How to Stop the Skin Picking Habit
Skin picking, like most compulsions, is an extremely difficult habit to break. Picking at scabs, blemishes, fingernails, cuticles or your lips is not only unsightly, but unhygienic---these habits make your body susceptible to a host of bacteria, infections and pains. Skin picking is generally symptomatic of more complex mental health issues which must be addressed to rid yourself of this habit. Fortunately, though it may be difficult, it is possible to break the habit for good.
Instructions
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Instructions
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Determine the extent of your skin picking habits by monitoring your behavior---you may be picking at your fingernails, cuticles, lips, face or more.
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Apply lotion consistently to the areas you pick, or balm to your lips. This isn't a cure, only a temporary remedy to help moisturize and heal the damaged areas.
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Exercise on a regular basis. Skin pickers typically suffer from an anxiety or stress disorder---picking the skin is a compulsive method of channeling nervous energy. Exercising is a method both of distraction and of expending stored-up energy that may normally manifest itself in picking. Physical exercise also boosts your body's levels of serotonin---a chemical in the brain---an imbalance of which is often at the root of anxiety disorders.
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Join a support group. Quitting any long-standing habit is a difficult task, and may be easier to face with the support of others suffering similar problems. While 12-step-style support groups are available for in-person help, the Internet is an excellent resource for finding others in your situation and seeking help with total anonymity.
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Consult a doctor or therapist. Skin picking is, more often than not, symptomatic of larger and more complex anxiety problems. This stress or anxiety likely affects other aspects of your life than picking at your skin, and leaving it untreated may cause it to escalate to severely unhealthy levels. A therapist will be the best judge of whether your compulsion can be treated by counseling or whether you would benefit from pharmaceutical treatments.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't attempt to cure your skin picking habit with home remedies like dipping your fingertips in hot sauce or wearing gloves. These are impermanent solutions that will only force your to channel your nervous energies in other, equally unhealthy ways.
