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Onchyophagia or nail biting is the performance of repetitive actions of biting one's nails often to the level of mutilation of the nail beds. It is a compulsive act most often seen in adolescents but may continue into adulthood, leading to deleterious consequences. Often spurred by anxiety and stress, this oral habit is not so readily addressed by patients and in turn not very much treated by dentists or physicians. This case report describes successful treatment of an adolescent patient with a nail biting habit, with an innovative intraoral fixed habit-breaker appliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Onychophagia is a habit of compulsive nail biting. Nail biting is most commonly seen in both children and youth. Boredom, excitement, fear, stress, and other emotional disorders are the main causes of onychophagia. Modern treatments and measures like manicure are necessary to correct the habit of chronic nail biters. Materials and Methods: This was a survey of 14 questions and was conducted in an online forum, survey planet. This survey was taken by about 103 people who had the habit of nail biting. All their responses were recorded and statistically analyzed. Results: From the survey, it is recorded that all age people take up this nail biting as a habit in various situations to relax their stress, as a sign of breaking their anger, even in immense excitement. Hence, in this study, it is recorded to be that, 64 participants of 103 follow this habit as a stress buster more during their boredom and an interesting event noted from the survey is, 57% of participants stop themselves from biting their nails in front of young people, especially kids, aiming not to influence the growing generation toward a bad habit. From the surveys analysis it is noted that 87.8% of the participants wanted to quit nail biting permanently and they do have tried quitting it by following prevention methods, but ended up as failed attempts and continued with their biting habits again. Conclusion: Hence, among the South Indian population, their perspective among the dangers and risks of onychophagia are clear-cut, and they also aware of the side effects of their own habit. Yet, above all their determination and self-control only plays a key role in quitting this nail biting habit permanently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Onychophagia, defined as habitual nail biting, is a common disorder affecting 20–30% of the population and all age groups. It may lead to significant psychosocial problems, have a negative impact on quality of life, and cause complications involving both the nail unit and the oral cavity. The objective of this paper is to review the prevalence, etiology, history, physical examination, complications and management of nail biting. Since onychophagia is a challenging disorder to treat, a multi-disciplinary approach should be taken involving dermatologists, internists, pediatricians, psychiatrists and dentists. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Nail tic disorders are classic examples of overlap between the domains of dermatology and psychiatry. They are examples of body-focused repetitive behaviors in which there is an irresistible urge or impulse to perform a certain behavior. The behavior is reinforced as it results in some degree of relief and pleasure. Nail tic disorders are common, yet poorly studied and understood. The literature on nail tic disorders is relatively scarce. Common nail tics include nail biting or onychophagia, onychotillomania and the habit tic deformity. Some uncommon and rare nail tic disorders are onychoteiromania, onychotemnomania, onychodaknomania and bidet nails. Onychophagia is chronic nail biting behavior which usually starts during childhood. It is often regarded as a tension reducing measure. Onychotillomania is recurrent picking and manicuring of the fingernails and/or toenails. In severe cases, it may lead to onychoatrophy due to irreversible scarring of the nail matrix. Very often, they occur in psychologically normal children but may sometimes be associated with anxiety. In severe cases, onychotillomania may be an expression of obsessive-compulsive disorders. Management of nail tic disorders is challenging. Frequent applications of distasteful topical preparations on the nail and periungual skin can discourage patients from biting and chewing their fingernails. Habit-tic deformity can be helped by bandaging the digit daily with permeable adhesive tape. Fluoxetine in high doses can be helpful in interrupting these compulsive disorders in adults. For a complete diagnosis and accurate management, it is imperative to assess the patient's mental health and simultaneously treat the underlying psychiatric comorbidity, if any. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Onychophagia is an habit of biting one's nails and finger tips. It is also called nail biting (NB). It is a stress relieving oral habit adopted by many children and adults. People usually do it when they are nervous, stressed, hungry or bored. All the above situations are having a common phenomenon between them which is anxiety. Here, we present a case of onychophagia (NB), who had psychiatric comorbidity. Onychophagia cannot be managed without considering some related factors such as comorbidities, precedent and consequences of the behavior. The best way to treat a nail biter is to educate them, encourage good habits and should provide emotional support and encouragement. Behavior modification therapy has proved to be a successful means of treatment along with drug management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Onychophagia is defined as chronic nail biting behaviour, which usually starts during childhood. Onychotillomania results from recurrent picking and manicuring of the fingernails and/or toenails, leading to visual shortening and/or estraction of nails. