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Help with Dermatillomania (compulsive picking of skin)

Blessed

My wonderful 16 year old autistic son suffers with Dermatillomania.  He picks at the skin on his hands, feet, chest, legs, arms and around his fingernails until they bleed.  He is on Fluoxetine for anxiety which has helped a lot but he still picks, makes himself bleed and in turn is leaving scars.  I have read about the benefits of Vitamin B Inositol and was wondering if anyone has tried this or has any other offers of help.  

Parents

  • There have been quite a few clinical trials on Inositol, eg this one www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.../8780431

    Also may be worth trying N-Acetyl-Cysteine as this can can help some complusive disorders. Was going to try it myself as I am a finger-biter - with me its a sensory thing, trying to get it perfectly smooth - of course there is always one little flaky bit sticking out that demands another bite. Flexitol cracked finger cream is good for the ends of fingers.

    The body skin picking sounds like it might be nodular prurigo - this is an autoimmune disorder that makes the skin so itchy, people pick obsessively and it sets off a vicious cycle. I know someone with it - she turned out to have a dangerously low vitamin D level (and coincidentally, has an autistic daughter)
    Some useful info on this website www.nodular-prurigo.org.uk

Reply

  • There have been quite a few clinical trials on Inositol, eg this one www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.../8780431

    Also may be worth trying N-Acetyl-Cysteine as this can can help some complusive disorders. Was going to try it myself as I am a finger-biter - with me its a sensory thing, trying to get it perfectly smooth - of course there is always one little flaky bit sticking out that demands another bite. Flexitol cracked finger cream is good for the ends of fingers.

    The body skin picking sounds like it might be nodular prurigo - this is an autoimmune disorder that makes the skin so itchy, people pick obsessively and it sets off a vicious cycle. I know someone with it - she turned out to have a dangerously low vitamin D level (and coincidentally, has an autistic daughter)
    Some useful info on this website www.nodular-prurigo.org.uk

Children
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