dermatophagia
Sign in to saveDermatophagia () or dermatodaxia () is a compulsion disorder of gnawing or biting one's own skin, most commonly at the fingers. This action can either be conscious or unconscious and it is considered to be a type of pica. Those affected with dermatophagia typically bite the skin around the nails, leading to bleeding and discoloration over time. Some people also bite on their skin on their finger knuckles which can lead to pain and bleeding just by moving their fingers.
Key facts
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- Extreme nail biting / biting of skin as the result of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) or another condition leading to self mutilating behavior such as autistic spectrum disorders (as is the case in this example) or Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome
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- psychiatry
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- OCD
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- Behavior
- Management
- Management in children with disabilities
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Dermatophagia () or dermatodaxia () is a compulsion disorder of gnawing or biting one's own skin, most commonly at the fingers. This action can either be conscious or unconscious and it is considered to be a type of pica. Those affected with dermatophagia typically bite the skin around the nails, leading to bleeding and discoloration over time. Some people also bite on their skin on their finger knuckles which can lead to pain and bleeding just by moving their fingers.
The term is also used in herpetology to describe the act in which amphibians and reptiles eat the skin they shed, but this is not what occurs in humans. Those diagnosed with this disorder do not develop wounds on the bitten areas of their hands or lose any skin. Instead, they experience a thickening of the skin being repeatedly bitten. Contemporary research suggests a link between impulse-control disorders and obsessive–compulsive disorders, and this was addressed in the DSM-5 when dermatophagia and other related disorders were classified as 'other specified obsessive-compulsive related disorders' and are given the specification of body focused repetitive behavior.