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DC picking at lips
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 2:01 pm
This child has had a string of nervous and gross habits like biting nails and picking nose. Some combination of reminders, bribes, and time have helped in the past. But this one is EXTREMELY persistent. It's also causing social issues - at least within the family, siblings are expressing a lot of annoyance and disgust (and it is legitimate, because DC is going to go ahead and touch shared property with the hands that are all over their mouth/nose)

I'm at a loss. No matter how much we remind DC they still keep doing it almost constantly. Help!
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amother
Aquamarine


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 3:37 pm
Yeah he actually can't just stop. It's a neurotransmitter imbalance causing it. Good luck finding help treating it.
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 3:40 pm
What neurotransmitter? Do you have any other info or tips? It's getting worrisome, DC is getting to an age where it's not so normal to have these habits
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Ema of 5




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 3:42 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
What neurotransmitter? Do you have any other info or tips? It's getting worrisome, DC is getting to an age where it's not so normal to have these habits

Have you taken your child to a neurologist?
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 3:44 pm
No, it never occurred to me to look for a neurologist for this. I never heard of such a thing.
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amother
Clover


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 3:48 pm
Dd had this. It usually stems from sensory issues. OT helps a lot but make sure it's a good OT who is skilled at sensory integration. If you don't treat the root, it will just keep getting transferred to other similar behaviors. Feel free to ask more q's.
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Ema of 5




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 3:49 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
No, it never occurred to me to look for a neurologist for this. I never heard of such a thing.

Sorry, I thought you said tics, not habits. Maybe speak to your pediatrician….
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amother
Hotpink


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 3:49 pm
My brother was like this in the end he just needed something to keep his hands busy like a stress ball or fidget spinner etc
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 3:51 pm
amother [ Clover ] wrote:
Dd had this. It usually stems from sensory issues. OT helps a lot but make sure it's a good OT who is skilled at sensory integration. If you don't treat the root, it will just keep getting transferred to other similar behaviors. Feel free to ask more q's.

What type of therapy helps with this? DC doesn't have any other signs of sensory issues, so how would they know what the root cause is? It's REALLY hard to find a good OT around here, is there any exercise that is just generally good for these things without having to go through a whole treatment?
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amother
Tangerine


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 4:08 pm
amother [ Aquamarine ] wrote:
Yeah he actually can't just stop. It's a neurotransmitter imbalance causing it. Good luck finding help treating it.
This. Both my kids are compulsive nail biters, nose pickers and skin pickers. It’s related to brain inflammation and dopamine issues for them. It’s called a body focused repetitive behavior, and behaviorally it’s on the ocd spectrum. Some ppl with this respond to very high doses of NAC. For us, antibiotics worked for a while and then stopped. Constitutional homeopathy stopped nail biting in 1 dc, but didn’t (yet) touch the skin picking.
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amother
Clover


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 4:14 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
What type of therapy helps with this? DC doesn't have any other signs of sensory issues, so how would they know what the root cause is? It's REALLY hard to find a good OT around here, is there any exercise that is just generally good for these things without having to go through a whole treatment?


All these behaviors that you describe are sensory seeking behaviors. You don't really need much more than that. These are all signs. Occupational therapy helps a lot with this. You can look online for good strategies, but it really needs to be a full treatment to be effective.
And these things usually last for life unless treated. Dh still picks his skin because it was never treated. Dd who received OT bh is so much better and doesn't do the lip picking anymore unless very stressed.
It's an investment for life for your child. Sensory needs can affect overall functioning for life. Which is why we are spending a mint on treatment, but hey, that's a parent's job-to give their child the best chance at life.
Take dc for an OT eval and see what they say.
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amother
Tangerine


