Am I the only person that peels the skin off my feet?

Question

Unfortunately, I have always had a problem with being annoyed at a piece of skin on my foot and then peeling it off and then working at the area until I am peeling big slabs of my friggin foot off (not literally of course, but some sizeable pieces) and often, I wind up hurting myself, not to mention it's HORRIBLE-looking. I have never met anyone else that does this.

Answer 1

I take an electric rotary tool with 80 grit sand paper and grind it off, that works better but be sure to do it for short periods at a time otherwise it will heat up and burn you.

Answer 2

You are not alone! I am guilty of this also! I recently got a new foot lotion that made a huge difference. You put it on at night and it works well. I just ran out so I don't have the bottle in front of me but - It's made by Curel and is in a blue bottle and says night foot cream, results in days, and costs about $5. I saw a difference after just a few nights. I still had the thicker skin and you could still see where I had peeled it but it was no longer white and dry looking. Looked and felt a lot better. Stayed moisturized. I also started to use the pumice stones and other types of foot scrapers things to scrub off the dead skin. I do this now at the tail end of my shower so that the dead skin is softer and easier to remove. This quells my urge to peel off sections of skin a little bit! I have peeled off such large pieces before that I actually started bleeding once and it looked horrible and hurt for a really long time! Anyway slowly but surely my feet have improved greatly.

I talked to my male cousin about this a few months ago when I was having problems and he does the grossest thing but swears by it! He uses a razor blade - an actual razor blade like you'd use to cut cardboard boxes -not a shaving type of razor and not a foot razor but a regular blade that you would put in a utility knife. That's a guy thing I guess! I never would have thought of that. Anyway, at night while he watches TV he uses the razor to carefully slice away dead skin. He doesn't wet his feet first. He does it while his feet are totally dry so he doesn't cut too deep. He says it's easy to take off too much when the skin is wet. He shaves off thin layers at a time. I tried it and it did work but I was too scared to use the razor. I kept remembering the time I peeled off too much and how much it hurt for a long time . I also tend to go to far and that's dangerous with a razor blade. That's when I started using the pumice and other scrapers for feet. I knew I needed something other than just lotion.
It took about a month for me to be satisfied with the skin and I still have a few problem areas but if I use the lotion at least every other night(I try to do every night but forget) and scrub for a minute or two at the end of my shower it should eventually resolve itself. No one but me can notice the "pr oblem areas" now.
I just can't let myself go back to peeling away the skin. Too gross like you said. I was even using toenail clippers and/or cuticle clippers to cut away skin then peeling it off. Leaving large sections of missing skin. OUCH and EWWW. Was a real hard habit to break but I can finally feel good about my feet in sandals. The skin on the ball of my feet and my heels aren't white and scaly from being so dry and thick and callused. My skin isn't thick in spots and missing patches of skin in others! My feet are a lot smoother now and more normal looking. It is harder now to walk outside barefoot though! That's about the only thing thick callused skin is good for! I'd much rather look and feel good in sandals and other summer shoe styles then walking around barefoot anyway!

GOOD LUCK!

Answer 3

I have the same problem and found that soaking your feet and then rubbing the bottoms with a pumice stone will soften them in no time. You can buy a pumice stone at Bed, Bath & Beyond or any drug stores.

Answer 4

my sister used to do this. its pretty much like when people bite their nails, just a little different. theres something called a pumice stone that is used for stuff like this. you can usually buy them at a local drug store. soak your feet in luke-warm water and when your feet are semi-dry, use the pumice stone. it works well and if you want to stop just keep thinking to yourself about how good youll feel when you stop. (:

Answer 5

i do it to. you know those sandpaper type scrubby thing for feet? use those but soak your feet like heck first so they a kind of puffy you know? soap in the water too. then put lotion on the afterwards. my feet are in complete heaven now and soft and dead skin free!!!!

Answer 6

yea i do it too and i thought i was the only one. and i also have a cuticle problem on my nails where the lil peices of flying skin piss me off and i yank em off with my fingers. it looks gross and feels gross but 'flying skin' ticks me off!!!

Answer 7

oh godd,

my friends tell me to stop, because it looks gross.

but like, i cant help it.
it's like picking at a hangnail or something.

i totally know how you feel.

:]

Answer 8

no my mom does it too.
and i think it is so disgusting.
she will just start doing it when she has nothing else to do.
lol

Answer 9

lol i think its pretty grosse
but i have a friend who does it all the time