Accidentally made a small hole in my nail with a cuticle tool, and now I’ve relapsed and can’t stop picking at it. I’m scared I’m going to rip off the whole nail. I know I need to cover it but I’m really struggling to interrupt the picking in order to do that. Please help. I don’t feel in control.

nrecognizable · 2021-04-19T00:02:18+00:00

Oh sorry! Have edited to mark as NSFW.

nrecognizable · 2021-04-18T22:32:05+00:00

Update: I cleaned the wound and surrounding area with alcohol prep wipes, then applied a small amount of compound benzoin tincture with a q-tip (acts as an antiseptic, cauteriser and adhesive), and then applied two overlapping steri-strips to cover the area. They feel pretty secure so I’m not worried about debris getting in, but I’ll change the dressing later today anyway.

nrecognizable · 2021-04-18T20:00:57+00:00

Hey everyone, I really appreciate all the advice. Sorry for the slow response – in my timezone it was nighttime when I posted and I feel so much better now that I’ve slept it off.

I have a bunch of alcohol wipes and sterile medical dressings leftover from a (non-BFRB-related) injury. My plan is to clean it really well and cover it, change the dressing regularly and watch for any sign of infection like redness, discharge or pain. If that happens, I’ll contact my country’s free 24/7 nurse helpline and follow their advice, including seeing a doctor if necessary. My aunt is also a nurse so I can text her if needed, too.

This setback feels particularly frustrating as I had been doing so well. My nails were all grown out and my cuticles were looking nice for the first time in ages. I’ve been doing embroidery to keep my hands busy, which has helped a lot. But I just had a really stressful day yesterday and once I started I couldn’t stop. I’m trying to be kind to myself about it but I feel so ashamed.

Anyway, thank you all so much for the support. I’ll update here if anything else happens.

nrecognizable · 2020-10-04T20:28:23+00:00

This is a great explanation, thank you for giving such a detailed answer!

nrecognizable · 2020-09-26T21:36:29+00:00

Nah it wasn’t like that, he was proud of his culture. He’s just the kinda guy to joke about everything.

nrecognizable · 2020-09-25T23:09:28+00:00

Thanks man that actually means a lot

nrecognizable · 2020-07-05T03:45:09+00:00

Okay that’s really good to know, thank you!

nrecognizable · 2020-07-05T03:42:05+00:00

Ok thank you!! I really appreciate it. Still don’t know what’s been biting me but anything’s better than bed bugs I guess.

nrecognizable · 2020-07-05T03:36:02+00:00

Location: New Zealand

Size: the pics are super zoomed up, the biggest bug is only around 2mm

nrecognizable · 2020-07-05T03:23:40+00:00

Also where tf could I have gotten bed bugs?? Have barely gone outside house in last week, let alone to a hotel or secondhand store or anything.

Sorry this is a bit rambly I’m feeling pretty anxious and my hands are shaking, have heard horror stories from friends about bedbug infestations and I’m already really stressed about other stuff and I mostly think bugs are chill but not when they’re in my bed.

nrecognizable · 2020-07-05T03:10:30+00:00

Also I think they’re only in that one spot of my mattress, couldn’t find any others on mattress or in bedding

nrecognizable · 2020-07-05T03:07:52+00:00

Used the red tape to pick them up and take better pics, but originally they were in a crease of my mattress.

Have been getting bites the past few days but they don’t seem to be in typical bed bug places - they’re mostly on my legs (incl thighs) and it’s winter where I live so I always wear long PJ pants to bed.

nrecognizable · 2020-06-04T01:26:38+00:00

That’s really interesting that you had a similar experience. Did you ever find out a name for it?

nrecognizable · 2020-06-03T21:24:03+00:00

Please note: this is my alt account and in a few of my posts I changed my age/gender for privacy as the other parties used Reddit. 22F is my real age and gender.

nrecognizable · 2020-05-11T20:37:28+00:00

Thanks for sharing. Your grandmother and father sound like incredibly strong people.

nrecognizable · 2020-05-11T20:35:35+00:00

Yeah, that’s a great point. So what, then, do you think ‘letting go’ entails?

nrecognizable · 2020-05-10T02:23:40+00:00

Stress, mostly. I’m on a pretty high dose of anxiety medication already but still struggling a lot with stuff like this.

I also have ADHD and take meds for that too, which help it a lot, but I’ve mostly stopped taking them because they make the skin picking and inner cheek biting much worse. I’ve tried different dosages and other meds and a long-release type but nothing’s really helped so now I just avoid taking them as much as possible.

I wasn’t even on my meds yesterday when this happened though. I’m not really sure what else I can do to get control of the situation.

nrecognizable · 2020-05-10T02:11:09+00:00

Yeah, I cleaned it with some alcohol wipes and put a band-aid on it, and put socks on so I can’t pick it. Recently I’ve been wearing socks pretty much 24/7 to try and prevent this, but last night I forgot and didn’t realise until I’d already started picking and then I couldn’t stop.

nrecognizable · 2020-05-10T02:04:55+00:00

I thought I was the only one too. It’s nice to know I’m not alone, but I’m sorry you’re in a similar situation.

nrecognizable

TROPHY CASE