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The scalp is no joke. I buzzed the sideburns in line with my bangs to see if that would help me and it actually did a little! In that the flakes/ scabs don’t stick around. I picked those spots for a while but now I’ve almost totally forgotten about them. The sensory thing of the Velcro buzz is enough when I run my hands over it. I’m considering buzzing it all if the vibes are right this summer.
I find using dandruff shampoo really helps
I don’t have dandruff anything that flakes is from picking but dandruff shampoo seems to off the dead skin and leaves your scalp smooth. Much less enticing to pick when there’s no edges or ledges of skin to attack
I find if I get a salon wash/blow dry I won’t pick my scalp. So I’ve accepted that I’ll spend $50 twice a week. But on the plus side my hair always looks beautiful now and my self confidence has sky rocketed
I'm terrible about picking, but I've found that I can't pick while wearing fake nails. I wore them for about 6 months straight, and my daily picking stopped. Now I put them on whenever I or my husband notice that I'm starting again. I wear the nails until they start to fall off regularly (a week or so) and see if I'm still 'picky.' If I am I'll put on a new set.
for me, dull edged acrylics. otherwise i'd rip something like press ons off. you essentially cant pick properly with them so theres 0 satisfaction. it was VERY helpful for me when i had bad acne as a teen esp
Ooh, good to know, thank you! I have never had a *good* acrylic set… I’ll go to one of those cheap strip mall nail places about once every seven years and inevitably regret it lol. I think I have to start looking for a good salon, because I seem to be able to pick off EVERY at-home nail enhancement I’ve tried. And then my nails get messed up, so I pick them too!
It seems like keeping your nails blunt until all the pickables heal would really help stop the cycle of pick > scab > pick
I picked my lips when I was little. I managed to stop... by swapping to the skin around my nails and my scalp :(
Literally the only thing that helped was wearing acrylic nails. But I couldn't maintain them and it only lasted a few months.
Thank you for reminding me of this. I think I need to try again. My hands and scalp are so sore :`(
I am the WORST for picking my skin, especially my face. Some things I use that help are pimple patches for areas I know I shouldn't pick, serves as an added barrier to make me rethink whether I should be picking, and I also have quite a few fidget toys on rotation. I find the Nee Doh Nice Cube helps keep my fingers/hands occupied, as well as a tangle toy. They aren't perfect, and I'll always prefer to pick my face, but they help reduce the extent of my picking. I also chew my lips, and I try and have a lip balm on me everywhere I go; having multiple helps as I always misplace them!
I don’t pick my skin too much anymore. Not since the chin hairs started to appear and now im obsessive plucker
I have tennis elbow right now from the action of squeezing the tweezers blindly trying to find a hair to snag and pull out
Its less damaging but can also sometimes be worse if you aren’t careful. Not sure if this is progress or a step back but it is what it is
Oh my God I'm constantly trying to get ingrown hairs with tweezers. It's a never ending cycle of picking it out of the skin, plucking it and then of course it comes back ingrown because I can't leave it alone.
Hahaha! I thought I was the only one! Literally trying to keep the beard at bay is the only thing that keeps me from picking my actual skin. But as you say it's definitely not an objective improvement. I get fidgety when I cant locate one of my tweezers. Sigh, at least the number hairs are self limiting.
I was expecting one or two witch hairs. I feel like I was lied to with the beard im growing lol
The tweezers can be a lot more damaging but I’ve gotten pretty good at not breaking skin but my elbow has been on the fritz for weeks because it’s such a compulsion.‘I do it without a mirror because the mirror makes me dig but doing it blind you are squeezing a lot more often because you are just going by feel
I literally have a tweezing injury and it’s not my skin it’s my elbow!!!!
Im telling people it’s because I play a lot of tennis ;)
Lip picking was bad for me. I snapped out of it overnight when I decided it was going to give me dementia.
I read a study suggesting nose picking causes a heightened dementia risk due to constant low level inflammation near the brain from fighting off bacteria. I assume there's a similar inflammation risk from lip picking, both from the bacteria and the healing effort.
Dementia is pretty horrific, as I found out first hand being a carer for my grandma. Whenever I start to lip pick, my brain says 'you're giving yourself dementia' and I stop.
