Hello
I am looking for advice on how to stop my 12 year old son from picking. He has always picked at things and fidgeted with things in his hand (Absolutely loves to click the battery cover on the back of TV/VCR remotes). Recently his picking seems to have become more serious. He had picked at the shag carpet in his bedroom so much he now had a hole the size of a 50 cent piece in the middle of his bedroom floor! He has also been taking tweezers and picking at a hair on his leg. He has plucked so many hairs he has a bare patch on his leg. Worse though he has picked a small hole in his leg right next to a mole and cannot or will not let it heal (hes been doing this for about 3 weeks or so) I hid the tweezers. I have spoken to him about this. I put a bandaid and neosporin on it etc.
Any advice how to stop the picking?
I struggled with this very issue with my dd. She obsesses about everything. Don't let her have a scratch.... it will take weeks to heal. She picks even the most mininal of boo boos. I don't know about your child, but Gracie has OCD pretty bad. We tried several things and finally resorted to Paxil. It has helped SOOOO much. She still has her moments but for the most part, it's over.This problem was also discussed in July, and got lots of responses. You might want to check it out while you wait for replies to your question.
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=17942&am p;KW=vaseline
Good luck with everything!
Thank you for the link to the other thread. It is helpful to know we aren't alone.
My son does have OCD and Anxiety. He is on Luvox for those issues.
He isn't really a picker as far as skin issues like mosquito bites or something like that I don't think he even notices those, and I can't think of a time there was another skin issue. This "picking" (Maybe I'm using the wrong word?) is plucking hairs from his leg. So many that he has a bald patch and little red dots where the hairs have been plucked. I think it started with a hair by the mole -it always bothered him. I would trim it off with scissors giving it a "haircut". I think maybe he tried to do it himself and in doing this apparently the hair became ingown and he dug to get it out leaving the wound I mentioned. But now he won't leave it alone to heal.
He also pulls the strands of shag carpet so much that there is a hole in the middle of his floor! He can't (or wont) stop! He isolates in his room all day long. Won't come to the living room to interact and when he rarely agrees to play with his sister he refuses to play in her room EVER. He really dislikes when he has to go on errands with me. He hates to go outside, doesn't like walks, the park, riding his bike, wasn't interested in the fair etc.
I am seeing this as maybe a calming thing? Sensory seeking behaviors? Habit? Whatever it is I need to know how to stop it. I can't afford to be replacing carpet (We rent) Does anyone know if there is something to help replace this issue? I placed a large rug in the middle of his floor but he still got to the long strands of carpet where the rug didn't cover.
It sounds like what you're dealing with might be a form of "trichotillomania." Here's an introduction to it on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichotillomania
It could very well fill a sensory need for your son. If you want an overview over his sensory issues, you can try this checklist:
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-processin g-disorder-checklist.html
I hope you find the answers you're looking for.
I also found this checklist for making observations about hairpulling behavior.
http://www.travisps.com/quizzes-main/main-trich1.asp