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.
Those affected with dermatophagia typically bite the skin around the nails, leading to bleeding and discoloration over time. Some people also bite on their skin on their finger knuckles which can lead to pain and bleeding just by moving their fingers. 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 bitt areas of their hands or lose any skin. Instead, they experice a thicking of the skin being repeatedly bitt.
Nail Biting May Be Included As A Symptom Of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
And this was addressed in the DSM-5 wh dermatophagia and other related disorders were classified as 'other specified obsessive-compulsive related disorders' and are giv the specification of body focused repetitive behavior.
Those with dermatophagia typically chew the skin surrounding their fingernails and joints. They also chew on the inside of their mouth, cheeks, and/or lips, causing blisters in and outside of the mouth. If the behavior is left unchecked for an extded period, calluses may start to develop where most of the biting is done.
Blisters in particular can cause a feeling of desire to pull or bite off the affected skin and nails (since the skin is dead, thus easily pulled off), which could be detrimtal, causing infection. Another disorder, known as excoriation disorder, the repetitive action of uncontrollably picking at one's skin, can sometimes accompany dermatophagia. Dermatophagia differs from excoriation disorder in that the repetitive motion affected persons partake in is the biting of the skin.
Boy Biting His Nails Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Child Psychology Stock Video
People who have dermatophagia can also be prone to infection as wh they bite their fingers so frequtly, they make themselves vulnerable to bacteria seeping in and causing infection. Dermatophagia can be considered a "sister" disorder to trichophagia, which involves compulsively biting and eating one's hair.
Other techniques derived from cognitive-behavioral therapy recommd replacing things that do not actually dissolve with edibles that would. Moreover, it has be suggested to delay the urge by chewing gum, or on a soft drink straw.
But there have be attempts at stopping those affected from being able to chew on their skin. One notable method that is currtly in developmt is focused on in curbing dermatophagia in childr with cerebral palsy. This method is known as the PLAY (Protecting Little and Adolesct hands) hands protective glove. This method of intervtion involves small, non-invasive plastic brackets being placed around the affected fingers. These brackets do not hinder movemt or tactile feedback, and they are constructed from non-toxic durable plastic that can withstand the force of chewing.
Nail Biting May Be Classified As Type Of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Prestly PLAY hands protective gloves exist in concept and prototype only, but this intervtion method could improve the quality of life of those with CP-induced dermatophagia.Nail biting, also known as onychophagy or onychophagia is an another compulsive habit I deal with on a daily basis in addition to hair pulling.
It’s gotten so bad I’ve had to put antibiotic ointment and band-aids on them to stop myself and the sting of it.
I would love to stop but I am not mentally ready to do that…. yet… doesn’t mean I won’t just not yet.
Recovery From Pathological Skin Picking And Dermatodaxia Using A Revised Decoupling Protocol
It’s on the OCD spectrum and although it may not distort my looks as much as my hair does, it’s still very painful sometimes.
Nail biting is a body focused repetitive behavior (BFRB) just like trichotillomania, dermatillomania (skin picking), thumbsucking and other habits like cheek biting and dermatophagia (skin eating), – all of them seem to co-exist in people with related disorders.
If I try to control myself and do none of them, my body breaks out into a sweat..this happens a lot in public where I’m trying not to do anything.
Nail Biting: Gross Habit Or A Serious Disorder?
I exude a lot of nervous energy and it either comes out in some sort of body focused repetitive behavior or sweating.
My Keen bracelets helped me with my hair pulling so much and I know they can do the same for nail biting too, I’m just not ready.
There’s some sort of nail biting solution you can put on your nails, like a clear coat that is supposed to be hard and nasty… maybe I will double up and use Keen and that stuff?
Nail Biting And Overall Health
These are real disorders that people deal with, most people who have trichotillomania also have multiple other behaviors they are dealing with; like nail biting, skin picking, etc.