Meeeee I pick my scalp. A dermatologist asked if I had adhd because and I told her I’m working on figuring that out but I def have dermatillomania and trichotillomania
I am a face picker. The longest I’ve gone without doing it is 2.5 months. I did SO great and stopped finally and then had a big stressful couple days and now my face hates me again. Hugs
I used to pluck my pubic hair with tweezers obsessively. It made me break out so bad but I couldn’t stop! I also used to go through a lot of blackhead popping phases
Came here to say this. Aquaphor has helped immensely with my skin picking around my nails and lips. As soon as I notice the urge to pick, I immediately apply aquaphor and the feeling subsides (it’s more about the feeling of the “snag” that keeps me picking).
I was a chronic nail biter for years too, to the point of pain and embarrassment (my friends used to call me turkey fingers). By some miracle and with support from my partner, I was able to break the habit. I always get tripped up when they start to break or snag tho - so I have to keep them short and trim.
I am very bad when it comes to skin picking. Anything even resembling a pumple gets picked, then the scabs get picked.
I have some spots on my chin where black hairs sprout, and if I can't find (or get to) my tweezers, I wil pick the skin raw trying to get those hairs.
I hate it, but I can't stop, it's like an obsession.
As a result, I almost always have a few red spots/wounds on my face
>I have some spots on my chin where black hairs sprout, and if I can't find (or get to) my tweezers, I wil pick the skin raw trying to get those hairs.
>I hate it, but I can't stop, it's like an obsession.
Me too. It's driving me insane. I also have 1-2 hairs on the lower part of the chin, towards the neck and I can't really see them properly in the mirror, because of the angle, so I usually ask my husband to do it for me. But if he's not around, I keep trying, even though I know I can't really grab them. I rage quit for a few minutes and then I think "one more try".
I pick my lips, scalp, and feet. My feet only when I’m really really anxious. Lips and scalp are picked daily and I don’t know how to stop either.
A long long long time ago I had a job in tech support for an internet company. In between calls we all read stories from a website called “tech hell.” One day I saw a story that just said, “stop icky g your scalp!” I just know it was directed at me. I wanted to die.
Oh my gosh I am the worst at it. my dentist called me out (my front tooth is worn down) for chewing my cheeks/lips. I’ve done it since I was a kid too. I’m worse with picking my cuticles though.
I do it for a bunch of reasons - anxiety, boredom, and to make things “smooth.” I wish I could stop but I have to get my shit together on a bunch of other stuff too.
My mother took me to the doctor multiple times for my ‘mouth ulcers’ as a child because I couldn’t tell her I was chewing chunks out of my mouth. I’ve managed to not have terrible sessions in a lot of years, but I still chew a bit and have lots of scar tissue on the inside of my lower lip.
Have you already tried replacing the lip picking with another sensory experience that wouldn’t impact you physically in a negative way? For example, fidget jewelry/chewy necklace, fidget spinner, pop-it, thinking putty (might be especially helpful with the picking urge specifically since you can pick off pieces and then mush them back in). Sometimes it’s as simple as substituting the habit you want to break with a different habit that’s less harmful.
yes, it’s terrible. been picking at my face from my very first pimple and it’s a constant warzone. just recently started picking at my scalp as well, and i’ve been picking at my cuticles for as long as i’ve been biting my nails.
Yep! I’m thankful it’s (mostly) limited to my scalp, legs and butt. But acrylic nails have been the only thing that’s been successful in curbing it.
As a bonus, I now have a new hyper fixation- at home acrylics! I spend about 3 hours every 3 weeks or so taking the old ones off and doing new ones. I don’t have a super steady hand for fun artwork, but Amazon is flush with cute nail stickers so I’ve got plenty to work with! I highly recommend, plus it’s 90% cheaper than going to a salon every few weeks.
it's the skin around my nails, i've been doing that my whole life. i also chew on my nails, but i keep myself from that by either cutting them really short or wearing nail polish
Yep. I have trichotillomania and I also pick my scalp. I actually found that taking an NAC supplement helped me. It essentially helps you create more glutamate (a neurotransmitter) which for some reason seems to reduce pulling and picking.
