Which condition can be caused by a nervous habit?

Which condition can be caused by a nervous habit?

• A. Onychophagy
• B. Leuconychia
• C. Pterygium
• D. Koilonychia

Answer: (A)

Nervous habits often show up in the nails because the hands are regularly subjected to biting or picking. Repeated biting of the nails directly causes onychophagy, the condition named for nail-biting. This habit creates damaged, shortened, and ragged nails and can lead to hangnails or secondary infections if the area stays moist or exposed. That direct link to a nervous habit makes it the best match among the options. The other nail changes come from different causes: leuconychia appears as white spots or patches from minor trauma or systemic factors; pterygium is scarring of the proximal nail fold after injury or inflammation; koilonychia refers to spoon-shaped nails usually tied to iron deficiency or other systemic issues, not to a habit.

Nervous habits often show up in the nails because the hands are regularly subjected to biting or picking. Repeated biting of the nails directly causes onychophagy, the condition named for nail-biting. This habit creates damaged, shortened, and ragged nails and can lead to hangnails or secondary infections if the area stays moist or exposed. That direct link to a nervous habit makes it the best match among the options. The other nail changes come from different causes: leuconychia appears as white spots or patches from minor trauma or systemic factors; pterygium is scarring of the proximal nail fold after injury or inflammation; koilonychia refers to spoon-shaped nails usually tied to iron deficiency or other systemic issues, not to a habit.