SOCIALLY unacceptable, nail-bitting is not a particularly pleasant habit, but few would think it could lead to a life-threatening illness.
However, life-long nail nibbler and ex-postie, Steven MacDonald, 48, is warning others against chomping down on their fingers, after one nail chewing moment left him fighting for his life.
The Scotsman developed a severe case of paronychia, which spread from his index finger up his forearm, before his fiance took him to University Hospital Monklands, in North Lanarkshire.
Despite a large queue in the Emergency Department, MacDonald was rushed to the top of the queue when a doctor spotted his infected finger, and he was given a strong dose of antibiotics before being sent to Glasgow Royal Infirmary for emergency surgery to remove the infected flesh.
"They told us that if we'd left it even for a few hours longer he might have been dead," his fiance told The Scotsman.
MacDonald said the experience had taught him a valuable lesson, and he urged fellow nail-bitters to get a finger out and cut the habit.
"I'd never had a problem like it before, but it left me seriously considering life and death," he said.
''It's weird now that I'm not nibbling away at them, they're actually growing really fast.
''I keep joking that I might need to get myself down the salon for a manicure."
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