I came across this yesterday and wanted to share (I apologize if it's already been posted). It's an online journal entry from LM that I found interesting just because it's not something I've seen from him time and time again on multiple sites - nor have I seen him talk about any kind of compulsion.
"Fingernail Compulsion
Ever since I was a little kid, I've had this compulsion to cut my fingernails, cuticles, and the skin around my fingernails, to the point that I've come to identify it as a form of self-mutilation, . I often sit, sometimes for an hour, cutting away at my cuticles with a pair of fingernail clippers, to the point that they're just an awful-looking mass of hardened, brittle tissue and nail. My fingernails are so short, so whittled down, that I can't even open a can without having to grab my keys or a knife to flip the tab up enough for me to grab it. I couldn't find any decent pics, but my fingers look considerably worse than those of a typical nailbiter.
I also have to go get a manicure three times a week because im so self consious of the way my toe and fingernails look.
Do any other adults struggle with this? How do you deal with it?"
LINK:
http://estrip.org/articles/read/lukamagnotta/49063/Fingernail-Compulsion.html