How To Stop Nail Biting Habit

Discover What Triggers Your Nail Biting

There are many reasons why people bite their nails, but people arent always conscious about why they do it.

One of the most important steps in overcoming this habit is to identify what triggers you to bite your nails.

Is it when youre feeling anxious? When youre bored? Or maybe you start nibbling when you want to forget a certain feeling e.g. anger?

A good way to do this is to keep a journal a notes app on your phone is ok too! Just try to jot down when you bite your nails and how youre feeling / what youre doing.

This will help you to identify any patterns so that you can try and change your reaction to any nail-biting triggers, e.g. filing your nails into a nice shape when youre worried instead of biting them all off.

What To Do Instead Of Biting Nails

Weve already established that nail-biting is an unhealthy habit and it can lead to many more serious health issues. So, once youve decided to get rid of your nail-biting habit you may find yourself wondering what to do instead. Weve compiled a few tips to help you fight the biting urges that are bound to happen.

• Replace the Habit

Its always a good idea to replace one habit with another, healthier one. So instead of biting your nails, try chewing gum, eating healthy snacks, or keeping your hands busy with a stress ball or a fidget spinner.

• Make Gradual Changes

One of the best tips to stop biting nails is to do it gradually. You can set a goal to stop biting just your thumbnails, then you can extend the ban to your pinky nails. If you say a finger is off-limits, dont nibble on it. Once youll see the change, itll be easier to stop altogether.

• Try a Mouthguard

If youre bad at fighting your urges, you can wear a mouthguard that will prevent you from using your teeth, thus making it impossible to bite your nails.

• Experiment With Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is one of the useful tricks to stop biting nails, as it can be very helpful if you want to calm down and relax. You can get one of the amazing aromatherapy diffusers to which you can add essential oils, or you can always light an aromatherapy candle. Whatever you choose to do, youll find yourself feeling better and calmer.

Is Biting Your Nails Bad

Chronic nail-biting, known as onychophagia, can cause significant damage to the nails and the skin around them if left untreated for long periods of time. The nails play an important role in the body they protect your fingers so you can handle things with your hands more easily. They can serve as indicators of other underlying medical issues, so its important that you keep them in good condition.

Like other addictive behaviors, nail-biting can be a facade for coping with some mental afflictions many people are biting nails out of anxiety or when theyre trying to cope with a lot of stress, or in some cases, it can be an indication of obsessive-compulsive disorder . Nail-biting people are at a higher risk of infection and can develop abnormal-looking nails. Not to mention the overall untidy look of the hands aesthetics matter too!

In a word, biting your fingernails is bad for you and you should focus on getting rid of this unhealthy habit.

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Find A Secret Signal To Stop Them Biting

Nail biting can often be subconscious, so coming up with a way to make your child aware of their biting can be useful.

Try lightly tapping your childs arm or leg when they are biting their nails without telling anybody else.

Keep it friendly and avoid scolding them, this is only to make them more aware of their biting.

Why Should You Stop Biting Nails

Weve already established that nail-biting is an unhealthy habit, but what are the exact reasons why you should stop biting your fingernails? Below weve listed some of the consequences of pathological nail-biting, so you know exactly what youre at risk of the next time you put your fingers in your mouth.

• Nails Grow Weird

When you bite your nails, you increase the risk of getting hangnails or forming ingrown nails. Even if this doesnt happen, you can damage the nail beds which will result in the growth of abnormal-looking nails.

• Damage the Cuticles

If you also like to nibble on the skin around your nails, you can tear off the cuticles, which can be very painful and increase the risk of skin and nail infection. An infected finger from biting nails is not a pretty sight and it can be dangerous too!

• Break Your Teeth

When you bite your nails too hard, you risk breaking your teeth. Even if you dont break them, the continual pressure from everyday biting is very likely to cause damage to the teeths structure and they may start chipping.

• Bad Breath

Besides tooth damage, you also risk getting bad breath or halitosis from the bacteria you might introduce into your mouth from the nails.

