# Dermatophagia( a form of OCD) ANYONE?



## Lionking92 (Apr 6, 2011)

Iv always had a problem with excessive nail biting even as a child. It has gotten worse within time. Starting with my nails until they bled and hurt then the inside of my cheeks. As i got older i started biting my cuticles off, chewing the skin around my finger nails, bitting my lips and now bitting the skin off my palms and knuckles.. It's a horrible habit. My boyfriend has just noticed that i do it too much and is ruining my hands.

i was reading on a few web sites that it's a form of OCD called Dermatophagia..
does anyone else have this. Is it possible to have a third disorder other then SAS and GAD?

i also have a an obsession with googling everything and i have to have a definit answer to make the anxiety go away.. so another form of ocd?

fml:|
*
*


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## UndreamingAwake (Apr 11, 2011)

I believe stuff like this is not "genuine" OCD, by which I mean that this alone would get you the OCD diagnosis, but it definitly is related to it, like compulsive hair-pulling. It's in the obsessive-compulsive spectrum. I have both pure O and the hair-pulling (mostly beard hair, sadly). I know what you mean, it can really screw up the way you look...


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## onlyxone (Jul 2, 2010)

I am exactly like you. I am a cuticle biter and it's bad. Started out just nail biting and progressed. My boyfriend constantly tells me to stop but sometimes I'm chewing on my fingers and don't even realize it. I also bite my lips. It's frustrating because it makes my hands look bad and it's embarrassing. :/


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## NaturalLogOfZero (Sep 29, 2010)

I do this too. Whenever I'm stressed or bored I chew on my fingers. If I'm watching tv I have a constant urge to pick at my toenails (thank god I cant chew on them ). I'll pick until I bleed and until it really hurts. A few times a year I have to limp because my toes hurt so much. I've done this as far back as I can remember.

Also, If I have a canker sore or something like that in my month I'll fiddle with it uncontrollably and usually make it worse. I can't leave sores or cuts or scabs alone either.. I don't even realize it when I'm picking at it. Doesn't help that I have KP and constantly have bumps that need picked at...


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## Addler (Apr 28, 2011)

Fingernails, toenails, cuticles, eyelashes...om nom nom...also pick at my nails like mad.


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## Revenwyn (Apr 11, 2011)

Trichotillomaniac, Dermatillomaniac, and Dermotophagiac here. (compulsive hair puller, skin picker, and nail biter)


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## Lionking92 (Apr 6, 2011)

onlyxone said:


> I am exactly like you. I am a cuticle biter and it's bad. Started out just nail biting and progressed. My boyfriend constantly tells me to stop but sometimes I'm chewing on my fingers and don't even realize it. I also bite my lips. It's frustrating because it makes my hands look bad and it's embarrassing. :/


ou my boyfriend does this too except now he's slapping or pulling my hands away from my mouth. It is embarrasing that my hands and lips look really bad but i can't help myself.. it's really addicting ! I don't even realise im doing it half the time


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## Lionking92 (Apr 6, 2011)

NaturalLogOfZero said:


> I do this too. Whenever I'm stressed or bored I chew on my fingers. If I'm watching tv I have a constant urge to pick at my toenails (thank god I cant chew on them ). I'll pick until I bleed and until it really hurts. A few times a year I have to limp because my toes hurt so much. I've done this as far back as I can remember.
> 
> Also, If I have a canker sore or something like that in my month I'll fiddle with it uncontrollably and usually make it worse. I can't leave sores or cuts or scabs alone either.. I don't even realize it when I'm picking at it. Doesn't help that I have KP and constantly have bumps that need picked at...


ou canker sores, i forgot about that one! Yeah i bite my nails down so low that it's hard picking up money from my till at work! I use to bite my toenails when i was younger but now it's impossible to bite them  better off this way anyways.. one less thing to bite 

sorry to ask but whats KP stand for anyways?


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## Arisa1536 (Dec 8, 2009)

Lionking92 said:


> Iv always had a problem with excessive nail biting even as a child. It has gotten worse within time. Starting with my nails until they bled and hurt then the inside of my cheeks. As i got older i started biting my cuticles off, chewing the skin around my finger nails, bitting my lips and now bitting the skin off my palms and knuckles.. It's a horrible habit. My boyfriend has just noticed that i do it too much and is ruining my hands.
> 
> i was reading on a few web sites that it's a form of OCD called Dermatophagia..
> does anyone else have this. Is it possible to have a third disorder other then SAS and GAD?
> ...


