Onychotillomania

What it means

Onychotillomania is characterized by the compulsive or irresistible urge in patients to pick at, pull off, or harmfully bite or chew their nails.

Onychotillomania should not be confused with onychophagia, which refers to self-induced damage to nails caused by nail biting.

Rare diseases that can present with this1

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category