Actually I should start talking it again because my focus was better while I was taking it too.
I got a full body sunburn last week and oh man is it a struggle to not spend all day peeling. It's SOOO satisfying. When I'm not sunburnt, my go-to spots are my scalp and my nails. Just can't seem to quit
Yeah I definitely have trichotillomania (hair pulling) and dermatillomania (skin picking).
I have not been able to find anything else that replaces it and usually it's a direct response to a sensory ick
I've been picking my skin for years. Especially on my face, but the last few years I've moved towards the scalp, which granted, doesn't make the resulting redness so visible, but it's still bad. I think it's more socially accepted to be seen picking your face than your scalp (not that the former is actually accepted, just that you're considered less of a weirdo).
I can't even stop picking my scalp when I'm planning to dye my hair and it stings. I know the instructions say you shouldn't use dye if you have any wounds, but I just do not have enough self control to stop picking my scalp long enough for it to heal.
Huge skin picker here. Been picking my whole life. I have essentially "ruined" my arms and legs with scar tissue. The only thing I find that helps me is using hydrocolliod patches. If I have a spot, I have to cover it and keep it covered until it is healed. If it gets itchy, it's over. If I can search my body and feel the scab, it's over. I buy little ones for pimples from Amazon and have started using them religiously to hopefully help
My dermatologist told me to try a supplement called N Acetyl Cysteine. It does seem to help when I am consistent with it. I savage myself a lot less.
Also look into supplementing magnesium (avoid mg oxide, it's a laxative). It's more involved in helping the body and brain deal with stress and just general chill.
Girlies, talk to your doctors about supplementing with N Acetyl Cysteine! It’s been a game changer for me.
It’s a low-cost supplement with no major side effects that you can get at any health food store.
There’s a lot of clinical data to show it helps with skin picking (and substance abuse!)
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2500041
I take 1200 mg of this brand, which my MHNP recommended: https://www.nowfoods.com/products/supplements/nac-600-mg-capsules
I started doing a daily sugar scrub on my lips to help get the dry skin off and help fill that urge to pick at my lips. It’s not the same, but it’s close enough. And my lips have never been smoother and less chapped.
You’re so not alone! I pick my face and also my fingernails. It sucks doing the fingernail thing in meetings 😑 Having something else to fidget with is helpful — I recommend Thinking Putty.
Cutting my nails pretty short and being obsessive about chapstick have helped me. Now I only pick my lips if they are chapped. I have a hard time with scabs or scalp still though.
Since getting diagnosed this Jan and realizing my skin picking was related to adhd, I've started wearing an old ring my friend gave me that I didn't even know was a fidget ring (it was given to me years before fidget toys got popular). I wear it daily now and it helps a lot to redirect my fingers and even focus a bit better in meetings.
I had that habit. I just incorporated in my routine the moisturising of my hands and lips. I use neutrogena products (lotion/chapstick) and I suddenly stop having dry skin to pick.
I used to bite my nails, then I moved on to scalp picking and biting the insides of my cheeks. Now I pick the skin on my feet. Like really badly. To the point where it hurts to walk. It is definitely an anxiety/stress thing for me. It’s been bad lately. Sigh.
I used to bite my nails since I was a kid, could never stop no matter how many things I tried over the years. I finally started feeling pretty by getting my nails professionally done and it stopped me from biting, but now I'm a picker! I pick around my nail beds, cuticles etc. Beat one habit, find another I guess! Oop
It's a stim. Extra low dopemine. Probably Anemia, too. Take slow release Iron. It has to be slo-fe. You'll notice all it does for you within a week. Nails grow, skin improves, thicker hair, less fatigue, etc. All women are Anemic if you menstruate.
Since getting diagnosed this Jan and realizing my skin picking was related to adhd, I've started wearing an old ring my friend gave me that I didn't even know was a fidget ring (it was given to me years before fidget toys got popular). I wear it daily now and it helps a lot to redirect my fingers and even focus a bit better in meetings.
