Q: My 16-year-old son is always biting off the skin around his fingers. He has developed problems with the skins around his finger tips, just around the cuticles. There is some sort of tenderness and infection, which is very painful and ugly. He has been advised to take cod liver oil pills as it seems to be a lack of vitamins. I can't see any cure to his condition. Can you advise us please?

A:Biting nails and skin around the nails is most often associated with anxiety. For this he needs to be counselled by a psychologist. As a temporary measure he can use mittens on hands to avoid this, but he would need lot of counselling.