Nailing that Habit - How To Stop Eating My Nails

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If you’re a worrier then you probably have little mannerisms that show up when you’re under stress. The most common one is biting one’s nails. If it is a compulsive habit then it is called onychophagia.

This is not just an occasional grab at your nails but an obsessive need to bite the nails down to the very cuticle and beyond. It can lead to sores and infections of the hand not to mention transferring infection to your mouth and body from dirt or pathogens under the fingernails. It may hinder you from working as you may have pain and be unable to use your hands. You may even feel embarrassed to display your hands with the bitten down nails.

Nail biting can be an unconscious habit that you indulge in even if you are engaged in some other task such as phoning or cooking. It can also be a main activity when you give all your attention to the activity of paring the nail down to the nail bed and to the cuticles till they bleed. It gives the biter some kind of security and so you resort to it. Either of them could be because of an inner urge that you feel and the activity comforts you.

You could also be doing it out of a sense of boredom. It can alternatively lessen or increase levels of stimulation. Compulsive nail biters may feel that they have to constantly tear away at the nail to get it into a “proper” shape. This kind of nail biting could be loosely classified as an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Whichever kind of activity you indulge in you must realize that it is time to stop.

If you can manage to stop by sheer willpower then that is good. All you have to do is tell yourself it’s a bad habit and go over the harm it is doing you and gradually lessen the intensity of it. (Some women paint their nails a pretty color and admire themselves so that gives them a motivation to stop biting.) But most people, even if they are disgusted by the habit, continue to do it because they are unable to stop themselves. For these sufferers there are remedies. One is to coat the fingers and nails with an anti-nail biting cream.

These taste foul and so naturally will stop you from wanting to bite your nails. Gradually over time as you are dissuaded by the cream to eat your nails the urge goes down and you become accustomed to not biting. This is called “aversion therapy” and another form of it is to have a rubber band round your wrist that someone can pull and snap when you start biting. The pain will gradually be associated with the nail biting and you will stop the one to prevent the other.

Hypnosis is also considered as a treatment and can help you control your habit. If the condition is very strong, however, you may need medication and behavioral therapy, as the roots could be psychological or to do with the chemistry of the brain. The cause might even be genetic. You will be taught to “unlearn” the habit of nail biting and substitute it with something more productive. You’ll also be taught to identify what triggers off your nail biting so that you can control yourself in the event of such stimulus and slowly eliminate the habit.

Do what it takes to stop your nail biting habit and show off those smart capable hands!