Nailing the Diagnosis: Onychotillomania in Patients With Artificial Nails-An Underrecognized Phenomenon?

Abstract

Artificial nails are an essential component of nail cosmetics. The artificial nails are either preformed and glued onto the existing nail plate or they are custom made by applying a polymerizing mixture to the existing nail plate and overlying the template with a paintbrush that is subsequently allowed to harden into an acrylic nail. Artificial nails require regular maintenance. Onychotillomania is a body-focused repetitive disorder in which the person is usually aware that they are picking at their nail and/or the surrounding soft tissue. A woman with onychotillomania affecting her artificial nails is described; although this may be a relatively common occurrence, additional reports of artificial nail-associated onychotillomania were not able to be retrieved from the medical literature. The woman was not only aware that she picked at her artificial nails, but also realized that the action might result in adverse events to her natural nails and the corresponding digits. She desired no interventions for her nail-associated repetitive behavior and continued to regularly visit the nail salon for the application of new artificial custom acrylic nails. The acronym ANASON is introduced to define the condition of artificial nail-associated onychotillomania.