Mental health · England
Help with skin picking
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Picking your skin can be hard to stop.
You deserve support without blame.
Notice when you need help
Picking may hurt your skin or upset you.
Ask for help if it affects your life.
Explain your experience
You might pick without noticing.
Picking does not always mean you want to hurt yourself.
Get your skin checked
A GP can check your skin and ask what happens.
Skin irritation or another health problem may need treatment.
Look for patterns
Notice when picking happens, if this helps.
Agree gentle prompts with someone you trust.
Ask about therapy
A therapist can help you notice picking and practise another response.
This may be called habit reversal training.
Make support accessible
Ask for pictures, clear words or more time.
Tell people what helps you learn.
Choose helpful support
You may choose an activity that keeps your hands busy.
Supporters should not shame or punish you.
Care for your skin
Ask a health professional about suitable skin care and dressings.
Get advice if wounds are not healing.
Urgent skin problems
For possible infection, ask for an urgent GP appointment or call 111.
Signs include swelling, increasing pain, redness, pus, or feeling unwell with a wound.
If bleeding will not stop, or a wound is very large or deep, call 999 or go to A&E.
What you can do next
Ask for help with your skin and the picking.
Read NHS information about skin picking Web pageThis link opens another website.
It may use harder words.
More useful links
- NHS: skin picking disorder Web page
Signs, GP assessment and treatment options.
- NHS: cuts and grazes Web page
Wound care and urgent warning signs.
- NICE: mental health and learning disabilities Web page
How psychological support should be adapted to individual needs.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Skin picking: understanding and getting help
Understand repeated skin picking, accessible treatment and when skin damage needs medical help.
Adults · England · Individual needs and assessment matter
When picking becomes a problem
Skin-picking disorder is also called excoriation disorder or dermatillomania. Assessment considers repeated picking that damages skin, attempts to reduce or stop it, and distress or disruption to everyday life. Occasional picking is not enough to establish the disorder. You can ask for help before difficulties become severe.
Understand the experience without assumptions
Body-focused repetitive behaviour, or BFRB, means a repeated action involving the body. Picking may happen with awareness or without noticing. It should not automatically be treated as intentional self-harm or labelled OCD. Different difficulties can coexist, so a professional should ask about the person’s experience, reasons and needs.
Ask for a health assessment
Tell a GP what happens, when it started and how it affects you. They should consider skin conditions such as eczema or acne, other causes of itching, medicines and mental health. Ask about assessment of wounds and referral to a skin or mental health specialist when needed. Do not stop prescribed medicines without advice.
Notice patterns gently
If it helps, keep a brief record of situations, feelings or sensations around picking. Stress, boredom or irritation may be relevant, but the explanation differs between people. A chosen supporter can help notice patterns using an agreed, discreet prompt. Avoid criticism, repeated demands to stop or close monitoring that increases distress.
Therapy and habit reversal
CBT for skin picking may include habit reversal training. This helps someone recognise picking and learn a less harmful response, practised with support. Research suggests behavioural treatment can help, but results vary. Ask about a therapist’s experience with skin picking, agreed goals and how progress will be reviewed. Supporters should not invent punishment or exposure exercises.
Make support accessible
Ask for short explanations, pictures, demonstrations, repetition or extra time. Therapy should consider learning, communication and sensory needs. Agree any support with practice and respect privacy. A harmless activity that keeps hands occupied may help some people, if they choose it. Do not force gloves, hold someone’s hands or remove their choices as a routine response.
Care for skin and review the plan
Ask a pharmacist, nurse or GP how to care for affected skin and choose suitable dressings. Small wounds should be cleaned and protected; seek advice if unsure. Wounds that do not heal or picking that continues to disrupt life need review. Agree follow-up for the skin, emotional distress and any treatment rather than focusing only on appearance.
When skin needs urgent help
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or contact NHS 111 if a wound becomes swollen, red and increasingly painful, has pus, or you feel unwell or feverish. Call 999 or go to A&E if bleeding will not stop or a wound is very large or deep.
Words you could use
“Please assess my skin and what leads to picking, without blame, and explain support in a way I understand.”
More useful links
- NHS: skin picking disorder Web page
Signs, GP assessment and treatment options.
- NHS: cuts and grazes Web page
Wound care and urgent warning signs.
- NICE: mental health and learning disabilities Web page
How psychological support should be adapted to individual needs.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Where the information comes from
Links checked 9 November 2026.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
- NHS: skin picking disorder Web page
Everyday picking, triggers, GP assessment and habit reversal within CBT.
- Grant and Chamberlain: skin-picking disorder update Web page
Diagnostic distinctions, other explanations and differences from OCD and intentional self-injury.
- Xavier and colleagues: CBT trial for skin picking Web page
Research on individual and group behavioural treatment; improvement is not guaranteed.
- NICE NG54: mental health and learning disabilities Web page
Accessible information, adapted therapy, agreed practice support and privacy.
- NHS: cuts and grazes Web page
Wound care, infection signs and emergency thresholds.