How do you talk to your teen about picking at their skin?

[Anonymous]

Before going to meds, I tried this for my daughter and it worked. Give it a month. She is actually off all prescribed meds at the moment and she is dx anxiety/adhd with a lot of impulses, picking, and emotional regulation issues.

Multivitamin with Vit D, iron, zinc, folate, and very high Vit B6 and B12
High EPA ratio fish oil
Inositol supplement
NAC supplement
Magnesium Glycinate at night (gummies work)

Cut out as much high processed foods, dairy, and refined sugars as possible. Not completely but be more aware.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter’s face for at least a couple of years constantly has large picked wounds or scabs from picking at it. She was not receptive when I talked to her about it. It is *painful* to look at and quite honestly embarrassing. It’s hard to look anywhere else. I know it is costing her socially. We have taken her to a couple of different therapists and the dermatologist. No inprovement. Her acne isn’t that bad but any tiny bump she just picks at and makes 1,000 worse.
Suggestions? Do I just wait for her to decide she wants to fix it?

Her body, her choice. Not her problem that you think she is ugly.

I’m an NP, but dealing with the same situation, and your statement is the furtherest thing from the truth. We want to help our DD’s with a difficult situation that is negatively impacting their lives.

You should be ashamed of yourself for this post.

[Anonymous]

It is an anxiety based compulsion - but it only seems to help anxiety during the “trance” part and then the anxiety is much worse. As another former compulsive picker, I’m going to tell you I disagree with the PP who says don’t mention it. She needs help, just like she would need help if she were cutting or engaging in other self harm behaviors. I talk to my daughters very openly about my history. I wish someone would have helped or intervened.

[Anonymous]

OCD adjacent. Needs specialized therapy, possibly medication at least briefly.
Of course your kid cares! S/he does not want to look or act like that. Get help.

[Anonymous]

Have you looked into Vyvanse? It is for ADHD, but it also is prescribed for binge eating disorder and skin picking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you looked into Vyvanse? It is for ADHD, but it also is prescribed for binge eating disorder and skin picking.

NP, can you say more about this? I have an ADHD hair plucker, wondering if a medication switch would help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS has struggled with Trichotillomania. I’m no expert but I believe skin picking can be adjacent to this. We’ve tried a lot of things, including a watch that buzzes every time he makes that repetitive movements. It didn’t work FWIW.

Because we were weren’t getting help from any professionals (there was shoulder shrugging), I went down the supplement route. Supplements are not my style at all but we were desperate. We found something that did work with research behind it and I know there are other options we didn’t try, also with research. I’m not going to recommend them here because I didn’t look up skin picking specifically. Try the special needs forum. There isn’t a ton of stuff out there on this but there is definitely some.

Yes we’ve mainly gotten shoulder shrugging and “stop picking at your skin” from the dermatologist. Is it NAC? I actually bought some to try but she didn’t consistently take it. Did the supplements work for your child?

DP but yes high dose NAC - you gotta take like 2000mg minimum per day. Magnesium vitamin d
Picking often goes with an adhd diagnosis btw. Commonly mischaracterized as anxiety

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read about body focused repetitive behaviors. There is very little you can do until/unless she wants to stop. Drawing attention to it makes it worse. Being embarrassed by your teen's appearance is itself embarrassing.

My DD is 23 and still does this. Best thing is to emotionally separate from this activity. They can change it. We cannot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does she have other indications of anxiety? If so, treating the anxiety while saying nothing about the picking will likely help the picking (and she will likely feel less defensive because it won't feel like you are criticizing her).

+ 1 It's not about skin. (But parents still can't fix such things.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before going to meds, I tried this for my daughter and it worked. Give it a month. She is actually off all prescribed meds at the moment and she is dx anxiety/adhd with a lot of impulses, picking, and emotional regulation issues.

Multivitamin with Vit D, iron, zinc, folate, and very high Vit B6 and B12
High EPA ratio fish oil
Inositol supplement
NAC supplement
Magnesium Glycinate at night (gummies work)

Cut out as much high processed foods, dairy, and refined sugars as possible. Not completely but be more aware.

+1 and if this doesn’t work start with a non-SSRI anti-anxiety like Buspar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you looked into Vyvanse? It is for ADHD, but it also is prescribed for binge eating disorder and skin picking.

Everyone is different but I posted previously about my DS having trich. He’s also on Vyvanse. In his case, the Vyvanse didn’t help with the hair pulling, FWIW.

[Anonymous]

Adult hair puller /skin picker

Be careful with supplements, don’t start them all at once. Some can have negative side effects.

NAC really helped with the pulling/picking but also made me very lethargic

Some SSRIs make it better, some worse

Vyvanse and stimulants can make OCD behaviors worse in some

Best to find a good psychiatrist with experience in this area.

Also for skin picking I have found Rael Miracle Patches good for healing and stopping the picking!

[Anonymous]

NAC - start there but even a basic vitamin and better nutritio, because there are a lot of studies showing vitamin and mineral defeciencies cause a lot of mental health issues.

Teens diets tend to be terrible

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you looked into Vyvanse? It is for ADHD, but it also is prescribed for binge eating disorder and skin picking.

NP, can you say more about this? I have an ADHD hair plucker, wondering if a medication switch would help.

This is pp. My DD’s psychiatrist prescribed vyvanse for her ADHD and skin picking. It stopped the skin picking within a month once the dosage was right. She was also in CBT therapy, so this likely helped as well. The Dr also mentioned he prescribes it for binge eating disorder.

[Anonymous]

Sorry OP, we have gone through this as well. And people don't understand, you don't want your kid to be judged.

I try to remind my DD when she isn't actively doing it. She knows she does it, wants to stop, but can't. It is hard. She has a therapist too, but I don't think they address this much.

The best thing we have done is to

1- Work on the acne, hers was minimal, but if less to pick at, less picking. She has more on her back, so we got a great spray to do after the shower that was helpful that had acne meds in it. Came from target

2- Get nail tips/ gel. It is much harder to do, and she is more cognizant of when she is doing it when she has them. So I pay for the nails and it was my idea. She got nails for homecoming and I realized she wasn't picking. So I mentioned it to her and now I pay for them. She has them done most of the time, but when she doesn't her picking is Way down. I'm hoping that over time, this will help her break the cycle.

Before these 2 things I researched, and found that it is super hard to break this habit.

Wish you and your daughter luck.