested to find out the psychological reasoning why we do this people!! Does anyone know?
I my sound crazy in this post for typical reasons but I am a succesful person, very social.. ADD diagnosed maybe depression years ago but never ocd..etc..
thanks for listening.
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Post by Maggie HS on Feb 21, 2011 6:18:30 GMT -5
I am so surprised to see so many other people with the same "habit"....I have been enlightened to learn that it is linked to stess/anxiety. i thought it was just a bad habit. Mine started around when I was 12 or 13..it lasted all through high school and college. Only when I was 22 (also when I lost 40 pounds and met my now husband) did it stop. I would also say that was a really happy time for me (obviously in love and newly thin) I didnt even notice that I had stopped this. Now I have a 7 month old baby and I noticed that I started again when she was born. I would be awake almost all night with her nursing & picking my scalp. Now 7 months later I have lots of scabs to pick at. I notice now that washing my hair is starting to hurt. I have curly hair so I have been straightening hoping that knowing how long it takes to straigten my hair will prevent me from picking. Because the picking produces dandruff and then I have to wash it again. but it hasnt worked. I will try the aloe vera plant and the topical antibiotices. I dont want to spiral again into years of this and the embarassment that goes along with it. I also dont think its hygenic for me to pick my scalp and then the flakes are all around with a baby..... |
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Post by Edie on Feb 27, 2011 2:31:55 GMT -5
I started picking my head in 5th grade and I'm a freshman in high school now. I noticed at certain times it would stop; for example I had a best friend who lived far away, but we talked for hours a day for months and i never picked at my head, but we had recently gotten in a fight back in november and I've been picking again ever since. I know its like a crazy bad habit, but I can't find any other solution to it. I know its merely stress related, but I don't know how to stop it! I do it subconsciously. Reading over a lot of your guys' problems, it seems like some of you are in your 30's and still doing it.... I'm a freshman now and i really wanna turn this around, and I think I'm still young enough to do it. Help?!?!?
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Post by NICHOLE M on Mar 23, 2011 3:16:27 GMT -5
im so happy i found this website i honestly thought i was the only one with this problim ive been picking at my scalp since i was very young maybe like 6 or 7 im now 19 i had stopped for a few months but then when i had my daughter i was at the hospital and i just made like 4 or 5 small one then i just couldnt stop picking ive had scabs in my head for 2 yrs now and some are big like a dime or nickel size and ive been getting bad headaces and im wondering if maybe i have something wrong because my head just starts hurting almost everyday and if i dont pick at them the headaces go away but i just cant stop i know its gross i cant even go do my hair or let anyone do my hair or watch me do my hair it is very imberrising and i feel like im discussting for doing it but im happy to know its an actual disorder and im not the only one  i have many scars on my arms and legs my husband hates them and my mom and dad always get mad at me picking but i cant stop i kept telling them it was like im addicted to picking them but they would just look at me like i was crazy and i didnt even know what to thimk anymore but thanks to every one of yall i feel a bit better but i really want to stop any advise  ??(i cant really afford docotr visits or treatments) any other advise HELP PLEASE .....
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Post by LMB on Mar 24, 2011 11:16:15 GMT -5
I'm slightly calmer today knowing that I'm not the only one who experiences the urge to pick at my scalp. Every day I wake up with the intention of stopping the habit but every day I fail. I believe mine is stress induced.
I'm currently seeing a therapist for other reasons but really want to bring up my scalp picking. I'm incredibly embarrassed about it and find myself denying that I have a problem. Has anyone else spoken with a therapist about scalp picking?
I've tried shampoos before and they help but there is something that is still triggered inside of me that can't seem to break the habit of searching for scabs to pick.
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I feel really bad about that, but not bad enough where I feel I can stop. 
scalp pickers unite!!
I'm 11 and I still pick at my skin 
I may be too young for this but I'm so bothered right now with my scalp picking I have to make and account to share my thoughts with you 
. We can probably remember you're not the only one that's doing this, and things like this takes time to complete our goals. 
i have many scars on my arms and legs 
??(i cant really afford docotr visits or treatments)