addicted to scratching the dandruff flakes from my head

I have the same problem ! I'm 13 , and I sit in class and run my fingers through my hair and pick the flakes of dandruff onto my fingernails and then flick them off . I love to do it, and it feels good, but I don't know how to stop . My hair is insanely greasy and I have to wash it every night because of the dandruff, but I don't know how to stop picking. I usually pick at the back of my neck, along my hairline, and in the crown of my hair. And even around the outer edges of my hairline. Its really annoying and I know it looks weird. So how do I stop ?

Like everyones been saying it's hard to stop but if you really want to you need to stop picking at it. I found that picking it off on a daily basis causes it to come back faster and faster. If u just ignore it and use some of that tar shampoo that people talk about and ull have less and less flakes until barely any at all. (( thats advice if u have mild flakes )) If you have scalp psorasis thats a whole different issue all together and u will deffenitly need to see a specialist to get advice on that.

I have the same problem.
It is really hard to explain to my mom. She always tells me to stop itching and to use an itch relief, but it is not an itch.
It is just a really bad habit that makes my skin oily and makes me feel gross after.
When I get stressed from studying or anything, and even when I am watching tv and reading I find myself scratching my head.
I am now getting athritis in my fingers because of this habbit.

Here is what I have done
-I made it my New years resolution to kick this habit( This made me more conscience of when I was doing it)
-Use Selsun or Nizoral shampoo(It takes away the flakes. I mix this with Head and shoulders, so I can conserve it)
-Always use conditioner
-I wear a hair clip in my hair (So when my hand touches it I am reminded to not touch my head)
-Use an after shower hair moisturizer that stays in all day.
-Mits, toque, and hats (not the best, but it works)
-Cut nails
-I also have a stress ball beside me. So when I am stressed I grab the stress ball and keep my hands busy with that.
-Gold Bond itch POWDER if you are at home all day( I know it is not an itch, but the cooling sensation feels good and reminds you to not touch).

Try anyone one of these.

I would love to see a piece of flake the size of a half dollar holy c**p that would be awsome.. I love picking the flakes off my head to. My head doesn't itch at all but I run my thin comb through my scalp every day and when i feel it stop i know im on a flake. I usally check that area out in the mirror then goto town and try and pick it off whole. I save the flakes to in an air tight jar why? I dono it's a wierd ass compulsion. I used have an x girlfriend do it to me, she used pick flakes off frm behind my ears and she'd always ask me if she could check out my head for flakes shed spend 20 mins or so picking this and that while i watched tv then she'd show me all she got off my head before she dumped it all down the toilet. After we broke up I found that I picked up the habbit.

I am absolutely wetting myself laughing. I'm so glad to see there are other people the same as me, I knew I couldn't have been alone. I love the enthusiasm that some of you write with about the size of the flakes you have found in your heads!

I don't suffer from dandruff/flaky scalp personally but I am completely obsessed with searching through family members heads and my poor boyfriend. Not that he seems to mind too much, but just not in public! I love putting down black t-shirt or towel and letting the flakes fall onto that too. When I see a really big juicy one I actually start to salivate a bit and gasp with excitement. They all say it's like monkey behaviour and a form of grooming. I've always wondered why I was so obsessed with it as I'd never actually looked to see if anyone else was, now I realise it's quite normal!?!? I think it's really satisfying, sometimes I can be there for an hour searching, or scratching to try and create more flakes to get out.

Have never had the compulsion to collect them in a jar though - that's a new one to me. Although I did used to know someone who collected her scabs in a jar.

I'm glad to know I'm not alone.

I've spent years looking for the right shampoo to keep my head from itching but I'm starting to see that most of my eczema won't go away because I keep scratching it and irritating it! In fact, I just came out of my office bathroom. I spent several minutes looking at my scalp in the mirror and finding large flakes to scratch off.

Like many people on this thread, I also engage in the "snow" ritual. I will then pick it up with my fingers and marvel and how much white stuff I managed to scratch off. I frequently feel like a crazy person.

