The BFRB thumb guard was the first fidget tool I bought to better cope with skin picking – especially at my fingers. The thumb guard is also a good helper for trichotillomania.
I noticed that when I’m not using my hands, my fingers are busy wandering around creating new skin to pick. Before I even know it, I tore off a cuticle or did more damage by “fixing” the tiniest bumps on my arms.
The thumbs are the main troublemakers. They can touch each finger, the middle finger and pointer tend to dig into the thumb, and we all know how bad the index finger+thumb combination can be for blemishes and hair.
Feeling leads to picking, pulling and biting.
So, it seemed like a good solution to put my main problem finger out of action by wearing a BFRB thumb guard. And it is was! I got mine from ThumbSnuggler.
What I love about the ThumbSnuggler BFRB thumb guard:
I love that it’s handmade and that glass beads are knitted into the thumb guard. I knew my nervous fingers would respond very well to the beads.
- The thumb guard can be put on very quickly, creating an immediate barrier
- My thumb is unable to act, so I can’t feel any hangnails or rough edges. And I can’t use my thumb and index finger to pick blemishes
- The beats are great sensory fidgets that keep my fingers busy
I keep the BFRB thumb guard in my living room-BFRB toolkit and use it mainly when watching TV, reading, or drawing. Working on the keyboard probably works great too.
“Probably” because my thumb guard is a little too big for me. I bought the standard/medium-sized finger fidget for the thumb.
However, ThumbSnuggler offers custom sizes and even different options such as covers for thumb+index finger, or thumb+index+middle finger.
A similar coping method is wearing cotton gloves.