• Make You Sick

One of the things to help you stop biting your nails is realizing the impending risk of infection.

• Lip Warts

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Trim Or Manicure Your Nails On A Regular Basis

Long nails might be difficult to resist, so keep them short. Set up a certain day and time each week for your trim, and take care of hangnails and ragged edges, so you dont bite them. Another alternative is to have professional manicures on a regular basis.

Spending the money and knowing that your nails will be examined soon may deter you from continuing the practice. To avoid fungal nail infection, only use licensed salons and manicurists who disinfect their equipment correctly.

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Wear Gloves Or Mittens

You can wear either gloves or mittens to cover your fingers, removing access to your nails and making biting physically impossible. If the weather is warm, however, its impractical to cover your hands.

Above weve listed some of the ways to stop biting nails, but in some more severe cases where the underlying psychological causes are serious, these strategies may not suffice. In these cases, its best to consult a medical professional, since therapy may be needed to resolve the issue. There are some excellent online therapy sites you can try if youre uncomfortable visiting a therapist in person.

Meditation is also a good way to relieve some of the stress thats causing nail-biting, and there are plenty of tools for meditation available that can help you with the process.

Replace Nail Care Tools Every Month

Nail care tools can show signs of wear and tear. This can cause more damage to a clients nails.

Some tools can also show signs of rust. Replace such tools at least every month to prevent infections.

Use new tools that can give you the best results when working on nails. New tools also help to keep your clients safe from infections like fungal infections or brittle splitting nails.

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How To Stop Children From Biting Their Nails

If your child bites their nails, they’re not the only one. Around 50% of children between 10 and 18 bite their nails at least occasionally, and for many kids, the habit starts even younger.

Its one of the most common nervous habits, a category that also includes hair-twisting, nose-picking, and thumb-sucking. Formally, it’s characterized as a body-focused repetitive behavior. While some kids bite their nails because they are fidgety, others don’t know what else to do when they feel anxious. Fingernail biting can be self-soothing.

In addition to being unpleasant to witness, nail-biting could do some damage to your childs teeth and nails. So, if your child is particularly aggressive when they’re gnawing on their nails, it may be important to address the issue with their dentist.

For the most part, nail-biting doesnt create any serious health issuesand it usually isn’t a sign of a deeper-rooted issue. Instead, it’s just a little nervous habit that often drives parents nuts.

Reward Each Little Victory

Who doesnt love a good sticker chart? They can be a fun and useful way to reward your child for not biting their nails.

Choose a time marker, e.g. day, half a day and give your child a sticker if they manage not to bite their nails during this time.

Once they have earned a specific number of stickers, give them an award like a trip to the cinema or a toy theyve had their eye on for a while.

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Do You Know What Happens With Nail

I do. I have met so many nail-biters who have been nibbling for years. Let me tell you about nail-biting and picking

If you are a nail biter, you probably dont feel very proud of the habit. You want to stop. You dont want this embarrassment and shame.

So you usually hide your hands at work. You might like to keep your hands in your pockets.

But hiding wont stop it, as you have now discovered through the lockdown.

At least the pandemic and social distancing has meant that you dont need to shake hands now.

If you are a nail-biter, have you noticed that you fiddle with your hands and fingers a lot?

Its the rough bit that triggers it. You feel for that rough nail edge.

You rub a finger over it, and the more you feel that loose bit of skin or broken nail, the more you seem to hone in on it.

You get that urge. Unconsciously or consciously, you know that you need to bite. To attack and sort it out.

You want to deal with it now. You must!

Then without much thought, your hand comes up to your mouth, and you bite on that nail or skin.

Your teeth penetrate the offender. You might hear a crack.

If its a bit short, you might have a couple of attempts at biting. Like a pneumatic drill, you will break it.

If its a bit of skin, it probably feels sore, but you want to get rid of that extra skin, so you carry on until you can bite it off.