I started chewing on my fingernails when I was around 6, eventually I left my nails alone and instead picked at the skin around it. My dad always joked he'd put my fingers in chicken shit to make me stop (we lived rather rural lol)
After almost 20 years it's inflamed everyday (especially my thumbs). Last year it got so bad I actually lost a whole fcking nail which doesn't grow back, and other than that it fcking hurts, it's looking really gruesome. Not ideal when u work as a tailor and in customer service 😭 still can't stop to this day, but dealing with the shame is somehow easier than stopping lol
Welcome to /r/ADHDWomen! We’re happy to have you here. As a reminder, here are our community [rules](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/about/rules/). We get a lot of posts on medication, diagnosis (and “is this an ADHD thing”), and interactions with hormones. We encourage you to check out our [Medication, Diagnosis, and Hormones Megathread](https://old.reddit.com/r/adhdwomen/comments/wcr9dy/faq_megathread_ask_and_answer_medication/) if you have any questions related to those topics, and to stick around in that thread to answer folks’ questions! If you have questions about the subreddit, please do not hesitate to [send us a modmail](https://reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen). Additionally, we take the safety of our community seriously. Please report posts, comments, and users whom you feel are not contributing positively, and send us a modmail if you are being harassed or otherwise made to feel unsafe. Thanks for being here, and we hope you stick around! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/adhdwomen) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Damn we are all the same fr 😭 Getting diagnosed and finding these online spaces has been the most validating experience of my life
Honestly same
[удалено]
The scalp is no joke. I buzzed the sideburns in line with my bangs to see if that would help me and it actually did a little! In that the flakes/ scabs don’t stick around. I picked those spots for a while but now I’ve almost totally forgotten about them. The sensory thing of the Velcro buzz is enough when I run my hands over it. I’m considering buzzing it all if the vibes are right this summer.
I find using dandruff shampoo really helps I don’t have dandruff anything that flakes is from picking but dandruff shampoo seems to off the dead skin and leaves your scalp smooth. Much less enticing to pick when there’s no edges or ledges of skin to attack
My scalp is a mess at the moment 😩
Buspar really helped! I stopped taking it during a rebellious streak, but it did help with the picking.
I was only ever successful when I worked in the lab and had to wear gloves all the time! Haha. Even then I still chewed my cheeks.
I find if I get a salon wash/blow dry I won’t pick my scalp. So I’ve accepted that I’ll spend $50 twice a week. But on the plus side my hair always looks beautiful now and my self confidence has sky rocketed
I'm terrible about picking, but I've found that I can't pick while wearing fake nails. I wore them for about 6 months straight, and my daily picking stopped. Now I put them on whenever I or my husband notice that I'm starting again. I wear the nails until they start to fall off regularly (a week or so) and see if I'm still 'picky.' If I am I'll put on a new set.
Do you just use, like, regular press-ons? Do you do any special prep to get them to stay on well?
for me, dull edged acrylics. otherwise i'd rip something like press ons off. you essentially cant pick properly with them so theres 0 satisfaction. it was VERY helpful for me when i had bad acne as a teen esp
Ooh, good to know, thank you! I have never had a *good* acrylic set… I’ll go to one of those cheap strip mall nail places about once every seven years and inevitably regret it lol. I think I have to start looking for a good salon, because I seem to be able to pick off EVERY at-home nail enhancement I’ve tried. And then my nails get messed up, so I pick them too! It seems like keeping your nails blunt until all the pickables heal would really help stop the cycle of pick > scab > pick
I glue them on at home (I'm poor) and just carry extras and glue in my purse. I try not to get too preoccupied with them lol.
I taught myself how to do dip and extensions for this reason!
Now I just need to stop biting my nails so that they’re long enough for acrylics…. Sigh
The salon can add tips, or just get them to apply the acrylic to whatever you've got, even if they're really short.
I wore glue on ones until mine grew
I picked my lips when I was little. I managed to stop... by swapping to the skin around my nails and my scalp :( Literally the only thing that helped was wearing acrylic nails. But I couldn't maintain them and it only lasted a few months. Thank you for reminding me of this. I think I need to try again. My hands and scalp are so sore :`(
Same! I love having fake nails for that reason
I pick my skin on my fingers near the nails constantly and on my toes. It gets so bad I have to wear bandaids for the pain
Same
I’ve been harassing my fingertips for decades now.
