· By Kirsten Segavac
What causes nail biting?
Nail biting usually begins in childhood and can continue through adulthood, and the side effects can be more than cosmetic. Repeated nail biting can make the skin around your nails feel sore and can damage the tissue that makes nails grow, resulting in irregular nail growth. Chronic nail biting can also leave you vulnerable to infection as you pass harmful bacteria and viruses from your mouth to your fingers and from your nails to your face and mouth (umm – no thanks!).
To help you stop biting your nails, we recommend the following tips:
- Apply bitter-tasting nail polish to your nails. This safe, but awful-tasting formula discourages many people from biting their nails.
- Get regular manicures. Keeping your nails in good condition will encourage you to feel less conscious and more determined to kick the habit. We suggest taking Bittersweet Polish to the salon with you and have your nails painted professionally (yes, you are totally allowed to do this!). Plus spending money to keep your nails looking attractive may make you less likely to bite them!
- Replace the nail-biting habit with a good habit. When you feel like biting your nails, try playing with a stress ball (this will help keep your hands busy and away from your mouth), take ten long deep breaths or have a glass of water. Gradually, if you consistently practice your ‘new good habit’ this will eventually replace your nail-biting habit. Your ‘new good habit’ could be sitting down for five or ten minutes and painting your nails instead of biting them!
- Identify your triggers. These could be physical triggers, such as the presence of hangnails, or other triggers, such as boredom, stress, or anxiety. By figuring out what causes you to bite your nails, you can figure out how to avoid these situations and develop a plan to stop. Just knowing when you’re inclined to bite may help solve the problem.
- Try to gradually stop biting your nails. One step at a time! Remember everything takes time, and that includes breaking a habit. Try to stop biting one set of nails, such as your thumb nails, first. Why not paint only those nails for the first week? When that’s successful, eliminate your pinky nails, pointer nails, or even an entire hand. The goal is to get to the point where you no longer bite any of your nails and learn to love them again. Plus, who wants to bite pretty nails!