By Shivam Sarkar
Can’t stop biting your nails?
I am a chronic nail biter. It’s a self-destructive habit globally frowned upon. I remember my mother saying my teeth would go in and out of alignment if I didn’t stop. My teacher used to censure me in front of the entire class doubting if my parents fed me any food. Beyond the visible complaints, there are other things nail biters exclusively may suffer from. Regarded simply as an attention deficit trait in the old days, contemporary research proffers it to be a more complex psychological manifestation. Scientifically termed as Onychophagia, here are five challenges of being a chronic nail biter.
1. Spreading diseases and infections
Chewing on parts of your hand which can come into contact with so many different things in a single day is a road to innumerable illnesses. If you get an upset stomach with this persisting habit you won’t even be sure if it was the food that caused it. Bacteria, viruses, plain dirt, and other debris can be found under and around whatever little nail plate that still survives.
2. Dreaded Batteries & the battery cover
Whether it’s the tv remote or gaming mouse, prying open the back cover without running for a screwdriver is not feasible. A multitude of electronic devices employs a variety of back cover mechanisms with my most favourite being the slide-off cover, slotting gently into its groves. Sometimes batteries have to be slapped out to the poor treatment of the device, or again, prodded with some wedging tool.
3. Spicy foods
Normal healthy fingernails don’t have much to fear besides turning a bit yellow if you eat and cook your food bare-handed. Obsessive nail biters frequently suffer from damaged or torn cuticles, as a result, the nail fold below the cuticles may get inflamed and form puss, bleed and be open to all kinds of infections. I bit off too much once, which happens sometimes, and ended up exposing the nail bed which is the soft hypersensitive tissue under the nail plate. Tabasco sauce, chili powder, Chinese hot chili oil, and something simple as salt can always get into those wounds causing unpleasant suffering.
4. Unable to scratch.
Most bothersome in my opinion. A mosquito bites you and you can’t scratch the sting properly or at all. Rubbing stubby fingers against your skin feels like using a rounded eraser. But at least an eraser causes more friction and that can help feel a little better. One can’t scratch any itch on their body satisfactorily.
5. Difficulty peeling off labels and stickers.
This one is too hard and I feel so helpless. It brings me some amount of shame not being able to do this with my bare hands.
6. Lacking dexterity with flat objects
Tiled floorings, kitchen counters, and dining tables all present an unusual challenge when lifting cards, coins, and other thin flat objects to nail biters. Imagine your nail’s edge just does not grow anywhere near the tip of your finger leaving up to half a centimeter of flesh. Stubby and squishy, your fingertips can’t wedge in between the edges to lift flat objects. I still remember the one time I dropped a small coin on the bank floor and was there for half a minute or more, bent over then squatted just struggling with my fingertips.
7. Trouble gripping objects
If you bite off too much nail in one session you will soon experience a very tender and sensitive sensation every time your finger bumps into a wall or you try to grip something tight until some of the nail plate grows back. Human hands are extremely dense with sensory tissue and one function of the fingernail is to help protect your fingertips.
8. Undoing knots
Whether a thin plastic bag or a stubborn shoe lace, one can get really stuck if the knot is very tight and you don’t have natures pry tool ready. This one time I had to take off my shoes to enter a temple. My family had gone ahead since most wore slip-ons. I was feeling defeated after fifteen minutes of futile tugging in the unrelenting Indian summer heat.