Does anyone have any tips about what to do or how to control my hands when I feel like I need to scratch?

im a 13 year old boy and i have this too, for some reason i find it great to see how big of a flake i can produce, i have the scabs but i really want to stop, for some reason i do know this will likely get better for me if the scabs go away because at least i will be able to cut my hair short without being afraid others can see the scabs. i will try the idea of replacing it with another thing. i think it is possible that because of ocd running on my moms sde of the family that i do this but am not sur.

A bunch of you (probably not all) may have Tinea Capitis.

Look it up on google.

Then go see your doctor and get an anti fungal treatment.

I moved to Vegas from Wisconsin and received dandruff problems. I am 13 and I thought i was crazy because I scratched my head all of the time! In class, in my room and it usually ends up going on for about 30 minuets! In fact, I was just in the bathroom scratching the flakes off. I have a problem where my ears inflame extremely easily so each time, my ears inflame. I was wondering, when i scratch my head like this, will i just end up making it worse?

i myself have the same problem and only 13. i sometimes at school bend under the table to get a few seconds to scratch. every morning when i wake p flakes cover my pillow. for those of u who have the same problem i know how u fill. :$

Picker/scratcher here also!!!

I've been 'picking' for years and years until the point of blood. = I was rx'd 'visteril' for this and it didn't calm me a bit. The docs also said it was anxiety and OCD.

bahahha i do the same thing!! i just sit there picking at my head its CRAZY addictive

Im the gut with the brother with half dollar size pieces. He went to the doctor and I went with him. I asked if it was fungal she said no. She asked why he scratched and he said it itches, burns and needs to get it out because he wants a social life. I told her sometimes i even help him. she gave him zoloft, and said use t-gel. to our protest thats what happend. but we asked for a referal to a dermatologist. one month later, we go to dermatologist. He is like a zombie, doesnt touch head, not because of zoloft but because the doctor said not too. the winter killed his scalp and now that its spring its getting worse (his allergies). well he asked me to go to the dermatologist with him, when we told him the scenario. the dr. laughed cause it was apparent it wasnt ocd, or caused by the scratching. the doctor was so intrigued by his dandruff he had the PA and a student come in with my bros permission. he called his GP and said zoloft wasnt needed, problem 1 solved. problem 2...the dandruff...its dandruff nothing else....but he was given a script and told try not to scratch it. i believe it was 6 weeks of steroids. so the doctor wanted to take samples, so the PA and student were there with little dishes and combs, three comb throughs each and those covers barely went on,  so on the way home he drops his script off, and goes to our friend who cuts hair. explains the long hair and dandruff, and how cutting it hurts but it was time. He clogged those damn electric clippers like 4 times. if i had a picture.... it looked like shoveling a spot on a driveway during a snow storm. his dandruff was over an inch deep in SOME parts of his hair. they buzzed it. We picked up his script. he showered. his hair dried, and then he asked me to comb out what i could. twenty minutes and sore wrist later, i was done. for the next few weeks it got easier, he took his roids, showered with a good shampoo, and cleared his head from druff every other day. eventually it has become a minute issue. a flake here a flake there....his golf ball, inch thick, currency sized dandruff is no more. it remains to be seen if after the 6 weeks of steroids the druff will return. kimda hope it does dermatologist said it probably could set a guiness book record if we combed out and weighed dandruff. ....so the moral of the story is dont let your GP make you sound crazy cause you have bad dandruff and want it out of yout hair.  good luck
-mike

oh my god i honestly thought i was the only person in the world that did this...i love the feeling of pciking the white stuff out my finmgers afterwards too! sounds so gross but so strangely comforting. i do it more when im nervous/angry/upset. its really nice to hear that other people do it too!!!! i always get paranoid that someone is watching me do it but no one has ever said something, i never realise im doing it until my head starts getting sore! such a strange strange obsession....

Hey i have the same exact problem but mines is a little off. I scrtach alot imean ALOT it bleeds and im addicted to taking a tissue and pressing it and see the blood. Not the only thing but i keep the best dandruff in a plastic bag. So im kinda abnormal in the normal dandruff crowd8-|