Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 December 1888 — From Biting the Finger-Nails. [ARTICLE]

From Biting the Finger-Nails.

A novel accident, resulting from a habit of very common prevalence among nervous people, was brought to my notice recently. A young lady presented herself at my office, complaining of a constant irritation in her throat. Two weeks previously she had been takes with a very seveie “sore throat,” which was treated by a neighboring physician. Under his care, she says, the inflammation quickly subsided, but there still remained a sensation of irritation. Examination revealed a small, fleshy-looking object, about the size of a kernel of wheat, adherent to the tissues posterior to the left tonsil by one end. The other parts of the throat were normal. The little mass could not be detached by a cot-ton-covered probe, but by the use of forceps it was easily removed, and on examination proved to be a piece of finger-nail, which had become covered by a cheesy deposit. A broken piece of the nail was also removed from under the mucous membrane at the same spot by a sharp-pointed probe. The . patient then confessed to the habit of biting her finger-nails, and moreover, could remember that a day or two previous to the onset of her throat trouble a piece of nail she had bitten off had become lost in her mouth, but after it had caused a fit of coughing she had forgotten about it until reminded by my discovery. — Philadelphia physician.