Patient's question:
The child is 13 years old and bites their fingernails every day. The fingernails have been bitten off completely, revealing red meat underneath, and they have become deformed. Many methods have been tried (such as wrapping rubber bands around the nails or applying chili sauce), but none have worked. I don’t know what to do.First follow-up question: I just read the doctor’s answer. Is there a way to treat this?
Doctor's answer:
Hello: Some children have the habit of biting or licking their nails, and some continue to bite their nails even when they grow up, or even fail to control themselves as adults. Generally, the habit of biting nails often starts with the thumb and index finger, and the duration of biting is brief. However, as it develops, not only does the duration increase and the frequency become more frequent, but it can also affect all ten fingers. Long-term nail-biting often results in varying degrees of damage to the nail plate, and since the biting differs, the damage varies as well. If the nail free edge is bitten, the damage often manifests as nail shortening, causing the front edge to become short and uneven, appearing serrated. If the nail surface, side, or cuticle is bitten, the changes in nail damage are more diverse, such as the nail plate becoming rough, losing its original waxy luster, accompanied by transverse grooves, longitudinal ridges, and spoon-shaped nails. The nail may atrophy and become smaller; or it may become thin and soft, or there may be bleeding under the nail, leading to the formation of subungual exostosis, or deformation of the terminal phalanx. Alternatively, the surrounding muscles and skin may become red, swollen, painful, or even develop ulcers with purulent discharge, sometimes affecting the nail fold, which can cause paronychia.Biting nails not only causes damage to the nails but also presents other clinical symptoms. Some children who bite their nails often accompany symptoms such as sallow complexion, thin body, a large and distended abdomen, visible blue veins, poor appetite, a preference for five flavors, restlessness at night, grinding teeth, constipation like sheep feces or diarrhea like mucus, yellow and dark urine or clear and long-lasting urine, pale tongue with yellow or greasy coating, and wiry slippery pulse, indicating disharmony of the spleen and stomach and symptoms of insect-eaten malnutrition. Some children who bite their nails may also exhibit irritability, redness of the white of the eyes, red tongue with wiry pulse, constipation, and dark and red urine, indicating symptoms of liver fire and blood dryness.