Talk:Dermatophagia

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Wait, this really ISN'T normal? I thought my parents were just being dicks. I mean, it's dead skin! It's got to be ok to remove your dead skin bits.. if you don't remove them they get all ragged and will tear off if they get caught on something, which is a lot more painful and damaging. Are we SURE this isn't normal? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.122.63.142 (talk) 17:45, 6 August 2008 (UTC) It's normal... I'm normal and I bite my cuticles a lot, so it must be. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.215.135.176 (talk) 22:36, 26 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The extent to which sufferers bite their fingers is abnormal and uncommon. Simply biting hangnails and loose bits of skin now and again is extremely common; pretty much everyone does it. But when you bite your fingers so much that you are hesitant to hold hands with your significant other, or afraid to write something in full view of another, or even go swimming because of how ghastly it makes your fingers appear, that's the problem. ăngulaR 22:56, 9 February 2009 (UTC) [reply]

The photograph on the "Body-focussed repetitive behaviour" page labelled dermatotillomania (the photo of the hand that has callouses on the knuckles) looks more like a picture of dermatophagia. It matches the description in the cited article "Dermatophagia simulating callosities", which describes a 15-year-old boy with calluses on his knuckles because he chewed his fingers frequently. The caption to the photo states that the person damaged the knuckles "via the mouth" - which presumably means biting or chewing, not picking with the fingers (hence the label dermatotillomania seems inappropriate). I have exactly the same calluses on my knuckles from nervous chewing of my fingers - and I understand that to be dermatophagia. Perhaps that photograph could be added to this page in order to show the diversity of dermatophagia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.243.199.51 (talk) 12:36, 20 July 2009 (UTC) [reply]

Just to be clear about this - I suffer from both, and they are not the same. The pictures as they currently stand seem to be appropriate. Dermatilliomania refers to picking, which can mean picking scabs, tearing at dry skin, or just generally causing damage anywhere with your nails or (I'm ashamed to say) implements like needles, pins, or anything with a point. Dermatophagia is specifically biting. Both involve damage up to the point where you actually hurt yourself and bleed, but the compulsion doesn't go away - and the scars from both look different, in my experience. Biting scars tend to look white around the edges because of the moisture in your mouth, whereas picking scars can look callused and raw.

Another thing that isn't mentioned here, but might be interesting to include if more people can confirm it, is that damage from either condition will erase your fingerprints until the skin heals over - which may be never. You also lose sensation in your fingertips, and should you be able to stop for a while, the healing skin will peel and resisting the urge to tear at it is unbelieveably hard. If you do manage it though, it takes about two weeks for the skin to heal over completely. 109.78.96.58 (talk) 22:17, 8 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hey, I "suffer" from this! Interesting that there is an article on it. If there is ever a need of pictures I would be happy to supply some. I often times have small raw patches of skin, also scabbing and a callus that is starting to curve around my thumb. Cocoxnznz (talk) 23:07, 7 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I hate doing this. I often try and hide the bitten areas from peers. --213.106.62.117 (talk) 02:39, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I tell them it's a burn. Some people think I've had a "burn" for several years now. :/ --77.98.186.200 (talk) 17:34, 23 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]