Weaving and skin picking?

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Alright so I want to know if anyone on here does these things I do, and maybe if there's anyone on here very educated about different sensory input/stims etc they could perhaps explain why I'm doing each one maybe?

So firstly there's the weaving.. I call it weaving because it really does resemble the vice of that name in horses. While standing I kinda shift my weight from foot to foot without ever lifting my weight fully off either if that makes sense? It makes me rock slightly from side to side in a snakey pattern. I do it sitting too and the weave is more exaggerated then, but I don't get the nice blood rushing feeling in my feet as I do while standing.

Secondly there's the skin picking. I shred the skin around my nails, particularly on the thumbs, pretty much constantly. I do it very subconsciously and only notice when I go too deep and there's a sudden sting and bleeding. Most of the time it's just tiny little flakes that get picked off though. I seem to do this when I'm in very deep thought or contemplative, or when I'm in a stressful situation like a therapy session. People ask me if I'm doing it to hurt myself and the honest answer is I don't know. I don't stop when it does start hurting, but I don't think that's the goal I set out to achieve.. not that I really 'set out' with this, because it just happens when I'm not paying attention.

I also foot tap pretty much constantly, even when I'm powering down to sleep most nights. It's so severe that it shakes the dining room table and my parents sometimes tell me to stop it, and I only then notice I'm doing it. This one gets worse the more stressed I am I think.

Okay so are these stims? If so does anyone else do these particular things? Has anyone found alternatives they can use in public which feel similar?

Yes, yes & yes.

The main one of those 3 I try to prevent myself doing is the skin/cuticle picking as, like you say, it ends up getting pretty sore & even I find it a bit gross.

I try to keep a few pieces of knotted string with me. I find that playing with them, pushing the knots against my fingers etc is just as soothing as the skin picking.

Ah that does sound like it would feel pretty similar actually. I might try this and see what happens, because it would be good to not have shredded hands for a change definitely. Thank you!

I love picking at my thumbs.
Sometimes, I wear bandaids to prevent picking.

Ha I used to do that but it would drive me absolutely mad. The feel of the rough bandaid material was... unpleasant when I brushed against it, and it reminded me of how often I actually do pick at my skin, so every few minutes or so I was having this horrible jolty-something's-not-right feeling. Letting my skin get shredded was actually a better course of action heh.

Wearing gloves works, but obviously only in winter or when I'm filling haynets or something. Skin picking does seem to be my go-to stim when I'm anxious and need to calm down, so maybe depriving myself of that just isn't a good idea. Still won't hurt to try some things though, the knotted string especially. Still need to buy some. ^^'

Have you ever had people ask you if it's self harm? I don't really know what to answer them because technically it does hurt, I mean I take huge chunks out at times and it bleeds forever, but it's not intended. I admitted I was suicidal a month ago to my therapist and they wanted to take me into hospital, but I had a huge panic attack over it so they revised it to daily crisis team visits at home, but I'm worried that they'll take my skin picking to be something it's not.

I bite my nails constantly and pick at the skin around them. Sometimes it gets gross. I know it annoys some people I know. I do sometimes purposefully do it even when I know it will go too far and make my fingers painful for a short while. I think in a way, the small amount of pain helps me focus? Sort of like it cuts through the brain fog...

I also snap and wiggle my toes a lot. No one sees this (though sometimes my husband will hear my toes snapping.)

I used to bite my nails, and used MANY years to quit!
I have eczema and the itching and picking is constant. And it doesn't help that i also have blackheads, not only on my face, but most annoyingly and irresistible to pick on; on my boobs.

Not being able to hold still my feet and hands, did I notice was more of when I was switching my antidepressants between stepping down of the old one, and stepping up on the new one. I still have it, but not nearly as much.

I use to do the first two things you mentioned very often, but I don´t do foot tapping very much.
I also do the skin picking rather subconsciously, I often just realize I started again when someone tells me to stop. My parents don´t like when I do it and so they always want me to stop. I do it in the same situations like you, but also when I am bored and have nothing to do with my hands.

I went 15 or more years without ever cutting my fingernails cause I would bite them all the time. Then I saw a program on tv that said it was damaging my teeth. I looked in the mirror and saw that was pretty much happening my to teeth so I made a concious effort after that to be mindful of when I was biting my nails to think of the consequences each time. I also found making an effort to cut them short preventing me from biting them.

Making the connection between biting my nails and the consequences of destroying my teeth and prolly getting sick more often by sticking my fingers in my mouth helped me quit.

I still fidget a lot in other not destructive ways