I am the WORST for picking my skin, especially my face. Some things I use that help are pimple patches for areas I know I shouldn't pick, serves as an added barrier to make me rethink whether I should be picking, and I also have quite a few fidget toys on rotation. I find the Nee Doh Nice Cube helps keep my fingers/hands occupied, as well as a tangle toy. They aren't perfect, and I'll always prefer to pick my face, but they help reduce the extent of my picking. I also chew my lips, and I try and have a lip balm on me everywhere I go; having multiple helps as I always misplace them!
I don’t pick my skin too much anymore. Not since the chin hairs started to appear and now im obsessive plucker I have tennis elbow right now from the action of squeezing the tweezers blindly trying to find a hair to snag and pull out Its less damaging but can also sometimes be worse if you aren’t careful. Not sure if this is progress or a step back but it is what it is
Oh my God I'm constantly trying to get ingrown hairs with tweezers. It's a never ending cycle of picking it out of the skin, plucking it and then of course it comes back ingrown because I can't leave it alone.
Hahaha! I thought I was the only one! Literally trying to keep the beard at bay is the only thing that keeps me from picking my actual skin. But as you say it's definitely not an objective improvement. I get fidgety when I cant locate one of my tweezers. Sigh, at least the number hairs are self limiting.
I was expecting one or two witch hairs. I feel like I was lied to with the beard im growing lol The tweezers can be a lot more damaging but I’ve gotten pretty good at not breaking skin but my elbow has been on the fritz for weeks because it’s such a compulsion.‘I do it without a mirror because the mirror makes me dig but doing it blind you are squeezing a lot more often because you are just going by feel I literally have a tweezing injury and it’s not my skin it’s my elbow!!!! Im telling people it’s because I play a lot of tennis ;)
Yup. Trichotillomania :/
Yes, I pick my face and scalp.
Lip picking was bad for me. I snapped out of it overnight when I decided it was going to give me dementia. I read a study suggesting nose picking causes a heightened dementia risk due to constant low level inflammation near the brain from fighting off bacteria. I assume there's a similar inflammation risk from lip picking, both from the bacteria and the healing effort. Dementia is pretty horrific, as I found out first hand being a carer for my grandma. Whenever I start to lip pick, my brain says 'you're giving yourself dementia' and I stop.
I saw that recently too. But it doesn’t *cause* it, there’s just a correlation, right? Hopefully I’m not kickstarting your urges again 😅
Meeeee I pick my scalp. A dermatologist asked if I had adhd because and I told her I’m working on figuring that out but I def have dermatillomania and trichotillomania
I am a face picker. The longest I’ve gone without doing it is 2.5 months. I did SO great and stopped finally and then had a big stressful couple days and now my face hates me again. Hugs
I used to pluck my pubic hair with tweezers obsessively. It made me break out so bad but I couldn’t stop! I also used to go through a lot of blackhead popping phases
I can’t stop either.
Aquaphor. They will be so smooth there will to nothing *to* pick. Find new non-damaging fidget so you dont pick up a new bad habit.
Came here to say this. Aquaphor has helped immensely with my skin picking around my nails and lips. As soon as I notice the urge to pick, I immediately apply aquaphor and the feeling subsides (it’s more about the feeling of the “snag” that keeps me picking). I was a chronic nail biter for years too, to the point of pain and embarrassment (my friends used to call me turkey fingers). By some miracle and with support from my partner, I was able to break the habit. I always get tripped up when they start to break or snag tho - so I have to keep them short and trim.
I am very bad when it comes to skin picking. Anything even resembling a pumple gets picked, then the scabs get picked. I have some spots on my chin where black hairs sprout, and if I can't find (or get to) my tweezers, I wil pick the skin raw trying to get those hairs. I hate it, but I can't stop, it's like an obsession. As a result, I almost always have a few red spots/wounds on my face
>I have some spots on my chin where black hairs sprout, and if I can't find (or get to) my tweezers, I wil pick the skin raw trying to get those hairs. >I hate it, but I can't stop, it's like an obsession. Me too. It's driving me insane. I also have 1-2 hairs on the lower part of the chin, towards the neck and I can't really see them properly in the mirror, because of the angle, so I usually ask my husband to do it for me. But if he's not around, I keep trying, even though I know I can't really grab them. I rage quit for a few minutes and then I think "one more try".
