• Question: any other proof of nail and appendix thing??

    Asked by caudal peduncle to David, Gemma, Matt, Stéphane on 14 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Stéphane Berneau

      Stéphane Berneau answered on 14 Mar 2018:

      Skin is safe to chew, and digestible. Fingernails are not digestible, so really shouldn’t be swallowed if avoidable. In the medical literature, there are at least 225 cases of foreign bodies in the appendix.
      They include:
      – a metal drill bit that was ingested unintentionally 3 months earlier
      – pins (81 cases)
      – lead shot (81 cases)
      – seeds (34 cases)
      – bones (16 cases)
      – eggshell
      – glass
      – teeth
      – nails
      – a die

      Most (71%) patients were symptomatic, typically with intermittent abdominal pain for months or years. Pins were most likely to elicit symptoms (93% of cases).

    • Photo: Gemma Chandratillake

      Gemma Chandratillake answered on 15 Mar 2018:

      Aargh – did not know this about nails (I’m a chronic nail biter, I know it’s gross, but I’ve got it down to just one nail that I chew on now!). Maybe this will be the thing that gets me to stop, maybe…

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