Do you pick your hangnails? The doctor warns that you may be suffering from a little-known life-destroying condition

Hangnails are among one of the most annoying cosmetic problems — and you can’t blame those who get them often for dropping them off.

The small pieces of torn skin that appear next to a nail often get caught on clothing and jewelry and can look unsightly.

But now skin experts are warning that a constant desire to wipe the skin could be a sign of a recognized mental health condition.

The repeated urge to pick at your own skin is the telltale sign of a disease called dermatillomania – a little-known form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to the official definition.

In a clip on TikTok, LA-based podiatrist Dr. Dana Brems showed her 2.3 million followers what the condition looks like through a video of someone picking their own finger.

Doctors can diagnose the condition if someone starts “even to the point of damage or wounds.”

“The exact cause is not yet fully understood, but stress and anxiety can worsen symptoms,” she wrote in a caption.

The post sparked nearly 200 comments, mostly from users who identified with the habit.

“On today’s episode of things I didn’t know the names of,” a young woman named @anxiousshadoww wrote on TikTok.

“I have that and it makes my hands hurt,” another wrote, while one woman identified her skin picking as a “coping mechanism since I was a kid.”

According to estimates from the Cleveland Clinic, dermatillomania is believed to affect up to five percent of the U.S. population, about 16 million people, at some point in their lives.

Although it is considered a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD, there are important differences.

For example, the skin problem is not always accompanied by obsessive thoughts, and people with OCD usually do not intentionally harm themselves.

A key element of dermatillomania is the ruthlessness of the picking, to the extent that it begins to interfere with daily life, either due to injury or stress.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, there are two types of skin picking in dermatillomania.

Either automatically – which oIt often happens without anyone thinking about it – or focusing, and that’s when time is spent on the habit. Targeted picking is most associated with injuries.

This can make patients vulnerable to potentially serious infections and affects work, social life and other daily activities, according to the International OCD Foundation.

The condition mainly affects women and people who suffer from anxiety, studies show, and can be caused by major life traumas.

Fortunately, research shows that treatment can be effective in alleviating the habit. This includes specific types of cognitive behavioral therapy and SSRI antidepressants – the same kind used to treat anxiety disorders.