Many of us have habits.
Some of them are nice, but most of them are bad habits. Swearing, picking nose, smoking cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, etc. These are just a couple of examples. Of course, one of them is nail-biting.
Why are we having these habits?
What’s make us do them? Is there anything how we can stop bad habits? Just would like to share my experience and what I learned. Want to mention, I am not a doctor or expert, I am just a regular girl who never bites nails. But, I do have other bad habits.
Nail-biting habit by clinical language call onychophagia.
25-30 % of people in the whole world bite their Nails. Many people who bite their nails as a child eventually outgrow the habit. Others cannot stop all lifetime. Nile biting can be a mental health condition.
Statistics show,
nail-biting is typical for people who are nervous, feeling down, anxious. Some people bite nails when they hungry, bored, emotional. Another research shows that the people who bite their nails are perfectionists. If they cannot reach the goal, they are frustrated, dissatisfied.
Not only nail-biting is unhygienic. Especially now when COVID-19 hits the world, but Nail-biting usually leads to harmful effects, like infections. Also, leads to dental problems. Which potentially cause stomach problems. Because, if the bitten nail peace is swallowed. Fingernails become severally deformed after years of biting nails. The nail biting process destroys the nail bed.
First step
to be successful at stopping the nail-biting habit is to give order to our brains. It means, wanting to stop. All habits are hard to stop and takes time and patience. Wanting to stop also includes activities like, if one method doesn’t work for you, try the next one. Don’t stop until you reach your goal.
A couple of tips helped other people to stop biting their nails.
Keep your nails trimmed short
Get regular manicures
Apply bitter-tasting nail polish
Cover your nails
Identify and treat your triggers
Replace your habit by keeping your hand busy
Therapy
A most common way to wanting to quit nail-biting. Is the understanding of how many bacteria are there, and how harmful they can be to your health.
My experience and contact with nail biters.
Once I was traveling with the train. Opposite me sat pretty woman in about 40s. She wears office suit, had nice makeup.
She takes her laptop out of the bag, takes a note pad, pen, opens a bottle of water. Getting ready to do something important, how it seems to me. After she started looking at her nails and persistently start to bite them. Time after time switching hands. I look closer at her nails and fingers. What I saw, was disgusting.
All fingertips were pinkish, swelling, with almost no nail plate at all. All skin around the nails was bitten and rough. It seems like the woman who I looked at having another person’s hands.
Till the end of her journey, which lasted up to an hour, she didn’t touch the laptop, even didn’t drink a sip of the water. She has been too busy persistently biting her nails.
At this moment I think, this is the situation that should see those who bite their nails and cannot stop.
Another situation was years ago, with one of my co-workers. He was a nail biter. After a time he met a girl. Of course, he wanted to stop his habit. The girl was nice and helpful, she helped him. With polishing his nails with bitter-tasting nail polish. It’s did stop him from biting his nails. But then becomes another problem.
Was very hard to get his attention, because he all-time look at his nails and whisper… omg, they are so nice, I never see them so long, etc. After a couple of weeks, he started to bite them again, even harder. What a shame.
Maybe you have some story about your habit or you experienced awkward situations you would like to share. Tell me, I would like to hear to.
Bonus
Keep your mouth and hands busy, don’t give them chance to bite nails. Take care of your health.
