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In herpetology, dermatophagia is used to correctly describe the act in which amphibians and reptiles eat the skin they shed, but this is not what occurs in humans. Those diagnosed with this disorder do not develop wounds on the bitten areas of their hands or lose any skin.
Nail biting, also known as onychophagy or onychophagia, is an oral compulsive habit of biting one's fingernails. It is sometimes described as a parafunctional activity, the common use of the mouth for an activity other than speaking, eating, or drinking. Nail biting is very common, especially amongst children. 25–35 percent of children bite ...
Compulsive picking of the knuckles (via mouth) illustrating potentially temporary disfiguration of the distal and proximal joints of the middle and little fingers. The fingers have been compulsively picked and chewed in someone with excoriation disorder and dermatophagia .
The problem doesn't stop at nails, either. Habitual nail-biters often chomp on the skin around their fingers, too, leaving open cuts and abrasions that could easily pick up even more...
Paronychia is an inflammation of the skin around the nail, which can occur suddenly (acute), when it is usually due to the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, or gradually (chronic) when it is commonly caused by Candida albicans. The term is from Greek: παρωνυχία from para, "around", onyx, "nail" and the noun suffix -ia.
It is not the same as onychophagia, where the nails are bitten or chewed, or dermatillomania, where skin is bitten or scratched. Onychotillomania can be categorized as a body-focused repetitive behavior in the DSM-5 and is a form of skin picking, also known as excorciation disorder.
Nail clubbing - nails that curve down around the fingertips with nailbeds that bulge is associated with oxygen deprivation and lung, heart, or liver disease. Koilonychia - spooning, or nails that grow upwards. Associated with iron-deficiency anaemia or vitamin B 12 deficiency. [citation needed] Pitting of the nails is associated with psoriasis.
When both hands are affected, the rash looks different on each hand, with palmer creases appearing whitish if the infection has been present for a long time. It can be itchy and look slightly raised. Nails may also be affected. The most common cause is Trichophyton rubrum.
Autophagia. Autophagia refers to the practice of biting/consuming one's body. It is a sub category of self-injurious behavior (SIB). [1] Commonly, it manifests in humans as nail biting and hair pulling. In rarer circumstances, it manifests as serious self mutilative behavior such as biting off one's fingers. [2]
As the disease progresses, the skin may crack, leading to bacterial skin infection and inflammation of the lymphatic vessels. If allowed to grow for too long, athlete's foot fungus may spread to infect the toenails , [19] feeding on the keratin in them, a condition called onychomycosis .
