Question: My friend has being battling with a condition where he feels he has shards of nail coming out of his skin. On one occasion I witnessed him pull a round hard piece off his upper ear, it was about 5 times bigger than a grain of sand, hard, and translucent. He has been to 4 doctors (2 Dermatologists) they mostly think his is suffering a "delusion of nails growing out of his skin". He tells the doctors he has to "open up the area to get rid of this layer he feels is soft nail" and they are ready to call the guys in white coats. My feeling is he should have the right to at least order a DNA test to insure there is not a gene mutation that could cause a situation such as his. At least we would know what it isn't and may relieve him of some of the anxiety he has been experiencing. Today he told me when he scratched around his eyes a liquid came out. (plasma??) Lastly his scabs from scratching appear to heal completely in 4 to 5 days.

Thank you. He saw his Primary care provider today and the only thing he wanted is for him to go to a psychiatrist as far as any tests he basically got stonewalled. the needles and pins sensation all over is body is a real concern to him and he feels like his days are numbered. I will pass along you information about the pearls. You think vitamin B12 may help with the itching so he doesn't continue to dig at himself? He really feels the is a tough layer of skin growing over his entire body. could these symptoms be associated with parasthesia?

Thanks for the follow up and advise. My friend is here now and he is positive that he has multiple nails growing out of the same nail bed and the toenail is growing into his body. He feels that this is contaminating or changing the texture of his skin over his entire body. He saw recently on the internet (bet you get tired of hearing that) about a decease that causes hair follicles to grow nail. He was hoping for a DNA test that could prove to him he doesn't have this decease. Thanks for your help