6 disgusting habits that have a scary impact on your health

By Emily DiNuzzo, Insider

There's a good chance that you're guilty of at least one gross habit, whether it's grinding your teeth or picking your nose. But grossing people out is not the only thing you should be concerned about when it comes to your ick-inducing habit. Fixations such as picking your pimples or biting your nails, could potentially lead to some serious — and scary — health issues.

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Here are some of the possible worst-case-scenarios for six common (and gross) habits.

Grinding your teeth too hard could break them into pieces. 

INSIDER spoke to Dr. Mark Burhenne of AsktheDentist.com, who said that grinding your teeth — also known as bruxism— could predispose people to break their teeth, fillings, and even porcelain crowns. These are the worst-case scenarios, which Burhenne regularly sees his for patients.

"Some of my patients have even cut their tongue on the fragments of what [teeth] broke off in their mouth," he said. "One of the most 'scary' occurrences that happen from time to time are patients who wake up and look in the mirror in the morning and find a front tooth missing or broken off from grinding that occurred during the night."

Burhenne explained that, in this instance, the tooth is actually broken off at the root and intact within the gums. 

He added that grinding could also cause gum recession and, in extreme cases, can lead to swollen lymph nodes, as well as ear, neck, and back pain, according to Best Health Magazine.
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Picking your pimples could cause a serious infection.

Acne can be notoriously hard to treat, even for celebrities. Picking at your pimples , however, is not a solution that dermatologist Dr. Joshua Zeichner , director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital, would recommend.

"If you pick the skin with long, dirty nails or fingers, the skin might become traumatized leading to inflammation," he told INSIDER. "Inflammation may result in worsening of the pimple itself. If the skin barrier is broken, the skin may be at risk for developing an infection and can lead to potential permanent scarring."

In rare cases, Zeichner said that the infection may spread throughout the face and cause a deeper soft tissue infection called cellulitis which may require immediate professional intervention.
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Biting your nails could cause "permanent disfigurement."

Another common habit that some people have is nail-biting. According to Zeichner, this is more than just a gross fixation and could lead to the loss of the nail itself.

"Biting your nails and your cuticles can increase your likelihood of developing infections of the fingers," Zeichner said.

He added that the most common problem is called paronychia, a skin infection near the nails that can effect just one or all of them. Additionally, your fingers may become red, tender, and swollen, and may end up developing pus around the nail, Zeichner said. Chronic paronychia, which keeps coming back, can cause the cuticle to breakdown and the nail to separate from the skin, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

"This can lead to permanent disfigurement or loss of the nail itself," Zeichner said. "If untreated and the infection spread[s], it may even [sic] infect the bone of the finger."

Picking your nose could create a hole in the nasal septum. 

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Picking your nose as a kid is gross, but relatively accepted as a right of passage. As an adult, however, people know not to do it or to do so in private. But New York University otolaryngologist Dr. Erich P. Voight told Business Insider that you shouldn't pick your nose no matter your age or visibility to others.
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"Picking your nose can introduce germs and cause abrasions that bleed which also promote germs," he said. This picking will only increase the crustation and mucus creation.

Voight said that some children pick their nose so intensely that they give themselves nosebleeds. This is because, as he explained, five arteries lead to the front of the nose.

In addition to nosebleeds, picking your nose can cause a septal perforation or hole in the nasal septum, Osborne Head & Neck Institute reports. This can cause difficulty breathing and is often repaired with surgery, according to the website for the Facial Plastic Surgery Associates of Houston.
The worst-case scenario, according to Vice News, is that the picking leads to infections, like cavernous sinus thrombosis, which in extreme cases can cause blindness.

"Say you have an infection in the right sigmoid sinus —the sinus that's all the way in the back of all your sinuses—and that eroded into the cavernous sinus on that side," Zara Patel, a rhinologist and skull base surgeon who teaches medicine at Stanford University, told Vice News."Well, that's a free-flowing space to the other side. You can get bilateral — or complete — blindness because of that."

Going barefoot at the gym could lead to plantar warts and athletes foot.

If you've ever gone barefoot at the gym, you are opening yourself up to some gross and unhealthy possibilities.

Today reported that going sock-less at the gym is not a good idea, even though a survey of 1,000 women found that 32 percent admitted to doing so.

"Even if you're not worried about slipping on wet feet, you should be wary of the stuff found in sweaty, steamy places that can cause athlete's foot and plantar warts," Dr. Billy Goldberg and Mark Leyner, authors of "Let's Play Doctor," told Today. "If your feet (and the areas between your toes) remain moist, an infection can grow … and grow."

Other symptoms of athletes foot include scaly skin, itching, and burning between the toes, MedlinePlus reports. If you do get stuck with athletes foot, it can be treated with over-the-counter creams, according to MedlinePlus. Severe cases, however, call for prescription medicines.
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Not cleaning your phone screen can cause acne and for some possible infection. 

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There are consequences for not cleaning your phone screen.

Zeichner said that studies show your cell phone may be dirtier than a public restroom, so you might want to think twice about regularly cleaning your screen.

"Not washing your cell phone regularly means that dirt, oil, and bacteria [...] rubs against your skin," he said. "This may lead to inflammation in people with sensitive skin and can promote acne flares." Theoretically, he added that holding your dirty phone against broken or compromised skin might lead to infection.

Let these terrifying consequences serve as a warning to stop picking, grinding, or biting. Embarrassment is one thing, but deformities and lost fingernails are another.