I am a 27 yo female. I am not sure if I am ocd. My dr has never said so. I pluck my hair, constantly. Not from my head, mainly under my navel, around my breasts...I am italian and have dark hair. I also, will pluck hair, or dig into my skin to get the dair hair that is barely showing. is this ocd? what is it? also, i cant allow scabs to heal. i have had one in my nose, for FIVE years, and i use tweezers to get it out, it feels so good. please help.
There is a disorder called trichotillomania that deals with pulling out the hair. You might want to research that. Also, with the scab picking, I do that also...it can be a form of self injury. There are a lot of webpages on self injury also.
I have OCD and I do this too. It's not exactly trichtollomania -- the dr's don't know what to call it but it is OCD related. Same thing with your picking scabs -- sounds like you're a "leveller", everything has to feel as smooth as possible.
If these are your only 2 "habits" and there's no other signs or symptoms of anxiety, you'd be better off simply trying your best to stop this behavior rather than taking pills. However if you find yourself doing these things more frequently or if they are troublesome, then perhaps you should see your doctor.
Put some ointment (polysporin type) in your nose on the scab and keep it as moist as possible, whenever you can. I know this is hard (I had one on my leg once for nearly a year cuz I wouldn't let it heal) but it WILL heal if you leave it alone. As for the hair plucking -- I still do this sometimes but am not bothered by it.
Hello,
Your situation sounds somewhat similar to mine. I have a couple of scabs on my head that I must pick off routinely. I know this sounds disguisting, but once I feel them, it is an uncontrollable urge. As a result of my constant picking, I'm starting to form bald spots where they are. I'm worried that I do suffer from a psychological disoreder (OCD) and that my hair will not grow back. Someone please give me their advice.
*sunshine*
Picking scabs is not necessarily an OCD. I have a friend picks all her scabs but this is all she does and has never been diagnosed with OCD. She wants her skin level and smooth -- she just wants it that way. I have OCD and I NEED it that way. This is not to say that you do not have OCD but it is possible that this is just a nervous habit you have acquired. OCD is thought fueled -- the reasoning behind the behavior is more important than the behavior itself.
I have heard that hair will not grow back in a scar, but am not positive that this is true.
My friend has that problem, she said that she went for some counseling, and she said that the counselor that it is not treatable. The doctor's can't cure her problem, so she will be pulling hair out of her scalp on her head for the rest of her life.
I hope that a doctor will be able to fix your problem, it must be a horrible feeling pulling your hair out like that. Keep in touch and please keep us posted on your illness.
Wow, I thought I was the only one with the ppicking problem. I been havin this issue for 10 yrs and I constantly do this too til I'm bald, but many times cus I'm stressed, and its a quick headache relief or when I'm bored.
Ppl tell me I'm pretty and all that, but I don't feel that way knowing this insecurity. I'm afraid of getting my hair done cus its a lil embarrassing going to a salon with a bald spot. So I always do my own hair and always have the same hairdo for years. I reaaaallly need help!
kitkat- I've never been able to describe why I have to pick the scabs on my head, but it's because of what you said- I'm a "leveller!" I do have OCD, and I think that it is OCD-related because I can't control it. I hate having any bumps on my head or malformities on my cuticles so I pick. My head's horrible with oozing sores, but I just can't stop...
-GatsbyLuvr1920-
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"Not everything that steps out of line, and thus 'abnormal,' must necessarily be 'inferior.'"
-Hans Asperger
My friends 3 year old daughter was diagnosed with OCD because she would pull out her hair by the hand full. She would have bald spots and she wouldn't let her hair grow in. The doctor said that it was a very early sign of OCD. She also has other symptoms like arranging her toys. Everything has a certain spot. She's only three!
I am definitely a leveler, but not to the degree of having OCD. It irritates me when things are not smooth- eyebrow hairs growing back in, rough cuticles, dry skin. I think its because my personality leads toward perfectionism. I wish that I could make myself less sensitive to things like this, but I don't exhibit any other OCD symptoms so I guess its just a pet peeve of mine.
I am a 27 yo female. I am not sure if I am ocd. My dr has never said so. I pluck my hair, constantly. Not from my head, mainly under my navel, around my breasts...I am italian and have dark hair. I also, will pluck hair, or dig into my skin to get the dair hair that is barely showing. is this ocd? what is it? also, i cant allow scabs to heal. i have had one in my nose, for FIVE years, and i use tweezers to get it out, it feels so good. please help.
exact same scenario for me, EXACT to a t. im really bothered because i dont know how to stop. ive been doing it for years and its just getting worse now that i moved out of my house and my sister and best friends arent around to keep the tweezers from me. i know im causing scars, i want them to go away but i cant stop plucking.
Obviously after reading all of these, it is safe to determine that you are not alone. I have self-diagnosed myself with "trich." I am constantly plucking out any hair that looks out of place. About 2 weeks ago, I pluck out every single eyelash I had, because I could not get them to "be even." So, I figured the best way to get them to be even, would be to pluck them all out and start from scratch. The have started to grow back, pretty evenly, I might add, and as weird as it sounds, it was a relief those first couple of days when I had no lashes, because I was not worrying about plucking them. Not that I would suggest this, because I am now worried if other people can tell, but this is a whole other issue. I try to disguise it and not let this part of it get to me. I don't know why I do it? I have really fine hair, but every so often I will get a thick dark hair that pops through somewhere on my body, and I have to pluck it. I think that this affects people who are perfectionists, and sometimes it can get out of hand. We just need to relax a bit, stress has a lot to do with it, at least in my case.
Re: Hair plucking 