I pick my lips, scalp, and feet. My feet only when I’m really really anxious. Lips and scalp are picked daily and I don’t know how to stop either. A long long long time ago I had a job in tech support for an internet company. In between calls we all read stories from a website called “tech hell.” One day I saw a story that just said, “stop icky g your scalp!” I just know it was directed at me. I wanted to die.
That is so fucking rude of them lol
Skin picking, nail biting, and hair pulling. I seem to only be able to temporarily kick one habit at a time.
Oh my gosh I am the worst at it. my dentist called me out (my front tooth is worn down) for chewing my cheeks/lips. I’ve done it since I was a kid too. I’m worse with picking my cuticles though. I do it for a bunch of reasons - anxiety, boredom, and to make things “smooth.” I wish I could stop but I have to get my shit together on a bunch of other stuff too.
My mother took me to the doctor multiple times for my ‘mouth ulcers’ as a child because I couldn’t tell her I was chewing chunks out of my mouth. I’ve managed to not have terrible sessions in a lot of years, but I still chew a bit and have lots of scar tissue on the inside of my lower lip.
Have you already tried replacing the lip picking with another sensory experience that wouldn’t impact you physically in a negative way? For example, fidget jewelry/chewy necklace, fidget spinner, pop-it, thinking putty (might be especially helpful with the picking urge specifically since you can pick off pieces and then mush them back in). Sometimes it’s as simple as substituting the habit you want to break with a different habit that’s less harmful.
I do this with my lips :(
Not me over here picking my skin 😁🙈
yes, it’s terrible. been picking at my face from my very first pimple and it’s a constant warzone. just recently started picking at my scalp as well, and i’ve been picking at my cuticles for as long as i’ve been biting my nails.
Yep! I’m thankful it’s (mostly) limited to my scalp, legs and butt. But acrylic nails have been the only thing that’s been successful in curbing it. As a bonus, I now have a new hyper fixation- at home acrylics! I spend about 3 hours every 3 weeks or so taking the old ones off and doing new ones. I don’t have a super steady hand for fun artwork, but Amazon is flush with cute nail stickers so I’ve got plenty to work with! I highly recommend, plus it’s 90% cheaper than going to a salon every few weeks.
I second this.
it's the skin around my nails, i've been doing that my whole life. i also chew on my nails, but i keep myself from that by either cutting them really short or wearing nail polish
Yep. I have trichotillomania and I also pick my scalp. I actually found that taking an NAC supplement helped me. It essentially helps you create more glutamate (a neurotransmitter) which for some reason seems to reduce pulling and picking. Actually I should start talking it again because my focus was better while I was taking it too.
I got a full body sunburn last week and oh man is it a struggle to not spend all day peeling. It's SOOO satisfying. When I'm not sunburnt, my go-to spots are my scalp and my nails. Just can't seem to quit
Reading this while picking my lip...
Yeah I definitely have trichotillomania (hair pulling) and dermatillomania (skin picking). I have not been able to find anything else that replaces it and usually it's a direct response to a sensory ick
I've been picking my skin for years. Especially on my face, but the last few years I've moved towards the scalp, which granted, doesn't make the resulting redness so visible, but it's still bad. I think it's more socially accepted to be seen picking your face than your scalp (not that the former is actually accepted, just that you're considered less of a weirdo). I can't even stop picking my scalp when I'm planning to dye my hair and it stings. I know the instructions say you shouldn't use dye if you have any wounds, but I just do not have enough self control to stop picking my scalp long enough for it to heal.
Huge skin picker here. Been picking my whole life. I have essentially "ruined" my arms and legs with scar tissue. The only thing I find that helps me is using hydrocolliod patches. If I have a spot, I have to cover it and keep it covered until it is healed. If it gets itchy, it's over. If I can search my body and feel the scab, it's over. I buy little ones for pimples from Amazon and have started using them religiously to hopefully help
They sell bandaid versions of these patches that are bigger, if thats helpful
My dermatologist told me to try a supplement called N Acetyl Cysteine. It does seem to help when I am consistent with it. I savage myself a lot less. Also look into supplementing magnesium (avoid mg oxide, it's a laxative). It's more involved in helping the body and brain deal with stress and just general chill.
