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Hi
I pick my scabs and suck my blood, and I can't stop doing this. I'm not one of those people who pretend I'm like a vampire of anything. Its just a really, really bad habit. I have scars all over my body from where I picked. Its really scary to me and I need to stop this... Can someone please give me some tips on what to do?
Thanks :)
There's a picking disorder called dermatillomania, I'm not quite sure how it's spelled but it's an anxiety disorder where you continuously pick at scabs or imperfections in the skin to make them "smooth." I suggest you further research this disorder and if you want to kick the habit, look into seeing a psychologist.
If it's not effecting you much right now, be careful because the habit can become much worse.
maybe this will help you kick the habit. a little story here.
last month i was bitten by a spider, right on my ankle. didn't amount to much, as a matter of fact i could barely make out the mark. i knew what kind of spider it was and it wasn't poisonous. however it started to itch, so i scratched it. and a day or two later, this rash formed. looked like a bulls-eye. but then it swelled up and became more red, and when i got home from work it was twice the size and purple, and it was very painful, an intense burning feel-like someone was holding a blowtorch to my ankle. i also was feeling really sick, tired, headaches. when i went to the doctor, i had a fever of 103 degrees. and when the doctor looked at my ankle, she told me i had cellulitis. which is an infection of the deep tissue layer and can become systemic where the infection can get into the blood stream and kill you. it's scary, and she told me it was because of the lesion from the spider bite, the infection got in. i was pretty shocked due to how little of a wound it was to begin with.
so if you have a habit of picking scabs, you could get cellulitis too if the infection gets in the open wound. cellulitis is not that common, but it's a possibility. trust me, you don't want it. it's not fun, it's painful, and it's life threatening unless you take care of it immediately, which is the scary thing. don't pick scabs!
be more careful when it comes to getting cuts.
next time you see a scab, leave it.
scabs are there to get your skin back to normal, but you ruin the process by peeling it and drinking it.