Treating Dermotillomania

Compulsive skin picking, also known as dermotillomania is believed to affect as many as 1 in 20 people. Even though this obsesive compulsive spectrum affects so many people, it is not well known in the general medical community. Your primary care physician more than likely knows what dermotillomania is but is not privvy on how to treat it. It is important to get a referral to a psychological expert or therapist that can help you with your skin picking disorder.
Picking at your skin is nothing to be ashamed of. The fact is that roughly 1 in every 20 people has had an episode of skin picking in their lifetime. Skin picking is generally brought on during times of anxiety and stress. When the urge to pick at the skin is not chrnoic but acute due to stress and anxiety the specialist will probably order anti-anxiety medications such as Ativan, Klonopin, or Xanax. Anti-depressant medications are also used such as Prozac, Celexa, and Zoloft.

Aside from medications the use of congnitive behavioral therapy is use, habit reversal therapy, and talk therapy are use. During cognitive therapy the skin picker will learn how destructive skin picking can be, learn new ways of thinking, and learn that picking at the skin will not help the stuation and even if you are just answering to the urge that even after you pick the urge will come back. Cognitive behavioral therapy for skin picking will teach you how to cope with this. With habit reversal therapy the dermotillomania specialist will teach the patient how to replace the bad and destructive habit of skin picking with something more healthy. The specialist will teach the skin picker alternative things to do when the urge to pick at their skin arises.

Sometimes the skin picking can be so severe that the person picks a deep wound that may require stitches and sometimes even surgery. Picking at the skin, whether severe or not, causes breaks in the skin to where bacteria can enter and cause infection. People with dermotillomania often have to take oral antibiotics to get rid of infections and wear dressings with triple antiobiotic ouinment over their wounds.

Skin picking (dermotillomania) is often accompanies by hair pulling (trichotillomania). Both disorders need to be treated not only for the physical reprecussions causesd by the disorders but also for the emotional damage it can cause. People with these disorders can feel gulit and shame which can lead to depression. If you suffer from either of these disorders know that you are not alone it is just important that you find a specialist that understands your disorder and can effectively treat you both physically and emotionally.

Sources:
Skin Picking Disorder Fact Sheet
http://www.ocfoundation.org/uploadedFiles/MainContent/Find_Help/Skin%20Picking%20Disorder%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
Compulsive skin picking, neurotic excoriations. DermNet NZ
http://dermnetnz.org/systemic/skin-picking.html
About_SkinPicking_Web.pdf
http://www.trich.org/dnld/About_SkinPicking_Web.pdf
Compulsive Skin Picking - Dermotillomania
http://www.brainphysics.com/skin-picking.php
Skin Picking
http://www.skinpick.com/skin-picking-forum