Recommendations For Treating Excoriation

Also known as dermatillomania, excoriation is a mental health condition closely related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. Patients who have excoriation repeatedly pick their skin, and the condition can cause significant disruption to daily life. Patients pick at healthy skin and also at scabs, lesions, pimples, calluses, and other skin irregularities. Some patients may spend several hours each day picking at their skin, and the condition frequently comes and goes, alternating between symptom-free periods and periods of high intensity. Women are diagnosed with excoriation more often than men, and the disorder affects a little over one percent of the population.