Any painful self-harm alternatives that don't scar?

[nys]

I'm addicted to self harm. I can't make myself stop or I literally can't function at all because being in emotional pain will just take up all my energy. Cutting myself brings me a little bit of peace and then I can act semi-normal, but I don't want to do that anymore because it leaves terrible scars, and I'm terrified of someone seeing them and getting me institutionalized.

I've tried every self-harm alternative I've ever heard of. Exercise and drawing on my skin unfortunately doesn't help since I don't feel better unless I inflict physical pain on myself. Holding ice cubes doesn't hurt enough. Neither does snapping rubber bands. I'm looking for an alternative that's like using ice cubes or rubber bands, but a little more painful. Does anyone know any?

 

[Sick&TiredURGH]

Try punching walls instead maybe? Will hurt the knuckles and allow the anger and pain to flow out of you?
no idea why I am italicized right now...

 

[StarlightDreamer]

Nice to meet someone who's addicted as well.

Hands and fingers are among the most sensitive part of the body. For starters, I'd suggest crushing all your fingers together, roughly at the base of the Phalanges, according to this image. Note that you'll likely have to adjust, depending on your individual physiology.



Alternatively, you could try biting your fingers. This can produce sharp pain, and leaves a nifty indent in your skin for the trouble. If you draw blood, you've gone way too far.

Lastly, if you're seeking something more tactile, you can try punching yourself. This verges on self-harm territory IMO, but I mention it because it's better than cutting.

 

[Sick&TiredURGH]

I've punched myself before, enough to give me a black eye. I also have bashed my head against walls on a regular basis. Have not done this for a while as it is a good way to induce brain damage which probs would not help in the long run.
Maybe instead of holding the ice, you could fill a washing up bowl with water and lots of ice cubes, keeping your feet in there for a couple of minutes (no longer you don't want to end up with frostbite that shit is NASTY...)
It will be painful to the point of tears I should imagine.

 

[Angi]

Maybe dig your nails into sensitive parts of your body? Nails into the nail beds of other nails gives a bit of pain, but I have never had any visible scars from it.

 

[tiredplant777]

Yes. Hot sauce or hot peppers. I ate a red Habanero pepper a couple months ago when I had nothing better to do and it was genuinely so painful. Way more painful than any time I've cut myself from what I can remember (I haven't cut in well over a decade). When I ate the pepper, or part of it, I couldn't handle much lol, I also got that high you get from pain. Hot sauce is pretty popular now because of the youtube show Hot Ones, but yeah a really hot sauce or hot pepper would probably do the trick. As far as I know it doesn't harm the body at all either. The heat from the pepper is from a chemical that tricks your body into thinking its burning, but it actually isn't.

 

[NearlyIrrelevantCake]

My SH method of choice was always slamming my head into walls or other hard surfaces. Painful, rough, but no scarring.

 

[Hollowillow]

I'm addicted to self harm. I can't make myself stop or I literally can't function at all because being in emotional pain will just take up all my energy. Cutting myself brings me a little bit of peace and then I can act semi-normal, but I don't want to do that anymore because it leaves terrible scars, and I'm terrified of someone seeing them and getting me institutionalized.

I've tried every self-harm alternative I've ever heard of. Exercise and drawing on my skin unfortunately doesn't help since I don't feel better unless I inflict physical pain on myself. Holding ice cubes doesn't hurt enough. Neither does snapping rubber bands. I'm looking for an alternative that's like using ice cubes or rubber bands, but a little more painful. Does anyone know any?

BDSM? Whip? They might have tiny electric chocs?

If self harm releases dopamine... What else can. Exercise? Tiny cuts in muscles are said to make them stronger. Probably why bodybuilders get addicted. Try it? Nobody will mess with you anymore if you manage to push trough muscle pain.

I wonder if you have a nutritional deficiency

Maybe you function thanks to the adrenalin rush. People use coffe & cola. Energy drinks has a limit warning due to heart attacks? Might be win win?

I use B vitamins (meat) for energy. C & magnesium to relax (greens &... Nuts?)

It used to make life bearable but accidents made me too wounded... 10 years of efforts ruined in 5 minutes by some jerks (me included)

Rent a dominatrix? They might teach you stuff.

Needles under toenails? Too hard core, someone able could cut off their own head with a rusted saw.

