hello, does anyone have any advice i’m a compulsive hand washer who obsesses about germs and as a result my hands have become very sore and cracked and even bleed sometimes and it hurts to bend my hands has anyone got any things that helped to reduce this compulsion as it’s causing pain now.
I have contamination OCD, so I know how you feel. If you can't resist washing your hands for now, wear gloves for anything you have to touch and then you washing your hands after that . Go to the pharmacy and ask them to give you something for your hand problem. And try to, little by little, resist washing your hands. Reduce the time of washing or, for something that is not that annoying, don't use soap, just water. After any handwashing, use hand cream.
I have the same and though I haven't been able to stop completely, I work on delaying as much as I can stand, sometimes the urge goes away with that one item or it become a less immediate need to wash. I'm working on trying to be more uncomfortable, it works with some things and not so much with others.
i just keep a bottle of lotion by the sink, and use it every time i wash.
Absolutely. Switch to a vegan/plant based soap. That’s the only way my hands healed. It’s called “RAW Sugar” and I’m using the “moisture loving” hand soap now but the “nutrient rich” one has ceramides which is what I’ll use after I’m finished using this one because I just bought it at the store last week to try. Ceramides help restore your skins protective and natural barrier. My hands were so bad to the point that just water irritated them and they weren’t able to retain any moisture whatsoever so I was very depressed for months about it because I was afraid to touch anything due to my hands being so bad and compromised. But I kept washing and washing in fear of germs entering my cracks and compromised skin… so it was just a non stop cycle of washing and then being extremely afraid to literally touch anything because of it. Target and walmart sell it. Or Amazon if you live somewhere other than the US. Then after every hand wash, use cerave cream. I use the cream meant for your whole body now on my hands but when my hands were cracked and almost bleeding, I used the one called “cerave therapeutic hand cream”. You will love that cream because it actually fills in the cracks of the skin with a protective barrier allowing your skin to heal. The switch to the plant based soap is honestly the only way my hands healed. Im now at the point where I can go a whole day without using hand lotion, with a “normal” amount of washing, and my hands are healthy again. The only way to heal is to wash less with whatever soap you use now or switch to the plant based soap since they don’t have any harsh chemicals or sulfates. Even when I had my moments of ocd being bad, the plant based soap was so much better for my hands than antibacterial or “regular” hand soap. The fact that my hands healed allowed me to reduce the compulsions in the sense that I won’t wash my hands for 3-4 hours like I was at one point non stop. Also, Prozac has helped a lot as well on being able to reduce the time and amount of handwashing. Looooots of self talk as well has helped!! It’s not easy but there are so many books that are so helpful and the OCD Workbook has been extremely helpful for me.
I’m in the same boat. I wish I could stop the obsessive thoughts and fears around germs. I just try to use lotion after washing.
@Alexssa yes me too, my hands have gone beyond hand cream now they just crack constantly and are itchy and look so ugly 💀💀
i don’t know what to do anymore i have to wash my hands 30+ times a day and i have panic attacks if i accidentally touch my face during school bc my hands are dirty and i have to pull out a napkin and wet it with my water bottle in the middle of class it’s so embarrassing and my hands hurt so bad they’re so dry and red and im trying to get myself to limit my hand washing to once when i get home and once before i wash my face at night but it’s so hard cause literally while i wash my hands my brain will be like “it’s just three more washes would you rather do that or face the consequences” and it’s so loud in my head that i can’t do anything but listen i hate my ocd so much
I’m wondering if anyone could please give me some advice/tips on breaking this cycle? I have had OCD for 12+ years, however I have only recently been officially diagnosed. I’m struggling significantly with harm OCD, involving thoughts/urges of harm towards other people, particularly my loved ones. This is incredibly distressing to me, as I don’t want to harm anyone and it is constantly sending me into severe distress and panic attacks. I understand that I need to lean into the discomfort/accept my thoughts to move forwards, rather than pushing it away as this adds fuel to the fire - but every time I do, I have a panic attack. My mind constantly tells me I have to act on the urge to get relief and that it’s the ‘only way’ out/to feel better.. I’m stuck in this habitual/learnt behaviour cycle, as I’ve always acted on my urges (not involving harming others) for the past 13 years to get temporary relief and to neutralise thoughts - Every time I think that I need to act on the urge or as though I’ll snap and act on it, I feel terrified and scared, then feel very distressed or have a panic attack.
I have really bad self harm urges that honestly consume and debilitate me, does anyone else have this and have you found a solution to it? I don’t know if medication helps. If more therapy helps. Let me know if you have been through this and have found a solution. I would love to get back to normal life
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