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Dermatophagia (from Ancient Greek δέρμα — lit. skin and φαγεία lit. eating) or dermatodaxia (from δήξις, lit. biting) is a compulsion disorder of gnawing or biting one's own skin, most commonly at the fingers.
The fingers have been compulsively picked and chewed in someone with excoriation disorder and dermatophagia. Compulsive picking of the face using nail pliers and tweezers. Episodes of skin picking are often preceded or accompanied by tension, anxiety, or stress. In some cases, following picking, the affected person may feel depressed.
The resulting behavior consists of the rats licking and then chewing their nails, and the tips of their toes. In extreme cases, the rats will chew off whole toes or even the foot. In animals, autophagia tends to be restricted to the hind limbs and the lower parts of the abdomen. Symptoms include chewing of limbs, paws and tails.
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.
How do you stop biting your nails? An approach called habit replacement could help nail biters quit. It could also help with skin picking and trichotillomania.
Onychotillomania is a compulsive behavior in which a person picks constantly at the nails or tries to tear them off. It is not the same as onychophagia, where the nails are bitten or chewed, or dermatillomania, where skin is bitten or scratched.
In more severe cases, the motions may become harmful to the individual, and may involve things such as ripping, tearing, or chewing at the skin around one's fingernails, lips, or other body parts to the point of bleeding. Psychomotor agitation is typically found in various mental disorders, especially in psychotic and mood disorders.
This research may offer relief for people with repetitive body-focused behaviors — such as skin picking and hair pulling — that can affect their mental health.
Body-focused repetitive behavior. Dermatillomania (picking of the skin) of the knuckles (via mouth), illustrating disfiguration of the distal and proximal joints of the middle and little fingers.
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 bacteria or ...