Many people battle with the habit of biting their nails, which frequently begins in childhood and persists into adulthood. It’s a tense habit that can be difficult to kick, causing your fingers to hurt and your nails to chip.
In addition to its negative physical effects, nail biting can also have a negative impact on your confidence. You may start covering your hands or become self-conscious about the condition of your nails. It is possible to break the habit, though.
Recognizing the reasons behind your nail biting behavior is the first step to ending it. Knowing the reason—whether it’s stress, boredom, or just an ingrained habit—will help you come up with the best plans for quitting permanently.
- Why an adult bites his nails?
- Consequences of a bad habit, as a reason to wean yourself off biting your nails
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Why an adult bites his nails?
It seems like everything is obvious when it comes to kids; we are all accustomed to the fact that they bite their nails due to stress-induced neurosis and poor modeling. Parents should try their hardest to break this habit. Many strategies have been developed over the ages to help children wean themselves off of biting their nails: they can apply mustard or hot pepper to their nails, wear mittens at night, try to divert their attention from their worries, etc.
And why does an adult bite his nails, where does this seemingly infantile bad habit come from?? All from the same place – from childhood. Once upon a time, parents strictly punished their children, and the child simply learned to control himself. Having become an adult, he simply finds a moment when no one sees him and completely “surrenders” to the power of the “calming” procedure. Yes, you are not mistaken – nail biting is nothing more than psychological protection from stress and anxiety, helping to distract or, on the contrary, reflect on it. By “eating” your nails, a person calms down, and the pain caused helps to reduce worries.
Image sourced from oraclerussia.ru
It’s also commonly acknowledged that perfectionists are more likely to develop the habit of biting their nails. Biting their nails, people who are accustomed to getting only the best outcomes consider an issue or query.
Impatient and unrestrained people are also prone to biting their nails. They temporarily remove themselves from the irksomely drawn-out circumstance or state of affairs by becoming preoccupied with their nails.
Additionally, there is a theory that suggests nail biting is inherited. Therefore, children of parents who bite their nails are also susceptible to this. However, the entire issue most likely stems from a poor example.
The "desire" to bite nails leads to obsessive-compulsive disorder, a severe neurotic disorder, in addition to stress. Unconsciously, a person bites his nails without even trying to hide from other people. Consider receiving serious medical attention in this situation. But just like in every other instance, the habit of biting your nails is a good reason to consider "working" with a psychologist.
The American Psychiatric Association identified nail biting as an obsessive-compulsive disorder in 2012. This category also includes hypertrophic, frequently recurrent conditions such as hair pulling, skin scratching or bleeding, frequent hand washing, etc.
Although biting your fingernails is a difficult habit to break, you can do so by adopting the correct attitude and using a few useful techniques. You can regain control and maintain the best-looking nails by being aware of the triggers, being conscious of what you do, and substituting healthier habits for the bad ones.
Consequences of a bad habit, as a reason to wean yourself off biting your nails
Of course, not many would have the courage to see a specialist—especially for something as "trifling" as this. However, it can have a number of detrimental effects:
Image sourced from nails.sfino.ru
- Intestinal disorders. “Eating nails” is fraught with such consequences as diarrhea and nausea. This can be caused by bacteria and other pathogens, which are in large quantities settled on the nail plates.
- Dirty nails (and we can never vouch for their cleanliness) can cause stomatitis – painful formations on the gums and oral mucosa.
- The habit of biting nails can lead to helminthic invasions.
- Nail biting is harmful to teeth (frequent "chewing" of hard nails leads to abrasion of enamel) and even jaws, causing muscle spasm of the jaws.
- In turn, bacteria in the mouth can move into wounds on the fingers, which can cause infections – herpes and warts.
- Also, the habit of biting nails opens access for fungal diseases.
- A gnawed nail plate and a wound surface of the finger can provoke suppuration of soft tissues.
- Bitten nails are one of the causes of ingrown nails on the fingers.
- Frequent violation of the integrity of the nails leads to their deformation and curvature of the plate and deformation of the nail bed, which is especially unpleasant for women, because you will have to forget about a beautiful manicure for a long time.
Add to all of these problems a sense of embarrassment at having been discovered performing an unsightly procedure; distaste and censure from others; and an unappealing appearance. This entire list seems to be more than sufficient to grasp the complexity of the issue at hand. In addition, the reasons presented here can serve as a strong argument against nail biting and show how to break the habit.
| Challenge | Solution |
| Identify triggers | Notice when and why you start biting your nails. |
| Keep nails trimmed | Shorter nails are less tempting to bite. |
| Use bitter nail polish | A special polish can deter biting with its unpleasant taste. |
| Find a distraction | Keep your hands busy with a stress ball or fidget toy. |
| Wear gloves or bandages | Cover your nails to make biting more difficult. |
| Practice mindfulness | Be more aware of your habit and actively resist the urge. |
| Seek professional help | If the habit is severe, consider talking to a therapist. |
It can be difficult to break the habit of biting your fingernails, but with perseverance and determination, it is undoubtedly achievable. Tiny actions, such as cutting your nails and discovering new stress-reduction techniques, can have a significant impact.
Recall that it’s critical to recognize and deal with the causes of nail-biting triggers. There is a technique that can help you, whether it be through mindfulness, the use of bitter-tasting nail polish, or getting professional assistance.
In the end, perseverance is key. It takes time to break a habit, but you can stop biting your nails and have stronger, healthier nails if you work at it consistently.
