Compulsive skin picking (CSP) is a nervous disorder characterized by the repeated urge to pick at one's own skin, often to the extent that damage is caused.

Damage from CSP is common on the face, back, scalp, and extremities, usually caused by a mixture of rubbing, scratching, picking, biting, and tweezing. Focus may be placed on ingrown hairs, scabs, insect bites, pimples, or cuticles. Sufferers of the condition may enter a trance-like state, only to be confronted with the results afterward.

Research into the cause of the condition has been limited, but it has been linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder. Few treatment options are currently available, but some individuals have found relief through cognitive-behavioral therapy.

It has been seen in psychoses of many people the 'creation' of foreign objects to satisfy the need to pick or damage one's own skin. Many psychiatrists have studied this and found the only real cure is to immobilize the offending object (hands, etc.). The most success has been seen with protective casts to make the picking impossible. In these test cases the skin healed almost immediately, with outbreaks not recurring until the casts were removed.

Synonyms

• acne excoriee (from French)
• dermatillomania
• chronic skin picking (CSP)
• excoriated acne
• neurotic excoriation
• psychogenic excoriation
• skin picking

Hyponyms

• acne excoriee des jeunes filles (from French)
• compulsive face picking
• scalp picking

See also

• Trichotillomania

External links

Information

• OCD Center of Los Angeles: Compulsive Skin Picking
• Dr. Grossbart: How to Stop Compulsive Skin Picking and Scratching

Support forums and groups

• Skin Picking Recovery Message Board at ProBoards
• Face and Skin Picking Support Forum at ProBoards
• Pickaderms at Yahoo! Groups
• Stop Picking on Me! forum

Anxiety disorders | Dermatology | Human appearance | Mental health | Somatoform disorders

Acne excoriee | Acné excoriée