Sometimes a bit of skin peels off, but that feels really sore when it gets to the fresh new skin. Ouch!

When It’s Time To Seek Help:

If all else fails, you might want to consider finding a therapist, as nail-biting can be a sign or symptom of a more serious problem such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or another anxiety disorder though it’s also important to note that the behavior can occur outside of these conditions. Regardless, if your nail-biting is causing significant distress or dysfunction, it might be time to seek help, Berry stresses. “If there are underlying issues like anxiety that are triggering the habit, those should be addressed,” Dr. Zeicher adds.

And of course, if you experience any consequences in your health due to your nail-biting habit, a visit to the dermatologist might also be warranted. “If you are biting your nails and develop any red, swollen, or tender areas of skin, visit your dermatologist right away to evaluate whether you have developed an infection that needs treatment,” advises Dr. Zeichner.

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Make Your Nails Taste Bad

If something tastes bad, youre not going to want to put it in your mouth, right? Try applying this to your fingernails.

Not only can it help you associate the habit with something negative, it can also put a stop to absent-minded nail biting because sometimes you wont even realise youre biting your nails until its too late.

There are many nasty-tasting formulas on the market already that you can paint onto your nails, butheres some natural ways to help make those nails un-bitable:

How Long Does It Take To Stop Biting Nails

Theres no specific length of time youll need to stop biting your fingernails, although some experts agree that you should be able to kick the habit in 21 days. However, dont be disappointed if you need more time than 3 weeks every individual is different and we all need different amounts of time to overcome our bad habits.

Its also good to remember that the longer youve had the habit, the harder it is to kick. So if youve been a nail-biter since childhood, prepare yourself for a long ride.

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When To Seek Medical Advice

For some people, nail biting may be a sign of a more serious psychological or emotional problem.

If you have tried to stop biting your nails and the problem persists, or if you begin to develop skin or nail infections, you may want to consult a doctor.

The advice in this article is for information only and should not replace medical care. Please check with your GP or healthcare professional before trying any supplements, treatments or remedies. Food supplements must not be used as a substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.

25 August 2021

Nail Biting Habit Causes

To nip nail biting in the bud, you need to understand why kids indulge in the habit and the nail biting causes. Nail biting is a very common stress relieving habit. Kids bite their nails due to a wide range of reasons like curiosity, boredom, stress relief, habit, and often imitation. Nail biting is one of the many nervous habits among kids that will most likely grow into adulthood, if not stopped before they become a teenager. This is why breaking the nail biting habit in your child is important.

That being said, there are several strategies parents can use to nip the nail-biting habit in the bud. To a certain extent, ignorance works. A lot of kids drop the habit after a few years. However, some parents cannot just look away when they discover that their kids picked up a nail-biting habit.

A very effective way of curbing the habit is to use nail biting polish for toddlers. A nail-biting polish is a top-coat nail polish with an added ingredient that tastes bad, designed to stop biting nails by giving reminders every time the fingers enter the mouth. There are several types of nail-biting polish on the market. In this article, we will be taking a look at the best ones for your kid.

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Find A Positive Replacement Behavior

Once you’ve identified your nail-biting triggers, Dr. Manly suggests choosing a “replacement behavior” to take the place of chewing on your nails. This can be anything from eating or meditating to finding another object to touch. “If you tend to bite your nails when you’re hungry, have plenty of carrot sticks, raw celery, or mints on hand,” she says. If you bite your nails when you’re stressed, she recommends having a beaded necklace or another physical object you can touch with your fingers to release pent-up energy. When consistently opted for, these methods will become positive substitutes for nail-biting when you’re triggered.

Keeping Your Hands And Mouth Busy

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What Happens If You Bite Your Nails Too Much

When you bite your nails, those bacteria end up in your mouth and gut, where they can cause gastro-intestinal infections that lead to diarrhea and abdominal pain. Long-term, habitual nail nibblers can also suffer from a type of infection called paronychia, Scher says.