Onychophagia and Its Effects on Health (i)
Onychophagia is the scientific name given to the habit of nail biting, one of the most common nerve disorders in children and adults. Besides being a cosmetic problem affecting health and its consequences can be harmful to tooth and nail.
Onychophagia affecting 45 percent of minors. Appears around the 3 or 5 years, especially among children and increases their frequency nerve to ten or twelve years old in which usually is usually waived.
Experts say for aesthetic reasons, girls worry about before the youngsters to avoid nail biting and are the first to demand aid, which usually begins between 13 and 15 years.
However, in many cases, the onychophagia endures after the children. According to statistics, about one in four people continue with this bad habit in adulthood (25%).
Experts say that the onychophagia is a way to reduce anxiety, a practice which at times becomes a distraction easy and relaxing.
Onychophagia is a habit that usually begins in childhood, is a simple act of imitation, where children do what they see their parents do. In most cases the origin of the onychophagia is in the form of anxiety and that people have to mitigate or counteract it.
The nail biting habit eventually becomes second nature which is not conscious and therefore more difficult to quit, especially in situations of stress, nervousness, anxiety, personal dissatisfaction, etc., Custom-enhancing thus creating a vicious cycle difficult to break.
Onychophagia beyond the aesthetic
Many of the consequences of onychophagia are aesthetic. The hands, lips and even teeth can be altered in form, however the most serious consequences occur in the physical plane, in teeth, gums and nails themselves, who may suffer serious damage.
Teeth:
The steady drumbeat of incisor against the other to the nail-biting, causes the upper and lower incisors are thin and deface, causing a cosmetic problem because the teeth look cropped.
Nails:
The continued nibbling at which they are subjected makes the nails do not grow well. Microtrauma are created along the entire nail bed, the party is under the fingernails, altering their anatomy. Furthermore, also cause small wounds around the nails, making the finger becomes inflamed and painful. Stepparents and periungual warts appear on the skin around them.