I don't think more pain can cure pain. It made me more actively suicidal. But you do you.

 

[All-Dead-Y]

I use to bite myself. It doesn't scar, but you might have a few marks for a few days. Unless you do super hard ig

 

[wanttodie]

i stick safety pins into my arms for self harm.

 

[Life_and_Death]

My SH method of choice was always slamming my head into walls or other hard surfaces. Painful, rough, but no scarring.

no external scarring, youre still doing brain damage

I use to bite myself. It doesn't scar, but you might have a few marks for a few days. Unless you do super hard ig

my husbands had a bite scar for over 2 years now

 

[eliza23]

I'm addicted to self harm. I can't make myself stop or I literally can't function at all because being in emotional pain will just take up all my energy. Cutting myself brings me a little bit of peace and then I can act semi-normal, but I don't want to do that anymore because it leaves terrible scars, and I'm terrified of someone seeing them and getting me institutionalized.

I've tried every self-harm alternative I've ever heard of. Exercise and drawing on my skin unfortunately doesn't help since I don't feel better unless I inflict physical pain on myself. Holding ice cubes doesn't hurt enough. Neither does snapping rubber bands. I'm looking for an alternative that's like using ice cubes or rubber bands, but a little more painful. Does anyone know any?

well i mean i tried using a pot scrubber once on my skin just rubbing it up and down my legs and arms it left burns of some type, it hurt like a bitch and you can't wrap it up or it'll hurt worse and not get any better and i heal really slowly but i healed within about 2 weeks no scaring at all. well for me anyways I've actually never heard of anyone doing this before let alone with a pot scrubber ya know. but my chore at home used to be washing the dishes and my family would let them get so dirty id need a pot scrubber the flat dark green type ones. but there's also the type where you can just dig your nails into your skin on your arms or anywhere but your palms and not until you bleed per say but until it hurts enough that you feel better semi-normal you know, it worked for me and it left scaring that lasted a good few days then i never could see the scaring anymore and I'm a very white/pale person so i know a lot about scars being visible.

 

[emptyjokes]

I'm not sure if this will help because it is technically exercise, but I'd try out doing pushups on your knuckles instead of your palms. If you can do it on a hard surface that's even better. You can also just hold the pushup position, just keep your fists balled and knuckles on the ground. Don't punch, it's surprisingly easy to mess your hand up by punching extremely hard surfaces, but holding them there hurts pretty good.

 

[summers]

I'm not sure if this will help because it is technically exercise, but I'd try out doing pushups on your knuckles instead of your palms. If you can do it on a hard surface that's even better. You can also just hold the pushup position, just keep your fists balled and knuckles on the ground. Don't punch, it's surprisingly easy to mess your hand up by punching extremely hard surfaces, but holding them there hurts pretty good.

Even better, try sprinting up a steep hill or long set of steps over and over. You will literally hurt all over your body.

And if you want to literally hurt yourself, get 1.5in 27g needles and randomly poke them into your thighs. You'll know exactly when you hit a nerve. If you do this, I recommend using a whole syringe, and not just the needle. Hit a vein, and the blood will spray everywhere. There's a reason even the bigger bodybuilder usually don't inject into their legs. Biceps and calves are really painful too.

 

[RetroChaos]

Elastic bands on your wrists? I vaguely remember that technique back at school. Just ping it up and down to focus yourself.

I bite my fingers a lot but that may be a nerve thing

 

[theboy]

ice cubes with salt

 

[Ironweed]

​

I no longer SH, and in all honesty was never that into it, but when I did it I used to take a garden rubber mallet (see above) and hit myself on the fat of my thighs. At first I tried doing it with a regular 16 oz. (standard carpenter) hammer but that left visible bruises and black and blue marks. And honestly didn't hurt any more than a mallet.

I used to vary sitting and hitting myself on the top of the thigh and standing, raising the mallet to shoulder height, and slamming it into the outer thigh. Hurt like hell both ways, did turn the skin red, but never left any permanent marks.

The only three downsides I noted were that after a particularly intense session it was kind of hard to walk; I collapsed in the shower at least once, my legs being basically rubber bands. Second, my hand also slipped on at least one occasion, delivering an extremely painful blow to a rather delicate part of the male anatomy. Third, it is weirdly loud. You sound like you're tenderizing meat, which I suppose in a sense is exactly what you're doing. A definite "Smack!" sound with each blow. Fortunately for me I was able to go into a basement far enough away from prying eyes and ears to do what I needed to do.

