Skin picking disorder

Do you constantly feel the need to pick at your skin – specifically your pimples or the scabs?  This is called skin picking disorder or more formally, dermatillomania.

What is skin picking disorder

Dermatillomania, or skin picking disorder, is actually a mental health condition – according to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.  You basically can’t help but pick at your skin.  Whether you’re constantly picking at your pimples or picking the eventual scabs that come from the pimple touching, you could have this disorder.

What can you do?

First, as the CCF recommends, you shouldn’t diagnose yourself.  If you feel like you might have a problem, it is recommended to seek medical help for several reasons:

1. This is a mental health condition.
2. Since you are constantly harming your skin, you’ll need to have the guidance of a medical professional to start the healing process so that you don’t do further damage.

Here are a few things you can do in the meantime:

• To help with inflammation, use ice.  Ice is great at helping reduce inflammation so if you see a pimple starting to bulge on your face (or anywhere), apply some ice but please use a towel in between your skin and the ice pack.

• Alternately, you could use a cold spoon.  This is a great quick solution!

Skin is your largest organ

Your skin is your largest organ so treat it with respect.  If you have some issues (and let’s face it, we all do), seek help.  Start loving yourself and your skin.  Sometimes the first step is admitting it, and then asking for help.

By picking, you can irritate your skin.  When you leave it alone, it could look amazing and you feel great about yourself.  Your skin tells a lot about you – about your hormones, how much you sleep (or don’t), and what you eat or drink.

Treat your skin right and if you think you have this skin picking disorder, please get help.