Wow you sound a lot like me with the obsessions and the nail biting
I bite my nails and have bitten the cuticles too and some of them do bleed
I still often bite my lips and inside of my mouth, i still do i don't know why but i find it therapeutic and often it causes ulcers. I also bite my tongue and my skin, well it used to be really bad with the skin biting its not an issue anymore but the nail biting and mouth biting, ulcer stuff still is

I wonder if there is a cure for it
It helps being in a relationship with someone who understands these compulsions and also struggles with them because there is no judging or worry

Medication does help with those types of habits 
Effexor has been good for OCD and other forms of biting
Possibly a mood stabilizer?


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## Judi (Jun 22, 2009)

I thought -phagia means eating >.> nevermind.

I'm a skin and nail biter too, I mostly do it when I feel stressed... although I think I'm someone different to most people here. Sometimes I don't do it for stress but, I peel when it feels dry and starts scabbing? (By that I mean the normally elastic tissue grows fibre beneath it and becomes hardened, not the usual scabbing with inflamation and blood) It gets uncomfortable so I peel it off. The slight pain and the increased sense of touch (which becomes highly sensitive) kind of feels good? If I wanted to stop doing it, I'd have to do it in a way when it scabs the least (That is... wait for a huge scab to delevop, and then peel that off) and do it several times so that it'd eventually be close (but not perfect) to original tissue. This kind of talk sounds gross doesn't it? |D


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## onlyxone (Jul 2, 2010)

Lionking92 said:


> ou my boyfriend does this too except now he's slapping or pulling my hands away from my mouth. It is embarrasing that my hands and lips look really bad but i can't help myself.. it's really addicting ! I don't even realise im doing it half the time


my boyfriend does the same thing! but I agree, it is very addicting. I also constantly mess with canker sores!


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## deadkittens (Jan 19, 2010)

i pick and cut my finger/toe nails and cuticles on my hands and feet a few times a day. mostly when im watching tv. and it causes my feet and stuff to bleed.. and i have read that yeah it is to relieve anxiety and its relaxing and stuff but its also amusing in a way.
for me in a way its to groom my hands and feet but also for amusement and relaxation but really instead of "grooming" it makes my hands and feet ugly :/. i use exacto blades and tools to pick with.. mentioning incase anyone else does too 

also i remember my father and brother both used to chew on their hands and they also have anxiety. and my boyfriend chews on his lip lots and also has anxiety. some hand or lip chewing could be normal i guess tho.


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## NaturalLogOfZero (Sep 29, 2010)

Lionking92 said:


> sorry to ask but whats KP stand for anyways?


Keratosis Pilaris. Its a excessive of keratin in your body that creates small pimple like bumps on your arms, legs, face and other places on your body. The ones I get on my arms are hardly noticable but the ones I get on my face are inflamed and sore. They feel like a pimple but take a super long time to heal (for me at least because I can't leave them alone). The backs of my arms are gross because I have a constant urge to "pop" them and it always ends up as scab.


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## Neutrino (Apr 11, 2011)

As I was reading this I was biting the inside of my mouth XD 

I've completely destroyed the skin around my fingernails in the past couple if weeks, and my mouth is no better...

Does anyone know how to STOP?


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## paramagnetic (Dec 10, 2011)

I have this problem VERY badly. I have scars on my joints from picking and biting. The color around my fingers are red. My teacher asked me if I dipped my fingers in acid because they are bright red looking because I have torn all the skin off. I have picked off so much in certian areas that it looks I have blisters but they are scars, apparently. I do not know how to stop. I have been doing it since I can remember and I do it at ALL times. During tv, when I am talking to people, when I am walking, during class, during tests, I tried to stop for a week, but it didn't go well. I have tried bandages, fidget toys, gloves, but those are temporary fixes. I'm unaware of when I'm doing it too, until I start bleeding. I bleed about 5 times a day and I have bloody blister looking sores on my fingers everywhere. Escpecially my thumbs. It is so SO embaressing. I have to cover my hands whenever I am with people. It is so gross.


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## hamsterbaby6 (Apr 23, 2013)

*My Road to Recovery*

Hello. I've been suffering with this condition for 5 years now, and over the past 20 days, I've had a miracle recovery. I have tracked my journey and provided tips for recovery on this tumblr site, http://dermatophagiaddiction.tumblr.com/page/3
I really want to help as many people as I can with this, so please check it out and spread the word.

