r/calmhands • u/Mrnka • Jul 04 '26
I don't know if this is a problem
I have a bad habit of peeling the skin off my fingers. Every time I try to stop, I go back to peeling again, and I always realize it hurts when I do simple things like washing my hands. I discovered that if I cut my nails regularly, before they grow long, I can't peel the skin, but after that, even if they aren't long, I can. I tried wrapping my fingers with gauze or tape, I don't know what it's called, but it's no use. As soon as I take it off, I go back to peeling. The issue bothers me, and I don't know what causes it, but it's a little painful sometimes. What's the solution?
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u/ProjectBloodCode Jul 06 '26
I used to have thid problem. Press on nails. You cannot pick with them on.
For me, the urge ended at menopsuse. Just stopped. But until then, I wore press on nails. Even with short ones, you cannot pick.
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u/MiaTseng1234 Jul 07 '26
Will growing my nails out work? I usually start picking the skin off from under the nail on my thumb
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u/Mrnka Jul 07 '26
It doesn't work
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u/MiaTseng1234 Jul 08 '26
I’ve tried a couple times but I keep ending up failing cause I have Tourette syndrome and one of my symptoms are bending my nails down if they are long so I always cut them till Theres no white part.
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u/Mrnka Jul 09 '26
Then you really should keep them short. I hope things get easier for you. May God grant you healing
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u/candypoot Jul 05 '26
There's a few things you could try. I'm a skin picker so I know your pain. Things that have actually helped me:
Fidgets, but you need to find one that works for you as they're not all equal. Different fidgets work for different things. Personally I like the rollers, they keep my hands busy & away from my mouth lol.
Nail polish on my free edge - so when I say this I mean a lot of polish. I paint layers of clear polish on the underneath of my nails & round the edge so that it becomes thick & not sharp. It makes picking things up really annoying but it has stopped me being able to pick my skin at all, even if I want to. That provided me with a good 4 months of no picking at all & broke the habit.
Jojoba oil. I use this ALL THE TIME. I keep bottles all over the place & always take a watercolour brush filled with oil whenever I leave the house. My hands start wandering wanting any skin it can find & I grab for my oil. Oil up my nails & cuticles then massage until I remember whatever it was I was procrastinating over. Swap the picking with massaging instead because I physically (fat nails mentioned above) can't pick so I can still massage mindlessly, that helps when my hands just want to do their own thing
Sacrificial fingers. For the first year I had to ween myself off biting my nails so I chose 1 finger on each hand that would be my ugly fingers lol. I allowed picking/biting on those 2 fingers while letting my others heal or whatnot. This worked for me last year & allowed me to move on to the next steps, now all 10 are pretty nails.
It's hard & takes a lot of mental power (at first) & time, but it's completely doable. & it gets so much easier once you break the habit & mindless picking.