it was only yesterday i thought to myself..

.."i havent had any of those mysterious scratches appear on my face for months now".

i think you can probably guess what ive just found.

were going to solve this mystery because its a bit like the x files. but far less exciting. anyway, here is a recap of the situation, in case you missed the last thread:

a few years ago now (im not sure exactly when, but i reckon between 3 and 5 years ago), i started noticing that i would have the occasional scratch on my face, without knowing where it came from. one would appear every few weeks and sometimes this pattern would stop for months at a time. all of the scratches ive noticed have been on or around my nose. the area of the scratches where the skin is actually broken is very thin. i have a bluntish drawing pin here, and id say its thinner than the tip of that.

i had assumed all these scratches appeared at night, but on a few occasions i noticed scratches late on in the day that had not been there in the morning. it has been suggested that maybe ive done it without realising with my fingernail as i sometimes bite them, though i have tried numerous times to replicate the scratch with my nails, without success. i dont want to disregard this entirely but im not really finding it a satisfactory explanation at the moment.

shaving is another obvious suspect, but i havent shaved today and there have been plenty more of the scratches ive found on days i havent shaved. besides which, they are almost always located in places i dont shave i did, however, shave on thursday. is it possible for a scratch not to appear red till two days after it occured? it doesnt sound possible, but then im no doctor.

ive taken some photos of the latest one, so that you know im not crazy. i dont think they show enough detail to provide any clues themselves but whatever. youll have to look at me closer than you probably ever wanted to, but the image is kind of grainy cause of the shitty camera i have at my disposal (and the poor lighting in here), so it might not be so bad. besides, this is for science.

EDIT: tl;dr: a polterghost am scratch my face, help plz.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Bears.

That's a big scratch.

This mystery of yours is finally unnerving me too.

Cat

Any new theories, Banth? I got nothin'.

Ninja cat

Razor filled pillows

Plastic threads that stick out a bit

um.... go see a skin doctor??? I've had scartches appear out of nowhere before, but never on my face.....

the only other thing i can think of, is i might intentionally be doing it to myself in my sleep. i did used to sleepwalk when i was a lot younger, but that stopped over 10 years ago. im not sure what id be using, either. any of the knives in my kitchen, sharp enough to scratch would probably give me a much worse cut. it couldnt have explained the last one, either because my dad was already awake when i went to bed this morning and im sure hed have noticed.

it could have been scissors, although i lost my scissors when i reorganized my bedroom, which again would mean finding another pair downstairs.

also, there are no bears, cats or any other animal in my house. i can also tell you that the scratch is a lot thinner than from a dogs claws, though ive never been scratched by a cat, to my knowledge.

alecs wrote:

Plastic threads that stick out a bit

what do you mean?

AceCombat wrote:

um.... go see a skin doctor??? I've had scartches appear out of nowhere before, but never on my face.....

really? do they sound similar to mine? did you go and see a skin doctor?

i suppose its possible i get scratched on other parts of my body and dont notice.

Your pillow or blanket is sewn with some plastic threads that are rigid and haven't been cut properly or are lose so they stick out and scratch you.

bantha_fodder wrote:

AceCombat wrote:

um.... go see a skin doctor??? I've had scartches appear out of nowhere before, but never on my face.....

really? do they sound similar to mine? did you go and see a skin doctor?

i suppose its possible i get scratched on other parts of my body and dont notice.

they seem similar to yours, and I also have problems with moving in my sleep... I didn't see a doctor because it was only once, but if it were a recurring thing I would just to be on the safe side

if you have a down pillow, sometimes the edge of the feathers can pop out and scratch you as well

alecs wrote:

Your pillow or blanket is sewn with some plastic threads that are rigid and haven't been cut properly or are lose so they stick out and scratch you.

a quick check reveals nothing like that, but the labels on my pillows are sort of a papery. i paper cut from those isnt out of the realms of possibility. im not sure what the labels were like on the pillows i had 3-5 years ago, though.

AceCombat wrote:

if you have a down pillow, sometimes the edge of the feathers can pop out and scratch you as well

no feathers in these pillows: 100% polyester fillings.

probably the only real way to know for sure whats causing this is to constantly film myself until it happens again.

yes but you'd also have to watch all the footage.....

just go to the doctor.... that's what they're there for

i seriously doubt a doctor would be able to tell what caused the scratch. also, going to the doctors because of a scratch would be insane.

obviously if you're worried about it, it's not insane....

im not worried about it in a medical sense, i just want to know whats causing it.

them filming yourself seems about right....

Scully, I would