Hi, welcome to HCM. Thanks for asking your query at this forum. We understand your concern. I have read your question carefully and understood it. I will try my best to answer it. It appears that you are having repeated urge to peel the skin. As you told, you feel yourself compelled to peel the skin despite knowing that you are actually doing harm to yourself. It shows that you are obsessed with the idea/impulse of peeling your skin. Persons suffering from these kind of problem, know that these thoughts/ideas/impulses are un-necessary, absurd and unwanted. They want to resist these thoughts and impulses. But after initial some period of resistance they start feeling un-comfort and inner restlessness. After some time of resistance they give up and indulge in compulsive act. In your case due to past experience of bleeding while doing so, you might be considering the act of peeling unhealthy, absurd and unwanted. You might be resisting it also and while resisting it might be causing inner restlessness and anxiety. So apparently you give up after some time and peel your skin again, just to have a little relief for short period of time. This repeated peeling at the cost of health is a cause of concern for me. You may need to be prescribed few psychotropic medicines and/or psychotherapy for a period of time to control your impulse/urge. I hope it answers your query. I wish you all the best.