I’ve never been a nail-biter, but have my own compulsive bad habits and completely get how hard it can be to break yourself from it.
Often, once a habit becomes compulsive you don’t even realize you’re doing it until you’ve gone so far that it starts to hurt or bleed.
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While many of these habits may be distressing or unsightly, they don’t usually require a trip to the hospital.
But only ‘usually’, which is why Lauren Nichols took to TikTok to share how her nail-biting habit could have caused a ton of damage.
In her video , she tells her fellow nail-biters to stop and listen because her habit almost resulted in amputation. Which is incredible.
She says that it began on January 8, when she noticed a weird green patch on her cuticle that she assumed was a bruise of some sort.
But the next day it was getting worse, so she went to her doctor.
It was a case of “paronychia” , an infection in her cuticle. She was prescribed some antibiotics and sent home.
For most cases of paronychia, antibiotics are enough to do the job, but Lauren wasn’t so lucky.
After a few more days, it was clear the antibiotics were having no effect.
The green section continued to expand and the whole side of her fingertip became red and swollen. It had also begun to hurt a lot.
On the 13th, she “popped” the blister, but it clearly wasn’t going to drain on its own.
So back to the doctor she went.
We can quibble about whether or not she should have messed with it, but since all the pus wouldn’t come out on its own, the question was moot in the end.
Her doctor performed a surgery called a “therapeutic washout” to clean out the absess.
He also told her that it was a good thing she hadn’t waited much longer. ‘
As Lauren explained to BuzzFeed, “He told me that he has to amputate the tips of people’s fingers because the infection gets too bad, and that I’m lucky I came when I did.”
He also told her to stop biting her nails.
Of course, Lauren dealt with a worst case scenario, but her story is a great example of why it is so important to try to break those bad habits.
Even if you struggle to do it cold-turkey, Lauren’s photos give a great example of what to watch out for so that you can seek help before it gets so bad.
