Can You Get A Nail Biting Infection? (Paronychia)

Nail biters don’t seem to spend much time worrying about what we’re doing in terms of the side effects including the most serious potential ones. If we did, we’d go cold turkey and quit biting our nails today. We already know about how bad it makes our nails look, but what about more worrisome problems such as a nail biting infection? Is it possible from simply biting your nails?

There are a number of potential side effects from nail biting that we know about when we’ve been biting our nails long enough. Our nails look bad, we might cut our fingers so that they bleed, and occasionally we bite too much of a nail and our finger hurts for a few days until the nail grows back again. Then we start biting it again and the cycle starts all over again. But another side effect of nail biting is the potential that we cut or tear the skin and allow an infection to enter our nail bed, an infection that is painful and may not heal on its own.

There are a number of more serious side effects that can occur with chronic and severe nail biting beyond just the embarrassing look of our nails and the pain caused when we bite a nail too short. Let’s take a closer look.

Paronychia

Perhaps not surprisingly, our hands and fingers are the method by which many diseases and illnesses are introduced to our bodies. Research has suggested that around 80% of diseases that occur from the hands or fingernails are allowed to exist due largely to poor domestic and personal hygiene. And while many women are guilty of having unsanitary hands, research has shown that men are far worse in this regard.

Paronychia is a skin infection that occurs around the nail area as a result of bacteria or a fungus getting under the skin. While paronychia tends to occur in people whose profession or activities involve their hands being consistently exposed to chemicals or wetness, paronychia also occurs amongst nail biters.

As the picture above shows, the typical more severe example of paronychia results in a red swelling of the tip of the finger around the nail typically on the side(s) and bottom part of the finger, close to the nail.

I can recall numerous times in my life where I’ve suddenly noticed a slightly painful red inflammation on a finger and automatically assumed that it was because of my nail biting. Turns out, I was probably correct because I tend not to get my hands wet unless I’m washing them, and I generally avoid use of chemicals unless I’m cleaning the bathrooms or house.

Treatment

Treatment for a nail infection like paronychia may be required if it doesn’t heal within several days or if the infection spreads and appears to be getting worse. Typically, you can treat yourself at home to start with by avoiding biting or picking at that nail and soaking it several times per day in warm water. If the pain gets worse or doesn’t heal within several days, a visit to the doctor may be required. Antiobiotics may be prescribed for a bacterial infection or for fungal infections, an antifungal medication may be used instead.

At this point, you need to keep your fingers out of your mouth and keep your hands dry. You should keep affected fingers away from anything that will make them sting such as chemicals and from anything that will make them wet in general.

I’ve personally never received treatment for paronychia as I’ve found that it goes away within several days. I specifically recall that most of the cases where I’ve experienced paronychia, it was on one side of the nail and finger only and didn’t appear to be that severe. I did experience some pain when I touched the reddened area but it was manageable.

Avoiding Paronychia

For nail biters, the “easiest” way to avoid paronychia is to stop biting our nails. Keep nails short otherwise by trimming them. Avoid picking at your nails since it may result in a cut or sore that bacteria can infect. Also try to avoid keeping hands damp when working, particularly around chemicals, dirt and mud, dirty water and other places where an infection may enter your hands through a cut from nail biting or otherwise. Always wash your hands properly with soap and perhaps carry hand sanitizer with you too. These days, you can’t be too safe.

As mentioned above, I have generally experienced reddened swelling around my finger nails from time to time but only ever experienced it on one side of the nail. This further leads me to believe that I must have ripped off a piece of my nail while biting it and allowed bacteria to enter on that side. I can certainly recall many times where I have bitten off part of a nail and felt the pain at the edge and it tore off from the rest of the nail. This is typically followed by some stinging and in many cases a bit of blood.

Conclusion

Paronychia is a nail infection that common occurs in the fingernail area due to the hands being exposed to dampness, chemicals and other instances where the infection is able to enter through a cut or underneath the nail. It tends to manifest itself through a reddening and swelling of the skin around the fingernail and typically on one side of the nail or both, similar to the picture at the top of this post.

Paronychia can also occur because of nail biting and may in fact enter your finger because of a cut or tear that was caused by nail biting. While we should of course stop nail biting completely, ensure at a minimum that you carefully and consistently wash hands and keep them dry and away from chemicals and dampness whenever possible.

While paronychia tends to clear up within several days, a doctor’s visit may be in order for more serious cases that do not heal on their own after several days or that get worse and spread.

Ever heard of Onychophagia? You and I both experience it whether or not you know what it is…