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 4:18 pm
amother [ Clover ] wrote:
All these behaviors that you describe are sensory seeking behaviors. You don't really need much more than that. These are all signs. Occupational therapy helps a lot with this. You can look online for good strategies, but it really needs to be a full treatment to be effective.
And these things usually last for life unless treated. Dh still picks his skin because it was never treated. Dd who received OT bh is so much better and doesn't do the lip picking anymore unless very stressed.
It's an investment for life for your child. Sensory needs can affect overall functioning for life. Which is why we are spending a mint on treatment, but hey, that's a parent's job-to give their child the best chance at life.
Take dc for an OT eval and see what they say.
Its not sensory for my kids. I’m in the special education field, know a lot about sensory processing disorders and reflex integration. One of my kids has zero other sensory issues but lots of not classic anxiety and ocd issues (which again is a symptom, not a root cause). My other child is somewhat sensory seeking and has done a fair share of OT and I’m fairly certain it’s not a sensory symptom for them.
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amother
Clover


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 4:24 pm
Just want to add, it often comes along with add/adhd
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amother
Clover


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 4:28 pm
amother [ Tangerine ] wrote:
Its not sensory for my kids. I’m in the special education field, know a lot about sensory processing disorders and reflex integration. One of my kids has zero other sensory issues but lots of not classic anxiety and ocd issues (which again is a symptom, not a root cause). My other child is somewhat sensory seeking and has done a fair share of OT and I’m fairly certain it’s not a sensory symptom for them.


Which is why I recommended she take child for OT eval and see what they say.
OP is not necessarily in the field and versed enough to determine that.
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amother
Tangerine


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 4:54 pm
amother [ Clover ] wrote:
Just want to add, it often comes along with add/adhd
Which are also both highly correlated with dopamine issues. Neither spd, nor add/adhd are root causes. They are all symptoms of neurological imbalances. Which is usually a symptom of even deeper issues.
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mommy2x




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 5:07 pm
Try giving your child a fidget toy or silly putty-basically something else to occupy their hands.
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amother
Mintgreen


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 5:21 pm
I bite my nails, pick my lip, pick my fingers. It comes from anxiety and I've done it my entire life. Recently a psychiatrist I am seeing for something else told me it is actually a type of OCD but she doesn't treat it.
I do not have ADD/ADHD.
Just leave your child alone. Picking a nose is not healthy so stop that one.
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amother
OP


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 6:24 pm
I am well versed in sensory issues because of other family members.
We do also have a tendency to ADHD, this child is kind of borderline in that - functioning well and not in need of a diagnosis but our familiarity with ADHD is helpful to this child, if you get what I mean.
It does seem like it could be in the OCD category.
Is there something other than medication that could help with dopamine problems? Seems extreme to start playing with meds over something like skin picking but it is a real problem.

This child does do well with putty/fidgets but you can't keep those going ALL the time and your face is there literally all the time. So there's a constant going back to picking at their face. And no I can't just leave it alone - it's very unhygienic, could cause harm, and has social consequences. I did try ignoring it for a while because I worried that pointing it out would cause anxiety and make it worse, but I gave up on that because it wasn't stopping and it really needs to.
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amother
DarkYellow


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 6:26 pm
amother [ Tangerine ] wrote:
This. Both my kids are compulsive nail biters, nose pickers and skin pickers. It’s related to brain inflammation and dopamine issues for them. It’s called a body focused repetitive behavior, and behaviorally it’s on the ocd spectrum. Some ppl with this respond to very high doses of NAC. For us, antibiotics worked for a while and then stopped. Constitutional homeopathy stopped nail biting in 1 dc, but didn’t (yet) touch the skin picking.

What is considered a high dose of NAC that can work?
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amother
Clover


 

Post Sun, Nov 28 2021, 6:40 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
I am well versed in sensory issues because of other family members.
We do also have a tendency to ADHD, this child is kind of borderline in that - functioning well and not in need of a diagnosis but our familiarity with ADHD is helpful to this child, if you get what I mean.
It does seem like it could be in the OCD category.
Is there something other than medication that could help with dopamine problems? Seems extreme to start playing with meds over something like skin picking but it is a real problem.

This child does do well with putty/fidgets but you can't keep those going ALL the time and your face is there literally all the time. So there's a constant going back to picking at their face. And no I can't just leave it alone - it's very unhygienic, could cause harm, and has social consequences. I did try ignoring it for a while because I worried that pointing it out would cause anxiety and make it worse, but I gave up on that because it wasn't stopping and it really needs to.


I agree that you should try to get to the root of it and deal with it. Leaving it alone is not a solution and can definitely affect child socially.
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