RE: question about picking

March 18, 2005

My daughter is a picker and we have tried all sorts of things to get her to

stop. I read in a book that if a person has the urge to pick, they should

stretch their arms and hands out until the they can really feel it. This helps

Hannah with the urge sometimes. Since picking is something people usually do in

private, we also encourage her to come into the same room with us when she

wants to pick at something. Her wrists, ankles, and knees are very scarred from

the picking. It makes me sad to see it! I have trichotillomania and I think

it is very closely related to picking. I pulled out my eyelashes for years

(more than twenty) and was able to stop several months ago. In fact, I did it

to show Hannah that she could stop picking. The trick is to not do it, even

one time. I know it sounds simplistic but that's the only thing that has

worked for me. I try not to do anything that will lead to pulling them out,

like

touching my eyelashes. I remind myself that the feeling (they start to hurt)

will go away even if I don't do it. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be

but not as easy as it sounds. I wish I had better suggestions! Kelley in NV

March 18, 2005

Hello Sandy,

Two of my dds' pick. Oldest picks dry skin on feet, her head (she has a

bunch of little soars and has blonde hair), stuffed animals, any material

with pilly textures etc. The youngest picks at stuffed animals, the dogs

fur, dry skin and any little speck of lint or fuzz she can find. We have

not found any one thing that helps per se. We do bring it to their

attention and simply say " you are picking " and try to heighten the

awareness. They do not show distress or negative thoughts, so I would say it

is a nervous habit. We have a family history of pickers, sniffers, tasters,

hoarders and germ issues. My oldest just started the pimple stage, not bad

yet, and most of them she gets are on her butt, so I hope she does not

decide to start picking them, in public anyways...lol.

Thank you for posting this subject I am watching closely as to find out how

to help our situation. (Are you feeling any better today?)

Amy

_____

From: Sandy [mailto:melbiscuit5@...]

Sent: Friday, March 18, 2005 10:01 AM

Subject: question about picking

Hi All,

My dd (14), has been picking her pimples to the point they bleed.

She says it is a habit. I tell her it can leave scaring but to no

avail. I thought I read earlier picking is part of OCD, If that is

true what can be done to help her stop? Sandy

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March 18, 2005

Hi Sandy,

My son, now 15, has mostly bad thought OCD along with hand washing

and picking, and previously nail biting. He has been taking inositol

now for a year and stopped picking not too long after he started

taking it. His OCD seems to be completely under control. I believe

that it is the Inositol. Now when he gets a pimple, I feel proud of

him as it stays there until it disappears.

in Georgia

>

> Hi All,

> My dd (14), has been picking her pimples to the point they bleed.

> She says it is a habit. I tell her it can leave scaring but to no

> avail. I thought I read earlier picking is part of OCD, If that is

> true what can be done to help her stop? Sandy

March 18, 2005

Thanks for your responses. My dd is on luvox and had been for a year

and a half. The picking started about 4 months ago. So I don't know

if it is a side effect or not. She does well on the luvox otherwise.

I will try redirecting if I see her, but unfortunetly I'm not at

school to stop her. I will ask her therapist today and let you all

know what she says. The more advice the better! Sandy

March 18, 2005

Sandy-

One thing that seemed to work for our dd was to put the 'picking'

energy into 'nail health' maintenance. I purchased an item from the

Sally Hansen line...it's called " Maximum Growth cuticle and nail

moisture treatment pen " from CVS pharmacy (I think it's about

$5.00). Also, we have a squishy stress ball that Anne squeezes when

she gets the urge to pick. Anne applies the cuticle moisturizer

every night.

Anne also found it helpful to work on only one finger at a time when

she started out...she then used that finger as an example of what

she could do! She still picks some, and it certainly increases in

times of stress (and boredom) but it is much better than before.

One other thing about the picking. Our p-doc felt that the picking

was a sign that her SSRI needed to be increased. Anne was

simultaneously having a bit of an increase in other O's and C's

along with the picking. With a small increase in her Lexapro, the

picking was, according to Anne, easier as well.

Blessings-

(Ohio)

March 19, 2005

We tried a similar approach for facial picking (i.e facial health

maintenance). Since my daughter was also breaking out mildly (but

looked alot worse due to picking) the dermatologist let her try

minocycline, her picking stopped while on the antibiotic, until she

stopped it b/c of nausea. I've wondered if the antibiotic had a

postive or biochemical effect moreso than the facial regime, though a

cleansing routine can perhaps be an alternative or distraction to

picking. She also took same approach with her nails, starting with

fake nails and then getting manicures, and nail biting ended-but

picking still flares up and down, but alot less troublesome than it

used to be.

nancy grace

>

> Sandy-

>

> One thing that seemed to work for our dd was to put the 'picking'

> energy into 'nail health' maintenance. I purchased an item from

the

> Sally Hansen line...it's called " Maximum Growth cuticle and nail

> moisture treatment pen " from CVS pharmacy (I think it's about

> $5.00). Also, we have a squishy stress ball that Anne squeezes

when

> she gets the urge to pick. Anne applies the cuticle moisturizer

> every night.

>

> Anne also found it helpful to work on only one finger at a time

when

> she started out...she then used that finger as an example of what

> she could do! She still picks some, and it certainly increases in

> times of stress (and boredom) but it is much better than before.

>

> One other thing about the picking. Our p-doc felt that the picking

> was a sign that her SSRI needed to be increased. Anne was

> simultaneously having a bit of an increase in other O's and C's

> along with the picking. With a small increase in her Lexapro, the

> picking was, according to Anne, easier as well.

>

> Blessings-

> (Ohio)

March 22, 2005

Hello Sandy,

My nine year old daughter picked her feet for a while, but subsided when

it became too tender. She does chew on her fingers-it appears as

someone picking their nails. Right now she is on a lull and hasn't been

too " OCD. " She is in the process of being diagnosed with PANDAS and

which is causing the OCD behavior. I do know that many parents have had

success with " inositol " for OCD behaviors but do not know if this will

help with the picking. I try to keep my daughter very busy so she

doesn't really find the time to do it. We gave her an old video camera

and she has gone crazy videoing with it. Maybe a hobby of some sort

that requires use of both hands-a hobby that requires a lot of movement

as well. I know that if my daughter is busy she has less time to think

of issues and keeps learning new things in the process. Just a thought.

question about picking

Hi All,

My dd (14), has been picking her pimples to the point they bleed.

She says it is a habit. I tell her it can leave scaring but to no

avail. I thought I read earlier picking is part of OCD, If that is

true what can be done to help her stop? Sandy

Our list archives, bookmarks, files, and chat feature may be accessed

at:

/ .

Our list advisors are Gail B. , Ed.D., Tamar Chansky, Ph.D.(

http://www.worrywisekids.org ), Dan Geller, M.D.,Aureen Pinto Wagner,

Ph.D.,

( http://www.lighthouse-press.com ). Our list moderators are

Birkhan, Castle, Fowler, Kathy Hammes, Joye, Kathy

Mac, Gail Pesses, and Kathy . Subscription issues or

suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner, at

louisharkins@... , louisharkins@... ,

louisharkins@...

..

March 22, 2005