Hi ! Recently I’ve been washing and sanitizing my hands so much to the point that my hands are completely red, cracked, fighting feeling sometimes, and it’s painful. I’m trying to work on not washing and sanitizing so much but it’s hard. Any advice is appreciated ! And if anyone has any suggestions as to products to use to help my hands heal I would really appreciate it !!
I dealt with this a lot. Start reducing handwashing. Only wash your hands when you have a verifiable reason to do so, like you pet a dog and you're about to eat a sandwich. Or you went to the bathroom and you're practicing good hygiene. Do not duplicate washing your hands to get the "right feeling". We now only wash our hands one time, for a verifiable reason such as gardening and about to eat, dog petting, about to eat, bathroom visit, leaving bathroom. Only once. You do not wash your hands for longer than 30 seconds. And leave your sanitizer at home, or throw it out all together. You got this, if I can beat this one you can too. Feelings are not facts, just because your hands feel dirty doesn't mean they are, that's your brain lying to you. Products to help petroleum jelly, and undderly smooth hand cream. Don't use lotions with fragrances cause they can sting.
Udderly smooth hand cream I mean lol
This is a difficult situation that I have dealt with extensively. From my experience, what works is ERP. Give yourself grace, and focus on just doing your exposures and trying to maintain your sanity. When it comes to products, try using gentle/hydrating soaps (dove has some great body soaps that can prob be used as hand soap). My absolute ride or die hand cream is Aveeno deep hydration (the dark blue one). It brought my hands back from exactly what you’re describing, and I’d recommend it a million times over. I’d recommend just using a lot of aveeno and aquaphor before bed, so it can really soak into your skin. For something when you’re out and about, loccitane has a great hand cream too. I also like the bath and body works sanitizers because they aren’t as drying for me as normal hand sanitizers. I know what you’re going through is quite literally hell, but it gets so much better. Stay strong, you’ve got this! ❤️
I obsess constantly about my hands being dirty and feel like I can actually see the germs and bacteria crawling all over my hands if I can’t wash them as soon as I touch something. It’s really embarrassing since people in my life have noticed this “weird” behavior but it’s a huge problem for me and I don’t know how to make the obsessive thoughts stop.
Does anyone have any tips that helped them? Mine is due to a specific person and I work with them so it’s been really difficult. I’ve started ERP which has been reaaalllllly challenging and I would love to hear from anyone else that has gone through any type of contamination ocd and how they have overcome or are fighting their way through it. Thank you!l
Hi everyone. <3 was wondering if anyone with experience dealing with excoriation/skin-picking disorder has some tips or tricks that have particularly helped them. Came to NOCD this week for help - first timer that would really like to be able to wear a tank top again 😅🫠 I did join the BFRB support group but unfortunately will be on a night shift this week when it meets . Thank you in advance ❤️
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