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Dermatophagia. Dermatophagia (from Ancient Greek δέρμα — lit. skin and φαγεία lit. eating) or dermatodaxia (from δήξις, lit. biting) [3] is a compulsion disorder of gnawing or biting one's own skin, most commonly at the fingers. This action can either be conscious or unconscious [4] and it is considered to be a type of pica.
The most common way to pick is to use the fingers although a significant minority of people use tools such as tweezers or needles. Skin picking often occurs as a result of some other triggering cause. Some common triggers are feeling or examining irregularities on the skin, and feeling anxiety or other negative feelings.
Biting the fingers and lips is a definitive feature of Lesch–Nyhan syndrome; in other syndromes associated with self-injury, the behaviors usually consist of head banging and nonspecific self-mutilation, but not biting of the cheeks, lips and fingers.
Causes In children the primary source of infection is the orofacial area, and it is commonly inferred that the virus (in this case commonly HSV-1) is transferred by the cutting, chewing or sucking of fingernail or thumbnail.
Nail biting is very common, especially amongst children. 25–35 percent of children bite nails. More pathological forms of nails biting are considered an impulse control disorder in the DSM-IV-R and are classified under obsessive-compulsive and related disorders in the DSM-5 .
Nail biting; Pulling hair; Chewing fingers (in extreme cases, leading to amputation) Possible causes. This section will focus on the causes for autophagia in humans. There is no single primary cause for autophagia.
Onychotillomania is a compulsive behavior in which a person picks constantly at the nails or tries to tear them off. [1] It is not the same as onychophagia, where the nails are bitten or chewed, or dermatillomania, where skin is bitten or scratched.
Not to be confused with Whitlow. Paronychia is an inflammation of the skin around the nail, which can occur suddenly, when it is usually due to the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, or gradually when it is commonly caused by the fungus Candida albicans.
Tinea manuum. Diabetes, high blood pressure, weak immune system, humid surroundings, excessive sweating, recurrent hand trauma and cracks, pet owners, farmworkers. [3] Tinea manuum is a fungal infection of the hand, mostly a type of dermatophytosis, often part of two feet-one hand syndrome.
Also known as "true" leukonychia, this is the most common form of leukonychia, in which small white spots appear on the nails. Picking and biting of the nails are a prominent cause in young children and nail biters. Besides parakeratosis, air that is trapped between the cells may also cause this appearance. [5]