I did it for about a year, at the same time I was studying for the CPA exam. Possibly stress motivated my actions, because once I passed the exam the urge to do this passed and I stopped. Dunno.

 

[Someonewhotypes]

i'd say waxing hair could do it.
Painful (check box)
Doesn't leave marks (check box)
Depending on the area, could be pretty painful.

 

[LivideLamb]

I'm currently in a situation where I can't cut anymore so instead I do things that don't attract attention. I punch myself usually in the knees, calves, thighs, and arms. It doesn't hurt as much as I would like but it's good enough for me right now. I like the fact that bruises last a long time, sure they fade but I like em either way. I puncture my skin with whatever I can find: clean needles, sharp objects, anything like that. It doesn't leave big scars so good enough for now.

 

[Suicidebydeath]

I'd go with sprinting until it hurts, combine with drinking water. Or exercise in general.

 

[BEATNGU]

Pick fights and intentionally lose. I am more addicted to the self inflicting emotional trauma of potentially dying so I usually play russian roulette but sometimes when I want to hurt I also choke or punch myself.

 

[PartlyHuman]

People recommend needles but puncture wounds actually are more prone to infections. One gave me the worst infection in my life so I'd advise to stay away from them or at least properly disinfect your needles.
On topic, burning skin with a lighter doesn't leave scars for me but I don't leave it long enough for it (be careful as burns are worse than cuts if you do get one). Also, if you live in a snowy region going on the snow barefoot can help with self-harm urges.

 

[Life_and_Death]

burning skin with a lighter doesn't leave scars for me but I don't leave it long enough for it

lol, my friends werent too impressed when i turned my fingers black in front of them

 

[PartlyHuman]

lol, my friends werent too impressed when i turned my fingers black in front of them

But it didn't scar, did it?

 

[Life_and_Death]

But it didn't scar, did it?

didnt hurt either, but they didnt seem completely aware of that. i didnt hold my fingers there, well sometimes i did. i either waved my fingers through the fire, or slowly lowered them into the fire giving me complete control over the amount of pain

 

[PaperGodzilla]

I used to slap myself sometimes when i thought smth was wrong with me or a situation i put myself in

 

[Life_and_Death]

rejection
at least its working for me. its painful and doesnt scar

 

[waitingforrest]

Yes. Hot sauce or hot peppers. I ate a red Habanero pepper a couple months ago when I had nothing better to do and it was genuinely so painful. Way more painful than any time I've cut myself from what I can remember (I haven't cut in well over a decade). When I ate the pepper, or part of it, I couldn't handle much lol, I also got that high you get from pain. Hot sauce is pretty popular now because of the youtube show Hot Ones, but yeah a really hot sauce or hot pepper would probably do the trick. As far as I know it doesn't harm the body at all either. The heat from the pepper is from a chemical that tricks your body into thinking its burning, but it actually isn't.

Yes. Holy f**k. I can say peppers felt like gargling sand. Nothing helped, water, milk, coffee, tea, even more peppers.

 

[James777]

I'm addicted to self harm. I can't make myself stop or I literally can't function at all because being in emotional pain will just take up all my energy. Cutting myself brings me a little bit of peace and then I can act semi-normal, but I don't want to do that anymore because it leaves terrible scars, and I'm terrified of someone seeing them and getting me institutionalized.

I've tried every self-harm alternative I've ever heard of. Exercise and drawing on my skin unfortunately doesn't help since I don't feel better unless I inflict physical pain on myself. Holding ice cubes doesn't hurt enough. Neither does snapping rubber bands. I'm looking for an alternative that's like using ice cubes or rubber bands, but a little more painful. Does anyone know any?

Might sound stupid but boxing?

 

[Life_and_Death]

Might sound stupid but boxing?

oh YES! i would use a punching bag without gloves. my knuckles would get all bloody (its funny how people stay on your good side when your knuckles are all bloody. ive NEVER hit a person in my life (at that point, i did end up slapping my mother) and people still thought i was going to murder someone one day lmfao), but they still look fine today. i should probably specify it was one of those cloth ones. the rough texture should do more damage. i have a smooth one now but havent used it yet.