My Battle With Eating Disorders and TrichotillomaniaDoes Stress Cause Crazy Dreams? What Do My Teeth Have To Do With It?Why Do I Have To Sleep With The Covers On? And Other Weird Sleeping Habits I have..Why Do I Love To Look At Hair Roots? (FYI This Post Could Be Gross, View At Your Own Risk)Just a Rant About a Blonde Hair and NightmaresEating Boogers Isn't All I Do! Teaching Kids About Trichotillomania!Nose Picking and Booger Eating - Let's Talk About the Not-Talkable!Is There a Connection Between Trichotillomania and Thumbsucking?
My name is Lesley and I have been battling a hair pulling disorder my entire life. I'm Jesus obsessed and I'm currently writing through my journey here on this blog. I hold an Associate in Theology and I've written a faith-based trichotillomania therapy journal for people with this hair pulling disoder. You can read a lot more about me on the home page and I have a private group on Facebook where you can find other like-minded people who understand what it's like to have trich.Onychophagia can be explained as a kind of a compulsion that may cause destruction of the nails. Habitual nail biting is a common behaviour among children and young adults. By the age of 18 years the frequency of this behaviour decreases, but it may persist in some adults. Nail biting is an under-recognized problem, which may occur on a continuum ranging from mild to severe. Nail biting has received little attention in the psychiatric and dermatological literature. Its position in widely accepted classifications of psychiatric disorders (ICD-10 and DSM-IV) remains unclear. This disorder seems to be related to obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder. Here, we present three case reports of onychophagia and co-occurring psychopathological symptoms and discuss the close relationship of onychophagia to obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder and possible treatment modalities. Psychiatric evaluation of co-occurring psychopathological symptoms in patients with onychophagia, especially those with chronic, severe or complicated nail biting, may be helpful in making a choice of individual therapy. Serotonin re-uptake inhibitors seem to be the treatment of choice in severe onychophagia. Key words: onychophagia; nail biting; obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder.
What Are Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors
Onychophagia is defined as a chronic nail biting. This condition should be distinguished from onychotillomania, another form of self-induced destruction of the nails similar to onychophagia caused by recurrent picking and manicuring of the nails. Habitual nail biting is a common behaviour among children and young adults (1). However, there are very few epidemiological data analysing the frequency of this entity in the population, and most data are limited to children and adolescents. It is estimated that 28–33% of children between 7 and 10 years of age and approximately 45% of teenagers are nail-biters (1). By the age of 18 years the frequency of this behaviour decreases, although it may persist in some adults (2). The prevalence of nail biting among people in the age range 60–69 years is believed to be between 4.5% and 10.7% (2, 3). In most cases nail biting seems to be only a cosmetic problem. However, if uncontrolled, it can cause serious morbidity. The most common complications are severe damage to the cuticles and nails, paronychia and secondary bacterial infection, self-inflicted gingival injuries, and dental problems (4, 5). Temporo-mandibular dysfunction and osteomyelitis have also been reported as a consequence of chronic nail biting (6, 7). In addition, nail biting may lead to psychological problems in some patients (e.g. significant distress). Nail biting is often embarrassing and socially undesirable.
Here, we present three case reports of onychophagia and co-occurring psychopathological symptoms and discuss the close relationship of onychophagia with obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders, and possible treatment modalities.
A 28-year-old female patient was diagnosed with panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Onychophagia was also recognized. No family anamnesis of psychiatric disorders was found, and no alcohol or drug abuse was reported. Symptoms of panic disorder appeared 4 years before the first psychiatric consultation. Initially, she was diagnosed by general practitioner as having “anxiety neurosis”. Mitral valve prolapse syndrome was also diagnosed at the same time. The anxiety neurosis was treated with amitriptyline, doxepin, and lorazepam, with transient success. Two years later she discontinued this therapy. After one additional year a panic anxiety appeared again. At the same time symptoms of OCD occurred. She had obsessions that her children could have an accident and be hurt. She presented with compulsions of very frequent controlling and checking her children. In addition, she also reported nail biting, which had started when she was under 10 years of age. Psychiatric treatment with 175 mg clomipramine daily was introduced. All symptoms of panic disorder, OCD and onychophagia disappeared within 10 months. Pharmacotherapy was
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