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of onychophagia and onychotillomania in young adults, and the comorbidity of these conditions with anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD), as well as to determine factors related to these behaviours. A total of 339 individuals were interviewed with a structured questionnaire. Onychophagia was present in 46.9% of participants (including 19.2% active and 27.7% past nail biters), and an additional 3 people (0.9%) had onychotillomania. The majority of subjects (92.2%) described nail biting as an automatic behaviour. Tension before nail biting was reported by 65.7% of nail biters, and feelings of pleasure after nail biting by 42%. Among the participants with lifetime onychophagia, 22.5% met criteria of anxiety disorder and 3.1% of OCD, while in the group without onychophagia at least one anxiety disorder was diagnosed in 26.2% and OCD in 5.0%. We did not find any correlation between nail biting and other anxiety disorders or OCD. In conclusion, no single condition was associated with nail biting or influenced such behaviour; multiple psychological factors were involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) that include skin picking (dermatillomania), hair pulling (trichotillomania) and nail biting (onychophagia), lead to harmful physical and psychological sequelae. The objective was to determine the prevalence of BFRBs among students attending three large medical colleges of Karachi. It is imperative to come up with frequency to design strategies to decrease the burden and adverse effects associated with BFRBs among medical students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 210 students attending Aga Khan University, Dow Medical College and Sind Medical College, Karachi, in equal proportion. Data were collected using a pre tested tool, "Habit Questionnaire". Diagnoses were made on the criteria that a student must be involved in an activity 5 times or more per day for 4 weeks or more. Convenience sampling was done to recruit the participants aged 18 years and above after getting written informed consent. Results: The overall prevalence of BFRBs was found to be 46 (22%). For those positive for BFRBs, gender distribution was as follows: females 29 (13.9%) and males 17 (8.1%). Among these students, 19 (9.0%) were engaged in dermatillomania, 28 (13.3%) in trichotillomania and 13 (6.2%) in onychophagia. Conclusions: High proportions of BFRBs are reported among medical students of Karachi. Key health messages and interventions to reduce stress and anxiety among students may help in curtailing the burden of this disease which has serious adverse consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Congenital insensitivity to pain is a rare sensory neuropathy that manifests with multiple and recurrent injuries secondary to a lack of negative pain stimuli. When present with compulsive onychophagia, prompt recognition and behavioral management to prevent chronic digital infection or amputation is imperative. We present the case of two 7 year-old monozygotic twins that presented with congenital insensitivity to pain and compulsive onychophagia without directed parental counseling or behavioral modification strategies. The presenting child was noted to have an acute digital felon and osteomyelitis of several distal phalanges, and the sister had a similar history with distal phalangeal amputations. The occurrence of these overlapping disorders in monozygotic twins has not been previously reported, however, patient and parental education with behavioral modifications of injurious and compulsive behavior is the cornerstone of management. In addition, we have provided a review of the diagnosis for clinical differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Nail biting (onychophagia) is a common disorder which has not been investigated yet. There are different opinions about to classify onychophagia, but according to DSM-IV-TR it is classified as impulse control disorder not otherwise specified. The knowledge about treatment of onychophagia is limited. There are a few studies about treatment of onychophagia with psychotherapy and a study with harmacotherapy. Some studies suggest that an atypical antipsychotic aripiprazole may have beneficial effects in the treatment of impulse control disorders. In this study we report a case of onychophagia which has successfully treated with aripiprazole add-on to escitalopram treatment that has never reported before. J Clin Exp Invest 2012; 3(4): 545-547. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-inflicted gingival injuries have been known to occur in children and adolescents secondary to a number of causes, including accidental trauma; fingernail biting; digit sucking; or sucking on objects such as pens, pencils, thread, or toothpicks. Of these causes, the one documented as the most common cause is habitual fingernail biting or onychophagia. This case report describes the gingival injury caused by habitual fingernail biting and the findings noted at the time of periodontal surgery. The potential ramifications of fingernail biting are discussed, and the steps necessary to ensure and preserve the dental health of the patient are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]