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Picking your nose is a habit many people are familiar with.
Typically picking your nose doesnt cause any damage, but with rhinotillexomania, it could.
About 17% of the participants thought they had a serious problem.
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Another 25% experienced occasional nose bleeds.
Nose picking in public is often not socially acceptable.
This makes people with rhinotillexomania feel embarrassed whenever they feel the compulsion to pick their noses.
Some research shows that the condition is more common in children and young adults.
Some researchers classify rhinotillexomania as anobsessive-compulsive disorder.
Rhinotillexomania is acompulsionthat makes it hard to stop without treatment.
What Are the Dangers of Rhinotillexomania?
Rhinotillexomania could also be brought on by severe stress and anxiety.
As is the case with most compulsive disorders, theres no known cause for rhinotillexomania.
Research, however, offers some explanation as to why skin-picking disorders like rhinotillexomania occur.
Types
Rhinotillexomania can take on one of two forms.
For some people with the condition, picking at their noses with their fingers is satisfying enough.
Treatment for Rhinotillexomania
There is typically no treatment needed for nose-picking.
A treatment plan for rhinotillexomania typically depends on the severity of a persons condition.
If a stressor is causing it, eliminating the stressor in your life could cure your rhinotillexomania.
For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.
Andrade C, Srihari BS.A preliminary survey of Rhinotillexomania in an adolescent sample.Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
2018;10(8).