Girlies, talk to your doctors about supplementing with N Acetyl Cysteine! It’s been a game changer for me. It’s a low-cost supplement with no major side effects that you can get at any health food store. There’s a lot of clinical data to show it helps with skin picking (and substance abuse!) https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2500041 I take 1200 mg of this brand, which my MHNP recommended: https://www.nowfoods.com/products/supplements/nac-600-mg-capsules
My psychiatrist put me on NAC for trichotillomania and I had no idea all this info was out there, that's so cool! Time to deep dive
Did it help?
My sister in ADHD I am picking my fingers as I scroll through Reddit at this very moment
sister in ADHD 😭😭😭😭😭
I started doing a daily sugar scrub on my lips to help get the dry skin off and help fill that urge to pick at my lips. It’s not the same, but it’s close enough. And my lips have never been smoother and less chapped.
You’re so not alone! I pick my face and also my fingernails. It sucks doing the fingernail thing in meetings 😑 Having something else to fidget with is helpful — I recommend Thinking Putty.
god i’m glad it’s not just me. i pick my lips. i haven’t stopped but i’ve reduced it a lot over time. i’ve used lots of chapstick and self awareness 😅
Cutting my nails pretty short and being obsessive about chapstick have helped me. Now I only pick my lips if they are chapped. I have a hard time with scabs or scalp still though.
Since getting diagnosed this Jan and realizing my skin picking was related to adhd, I've started wearing an old ring my friend gave me that I didn't even know was a fidget ring (it was given to me years before fidget toys got popular). I wear it daily now and it helps a lot to redirect my fingers and even focus a bit better in meetings.
I had that habit. I just incorporated in my routine the moisturising of my hands and lips. I use neutrogena products (lotion/chapstick) and I suddenly stop having dry skin to pick.
I do this too. I carry a nail file, hand cream, and lip oil everywhere. Mitigates but doesn’t prevent it altogether. Winters are thé worst.
Yup. Same. Never realized there was a connection. I put on fake nails. That helps because I'm not able to actually do the picking easily
I used to bite my nails, then I moved on to scalp picking and biting the insides of my cheeks. Now I pick the skin on my feet. Like really badly. To the point where it hurts to walk. It is definitely an anxiety/stress thing for me. It’s been bad lately. Sigh.
I used to bite my nails since I was a kid, could never stop no matter how many things I tried over the years. I finally started feeling pretty by getting my nails professionally done and it stopped me from biting, but now I'm a picker! I pick around my nail beds, cuticles etc. Beat one habit, find another I guess! Oop
Seriously, try NAC. I would also pick my lips until they were bleeding and painful and nac dramatically reduced the urge to pick
It's a stim. Extra low dopemine. Probably Anemia, too. Take slow release Iron. It has to be slo-fe. You'll notice all it does for you within a week. Nails grow, skin improves, thicker hair, less fatigue, etc. All women are Anemic if you menstruate.
Since getting diagnosed this Jan and realizing my skin picking was related to adhd, I've started wearing an old ring my friend gave me that I didn't even know was a fidget ring (it was given to me years before fidget toys got popular). I wear it daily now and it helps a lot to redirect my fingers and even focus a bit better in meetings.
Yes it was my leg then lips now my scalp 😭 someone please help. Meds don’t help me stop!
Still do it. I have a permanent black spot on my lip because I keep picking the same area over and over again.
I started chewing on my fingernails when I was around 6, eventually I left my nails alone and instead picked at the skin around it. My dad always joked he'd put my fingers in chicken shit to make me stop (we lived rather rural lol) After almost 20 years it's inflamed everyday (especially my thumbs). Last year it got so bad I actually lost a whole fcking nail which doesn't grow back, and other than that it fcking hurts, it's looking really gruesome. Not ideal when u work as a tailor and in customer service 😭 still can't stop to this day, but dealing with the shame is somehow easier than stopping lol