Really, what triggered me to start my recovery was when my friend asked me if I had cut or burnt my fingers. I could not say anything else but agree, because I was too embarrassed to confess that I had dermatophagia. Furthermore, it was getting to be a real hassle because I could not focus or think without having to rip out skin from my cuticles and taste the blood and skin against the back of my throat.

I was, too, getting very sensitive to other people who have dermatophagia. I would get really disgusted when I see other people doing their thing, and I would have a deep self-hatred because I would, too, be picking at my fingers under the table.

So, what is my true secret for recovering from this? I learned to love myself. Instead of treating my fingers as the enemy, I treated them as my baby. I used cuticle massage creams, lip balm, Polysporin, nail polish, and a lot more knacky ways to help myself.

I've posted all my methods on my Tumblr site (http://dermatophagiaddiction.tumblr.com/page/3), so please follow along with pictures of progress, and help yourself.

All the best!

Hamsterbaby6


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## Mental4TheMentalist (Jun 22, 2013)

*it's embarrassing but i can't help it!*

My skin biting began in 8th grade. It started suddenly and I haven't stopped since. I was 13 then when it started and I am now 21 years old and this disorder is still going strong. I remember the first time I did it. It was the middle of a school day and I was outside during a break and out of nowhere, I just started biting. At first, I would just bite the skin on my knuckles. I would gnaw at my knuckles so much that sometimes I bled a little and even if it hurt, I couldn't stop. 
Then with time, it progressed. I stopped biting the knuckles on my other fingers but now I only bite the knuckles on my thumbs for some reason. I also began biting the insides of my mouth and my bottom lip to the point were it would cause bumps and blisters. It would sting really bad but that wouldn't stop me from biting. I also bite my tongue and yes, to the point of drawing blood. And I bite the skin around my nails and have, of course, bled lots of times from biting too hard.
My mom as caught me a couple times biting my fingers but she never thought anything of it and I'm sure she's forgotten about it by now. Other than that, no one knows about it or at least just doesn't say anything. I manage to bite mostly when I'm alone or when people's backs are turned because it's really embarrassing and I don't want anyone to see. Sometimes I do it in public, though, if I can't fight the urge.
I wish I could stop!!


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## DermaToSaviour (Nov 13, 2014)

*www.instagram.com/DermaToSaviour*

Hi - I recently set up a support resource on Instagram for those living with Dermatophagia & other BFRB disorders. Please feel free to come have a Look, Like, Follow or spread the word.

Thanks so much &#128075;&#128591;✌

www.instagram.com/DermaToSaviour


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## SwtSurrender (Nov 24, 2014)

Lionking92 said:


> Iv always had a problem with excessive nail biting even as a child. It has gotten worse within time. Starting with my nails until they bled and hurt then the inside of my cheeks. As i got older i started biting my cuticles off, chewing the skin around my finger nails, bitting my lips and now bitting the skin off my palms and knuckles.. It's a horrible habit. My boyfriend has just noticed that i do it too much and is ruining my hands.
> 
> i was reading on a few web sites that it's a form of OCD called Dermatophagia..
> does anyone else have this. Is it possible to have a third disorder other then SAS and GAD?
> ...


Yeah, I do it to my lips with my teeth, I do it to my fingers with my teeth, I peel my pimple scars with my fingers/sometimes tweezers, probably I have dermatillomania/dermaphagia ? And along with this goes an OCD of always touching that place over and over again to check it and if it bothers me I scratch at it and peel at it, it's a nice OCD, but I hope this god***** prozac worked for it better. The body focused repetitive behavior thing, prozac doesn't seem to work that well, like dermatillomania and trichotillomania, but I guess it helps a little, or it just makes me feel better mooded about myself and how the world sees me.

Yea this peeling that I do makes me feel calm, it must be something created to cope with our social anxiety, it is like grooming too, why do we have to be perfect that we wound ourselves lol, we are so OCD.


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## Miss hopeful (Mar 31, 2015)

*Dermatophagia*

Up until I found out about dermatophagia I thought I was the only person who did this I felt alone no one in my family does it so I thought there was something wrong with me I I searched up "chewing on fingers, lips, and inside of cheek and boom there it was dermatophagia so I went to my doctor and she said it was true I had this disorder she also told me this might be from my OCD and ADHD 
I'm now with a Psychiatrist to help cure this disorder.


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