Meryn

Date posted: 24w

Any tips for skin and nail biting

I’ve chewed my nails and skin around my nails since birth it feels like. My fingers look deformed, when they get water on them they get all white and puffy. almost like if you stay in a pool too long and get that weird water log on your hands. Only I put my hands in water for like 30 seconds and they puff up instantly. I believe I made it one of my OCD routines. I have to constantly check if there’s no loose skin or nails sticking out, and if there is I have to chew it off then I just don’t stop chewing until my finger is bleeding. It’s a very bad habit but it relieves my anxiety when I do it. I’m tired of my deformed, red, bloody fingers and nails it’s so embarrassing.

🖤BrokenChaos🖤

Date posted: 24w

My fiance has a similar habit, and mine is my lips. I don't find it embarrassing, I see it as you are anxious. This will be a slow process, but I wanna help. Would putting on gloves help?

Meryn

Date posted: 24w

@SavageGirl I could definitely try wearing gloves at night cause that’s the time it’s the worst I just pick and bite while trying to sleep. I don’t think I would be able to wear gloves all day tho :(

🖤BrokenChaos🖤

Date posted: 24w

@Meryn - What about vinyl gloves? I used to do that all the time because of my eczema. If someone asks why, just tell them it's none of their business

Meryn

Date posted: 24w

@SavageGirl I’ve seen those before, I could try gloves with a lotion at night to keep them soft. I used to use cuticle butters and oils but it got everywhere and never really soaked into my skin. I definitely would fear being judge wearing gloves out in public. Although it is very cold here so I could get away with it.

Bonez

Date posted: 24w

Man I pick my lips all the time and they just look torn and dry, also when I wash my hands a lot my hands get all dry and start bleeding 💀

🖤BrokenChaos🖤

Date posted: 24w

I relate to the hands one. I have eczema, so my hands will crack and bleed and I don't even realize it. I have almost no feeling in my hands from it.

Meryn

Date posted: 24w

@Bonez I feel you 😭 I’m always over washing my hands. My hands, fingers, nails are a mess… the tops of my hands are like white and scaly looking. Anything I touch I feel like I have to wash my hands cause of “germs” but yet I can stick my fingers in my mouth and chew them? It doesn’t make sense 💀

🖤BrokenChaos🖤

Date posted: 24w

@Meryn - >< This will ruin the habit, ready? You'll hate me for this. The human mouth has almost as many germs as a komodo dragon, and is dirtier than the mouth of any wild animal.

🖤BrokenChaos🖤

Date posted: 24w

@Meryn - Bites from humans are more likely to cause a deadly infection. And, it's very rare to get an infection or severe illness. This may gross you out, but when I have a scrape or something, I don't usually clean it. I have yet to have an infection in almost 18 years of my life. Well..... besides a yeast infection from neglect, but that's a different story.

Meryn

Date posted: 24w

@SavageGirl That’s what my mom told me every-time I have my fingers in my mouth she’s like MERYN you know you can get a flesh eating disease blah blah you know there’s more germs in your mouth. This obsession of me biting and eating is beyond the fears that my OCD made me believe. When it comes to germs and contamination on anything else it’s straight to nope gotta clean gotta avoid touching … but my fingers and nails it’s like to the point I don’t even realize my fingers are in my mouth. For some reason I should be freaking out out about the germs in a human mouth but the addiction is so strong I don’t care 😭

🖤BrokenChaos🖤

Date posted: 24w

@Meryn - Definitely try gloves <3 I hope it helps <3

Bruce M

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 24w

Skin and nail biting is a BFRB, Body Focused Repetitive Behavior. Try habit reversal therapy. Contact NOCD for a free 15 minute call to discuss further. They can offer more detail than I can here. https://www.treatmyocd.com/about-us/contact-us

Anonymous_co...

Date posted: 24w

Anyone else relate??

Idk if this is OCD per se, it feels more like perfectionism than anything. but I was wondering if anyone can relate. I’m a girl approaching the age of 20 and there are certain things I really want to be able to enjoy and pamper myself with, like getting my nails done, or getting a lash lift. But I’ve discovered that doing either brings me a lot of stress. For example, I just bought some nice press on nails last week and I put them on last night (which took me soooo long) and I’ve been so stressed about them since. I keep worrying that they’re going to fall off right away and I keep checking them and pushing on them to see, so much so that I worry I’m going to make them loose. I already had one looking like it was starting to lift, and instead of leaving it I pulled it off entirely cuz I’d rather start over and redo it than have it fall off, and now I’m worried my other nails are gonna fall off and that I should just pull them off now before they do. I keep pushing on one nail that feels loose to me. But it hasn’t lifted, but I’ve pushed it so much now that I want to rip it off. And another example, when I get a lash lift I worry so much because I start obsessing over the evenness of the curl on both sides. It always feels like one side is more curled than the other. Or that one side looks more fuller (more lashes) than the other and it makes me stressed. And I also obsess over those pesky lashes that just didn’t want to curl and I try pulling them out sometimes to make it look for even. It’s just little things like that which make these experiences unenjoyable for me, even tho I so badly want to enjoy them. I spent money on these nails and I want them to last and I’m so worried that I did them wrong and ruined it. I just don’t want them to fall off. But they’re caused me a lot of stress in the last 24hrs and I’ve been hyperfixating on them so much.

tfland7

Date posted: 18w

Obsessive hand washing

I obsess constantly about my hands being dirty and feel like I can actually see the germs and bacteria crawling all over my hands if I can’t wash them as soon as I touch something. It’s really embarrassing since people in my life have noticed this “weird” behavior but it’s a huge problem for me and I don’t know how to make the obsessive thoughts stop.

ICUashley

Date posted: 9w

Tips appreciated:)

Hi everyone. <3 was wondering if anyone with experience dealing with excoriation/skin-picking disorder has some tips or tricks that have particularly helped them. Came to NOCD this week for help - first timer that would really like to be able to wear a tank top again 😅🫠 I did join the BFRB support group but unfortunately will be on a night shift this week when it meets . Thank you in advance ❤️

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