Are You A Chronic Skin Picker? How To Pull Yourself Out Of A Spiral, From Experts

Certainly, I've been there: Standing in front of my bathroom mirror, fingers raised to a blemish, knowing I shouldn't be doing what I so desperately want to do—pick at my skin. I know all the reasons I shouldn't. I know that it will only cause the pimple to stick around longer. I know that it may lead to scarring or a dark spot. I know that the best thing I can do for my skin is to walk away. And yet, sometimes temptations still get the best of me. 

It's not just the face that people hyper-focus their attention on. Some people pull at their cuticles and nails. Some may have scars or inflamed patches of skin they can't leave alone. It's estimated that chronic skin picking affects around 2 to 5% of the population, and of these people, 75% are women.

One of the most valuable things you can do, Wood says, is to reframe how you view your skin. "Anyone that's a chronic picker, this is usually the first thing I'll say: 'I don't see you picking and poking at your liver or at your heart. I'm like, would you do it to any other organ?' No, just because this one is the outermost organ, like there's usually some element of control, fixation, or even boredom," she says. It's important to remember that your skin is an organ, and when you damage it—you're damaging you.