This is a journal and a place to go for skin picking awareness.
Please note I am not a therapist or health professional, but feel free to ask questions.
Thanks!
Hi there. If you suspect that you have fungus on your scalp, then you should see your physician. They can easily detect if your do have fungus and what kind and give you the proper medication for it. It may be a shampoo, or a cream.
I found this website which talks about scalp fungus, including ringworm.
It’s possible to spread the infection since you’re picking and scratching your scalp and probably touching other parts of your body. So be careful about cross contamination. Anyway, I think that’s it. You may want to Google “scalp fungus” or “scalp infection” to see if anything seems familiar to you.
Good luck!
6th April 2013
Notes: 1
The scalp has been the area I pick the most for many years. I remember years ago it was just like a minefield of scabs. I couldn’t run my hand through my hair without feeling tons of scabs. I still have one from years ago, that I still pick. It’s like my worry scab. It’s never gone away but it has morphed. Now that I’m not picking as much, it’s almost gone. But not quite.
My advice is to check out my page on How to Stop Picking. I break down the most general advice I can give on the cognitive (thinking) and behavioral (actions) methods for stopping picking. Generally, therapy is the one real way to cure this, or at least pick less frequently. If you could do this on your own, we all would have done it already.
There’s no big secret. You have to stop thinking the same anxious thoughts and stop moving your hands to pick. You have to think different things, you have to use your hands to do different things. Check out my page on fidget toys too.
Good luck and thanks for writing.
Obviously I haven’t been on this blog in months..
and I don’t have an excuse or anything.
Dermatillomania is a constant struggle. It’s a never-ending cycle. Even when I don’t mention it or don’t update this blog or don’t take pictures or whatever, its still happening. I have over one hundred…
Welcome back! It’d be great if you can continue writing on your Tumblr, as much as you can. I take a break often as well, mostly because I do this secretly and don’t want my friends or family to know.
Anyway, I like hearing personal stories, and what almost prompted the visit to the doctor.
I’ve gone to the doctor or hospital multiple times before I knew I had derma. Once I thought I had a skin infection, another time I thought I had a growth under my skin.
Now that I think of it, I’ve had skin infections a few times that required going to the doctor and taking anti-biotics. Usually it was because of a cut or sore was getting too red, and inflamed and painful.
Anyway, glad to have you back.
Reblogged From dermatillomaniadistress
Mine too. Well, it burns and stings and it hurts. Lots of different pain points from lots of different scars.
I haven’t had a haircut in over a month and a half. In fact, I usually take a long time between my haircuts.
Partly it’s because I’ve been traveling a lot recently and haven’t settled on a new barber yet.
But the real reason is that sometimes it takes me a long time to get up the nerve to face a new barber because of my torn up scalp. My scalp is one of the places where I almost continuously pick myself, so there’s always numerous scabs.
Some are really raw and hurt if I comb my hair. Those are quite a wake up call for me. It’s like a pain that jolts me back to life, in some ways. It reminds me: oh yes, I’m a skin picker. And my scalp is still torn up after all these years.
Sometimes I worry about going bald. After all, I am a middle-aged man. But I seem to have a lot of hair still. Nevertheless, I worry about what my scalp would look like. Not just with the current bloody scabs, but I also worry about what all the old scars would look like.
What would I tell people? How would I explain those scabs and scars? Should I call myself Gorbachev and say they are all birthmarks? Or maybe I can wear a hat all the time, or a wig. I dunno.
In order to get ready for the barber, I try to stop picking for a few days. It helps to not have such raw and tender spots, and rather just have a few more-healed scabs that don’t bleed or make me wince with pain.
Anyway, it’s time for a hair cut. I usually don’t go for a shampoo, because I’m afraid that the person is going to feel my scalp and feel my scars and get grossed out.
I wonder how many stylists and barbers know about skin picking and scalp pickers in general? I mean, I’m sure they learn about scalp and skin disorders, but how many people show up with gross scalps?
Going to the barber reminds me that, yes, I’m still a picker.
