My characters is deathly afraid of his finger nails (and, to some extent I guess, his toe nails) bending backwards.
He won't lift heavy furniture or curl his hand around an object which might cause his fingers to snag. If a small object like a coin was stuck to the ground he wouldn't pick it up because he is scared his nail might bend backwards, or a can with a ring pull on it that you have to get your nails under to flip up.
What would you call this?
I'd even settle for a fear of nails, but I can't seem to find anything. I don't know of another way to search for it, and while I could change it to something else (i.e. it's not key to the plot), I've become rather fixated on the idea of this guy and his nails bending backwards.
Also, what precautions might he take to prevent his nails from bending backwards? I thought he might wear gloves a lot of the time, perhaps keep his nails cut very short, obsessively press the ends to make sure they aren't going to bend up.
Thanks in advance,
Cait
