The habit of biting your nails

Agree that it is quite unpleasant to see a person, especially if he is your interlocutor, who has a persistent habit of biting his nails, or onychophagia. This is not only unaesthetic, but, as doctors say, quite dangerous. In medicine, there is even such a term as onychophagia, which denotes this harmful habit.

Reasons for the Habit of Nail Biting

The involuntary desire to bite nail plates and hangnails is a symptom of a behavioral deviation. Such an “addiction” not only makes a person somewhat unattractive in communication with other people, but often these people continue this action until the skin is injured and blood appears. In this situation, the nail bed is often damaged.

This pathology mainly occurs in children aged four to five years and, if no measures are taken, only worsens when the child goes to school. Statistics show that 34% of children attending primary school suffer from this habit. It is not uncommon for the pathology in question to occur in a teenager during his puberty, which also manifests itself in his adult life. You can also find families where adults bite their nails, and children simply begin to imitate them, not considering it something harmful.

The reasons for the habit of nail biting can be quite varied and can be either temporary or long-term.

A number of factors can provoke the appearance of this unaesthetic behavior:

• This may be a form of psychological defense against a stressful situation that an adult or child finds themselves in.
• Autoaggression is a situation where biting nails until they bleed is one of the manifestations of self-masochism.
• This behavior can appear in children whose parents, by limiting their freedom, practice totalitarian control.
• Lack of self-confidence. Internal conflict, which may be caused by communication problems.
• Such behavior can be provoked by a situation in the family. Inappropriate behavior of one or both parents.
• Doctors also admit that the habit may be hereditary and transmitted genetically.
• This could be aggression towards oneself, when a person tries to punish himself for what he considers to be unworthy behavior.
• Increased fragility of the nail plate caused by medical problems. The nail breaks and, not finding anything better, the "owner" bites the nail.
• A person can start biting his nails out of boredom, out of idleness.

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Nail biting habit in adults

Many adults often ask why this pathological deviation occurs at a subconscious level and how to get rid of it quickly, easily and forever. After all, it can bring a lot of unpleasant moments into life and even ruin a career. Agree, who would keep an employee who would allow himself something like this at an important meeting or meeting with a client.

The habit of biting nails in adults does not appear out of nowhere. It would be a good idea to sit down and calmly analyze the situation, try to understand at what stage of life it arose? Quite often, the roots of this problem go back to deep childhood, accompanying a person into adulthood.

Most often, these manifestations are a hidden emotional outburst, when a person cannot directly show his emotions.

Everyone knows from childhood that this should not be done. Bad habits make the nail plate unattractive, which worsens the appearance of the hands. If such a pathology manifests itself for a long time, then a person with such an addiction risks finally ruining not only the condition itself, but also the shape of the nails. Representatives of the weaker sex can sometimes correct this situation only through cosmetic extensions. This procedure is quite expensive, but it will only temporarily solve the aesthetic side of the problem, without correcting the actual situation.

Therefore, it is better to solve this problem immediately and at the root than to subsequently find methods and spend energy, time and money to eliminate the shortcomings.

But this is the visual side of the problem. Now let's look at the medical side. Everyone knows that it is unsafe to put unwashed fingers in your mouth. This is fraught with infectious contamination, helminth invasion. In addition, this unsightly process often causes injury to the skin on the fingertips. The resulting damage to the epidermis becomes, in fact, an open "gate" for invading pathogenic microorganisms.

Therefore, it is definitely necessary to fight this habit.

Nail biting habit in children

Quite often, attentive parents are concerned about their children's nail-biting habit. And they can be understood. But to eliminate the problem, you should understand the situation and try to find the source that has become the catalyst for such behavior. Often, the baby relieves nervous tension received from an external source in this way. If you cannot establish this on your own, it is advisable to seek help from a specialist. In this situation, a consultation with a child psychologist or local pediatrician will be useful.

This situation needs to be resolved as soon as possible. After all, the problem may be more psychological in nature and over time, bitten nails may not seem like a particularly big problem against the background of psychological disorder and conflict.

But in order to effectively resolve the situation, it is necessary to "find" the source and stop it. Only in this case it will be possible to talk about eliminating the problem as such.

If your baby starts biting his nails, don't turn a blind eye to it in the hope that everything will resolve itself, and that the child, when he grows up, will understand the harmfulness of the habit and give it up. You can't expect this. Such indifference on the part of parents can lead to:

• To a stable habit that the baby will carry into adulthood.
• The child will learn to hide his true emotions and problems, which will only distance him from his parents, who will lose his trust. It is quite possible that the child has problems with his peers or with the adults around him, for example, a kindergarten teacher or a school teacher. Subconsciously, he expects that mom or dad will delve into the problem, solve it, protecting him. At the same time, for some reason, he is afraid to talk about his problems. For us, a specific situation may not seem worth a damn, but for a little person it is very serious.
• As mentioned above, dirty hands in the mouth are an infection and parasites that penetrate our body. And we will have to make even more efforts to solve this problem and stop the disease that they caused.
• At the same time, long-term ignoring of the problem will lead to a violation of the shape of the nail plate. It can become wider, but less short. Hands with such nails lose their aesthetics, it is embarrassing to show them to the interlocutor, which already brings psychological discomfort to the situation.
• Particularly impressionable children are capable of gnawing against the background of vivid impressions, unable to cope with the overwhelming emotions.

Therefore, if parents set a goal to rid their baby of this bad habit, it is necessary to find the true reason for its occurrence. Parents need to understand what bothers the baby, in what situation does he put his hands to his mouth? In this "struggle" adults must be patient: do not pull the baby up with irritation in the voice, do not slap the hands or scold. Such behavior can significantly worsen the situation. Only patience and affection can find the switch that starts this pathological reaction of the baby. And this is how it is possible to cut this "Gordeev knot".

How to get rid of the habit of biting nails?

As mentioned above, the answer to the question of how to get rid of the habit of biting nails can be determined by determining the catalyst of the cause. But certain recommendations can already be given immediately.

It should be noted right away that modern medicine and traditional medicine methods today do not have a “classic pill” that would allow one to easily and quickly cope with the problem.

Some methods that parents use also do not bring 100% results.

• They coat their nails with mustard, various ointments or varnish.
• They resort to intimidation and threats.

Such measures, if they give a conditionally positive result, will be short-lived, since the approach to treatment itself is incorrect. Many try to eliminate the symptom, and not influence the source of its occurrence. Even if it is possible to cope with this symptomatology with such methods, the sufferer will have a substitution, and instead of biting the nail plate, he, for example, will start biting his lips, twirling hair on his finger, trying to pick off a wart, start smoking, and so on.

If this concerns a baby, then, first of all, the mother should try to bring him to a confidential conversation and find out the reason for his anxiety. In this situation, it is often enough to caress the baby, say that he is loved and proud of him, and also independently or together with the child find a way to solve his problem. If the parents are unable to do this, a child psychologist can help.

The approach to the problem should be more thorough. It is necessary to take into account as many factors as possible: the environment in which a person lives, his social status, his personal characteristics, and so on. If there is a feeling that you cannot cope with the problem on your own, you should call for help from a specialist, by consulting a psychologist.

The problem can be cured by various psychotherapeutic methods. First of all, it is impossible to simply forbid nail biting. The person himself must be imbued with it and want to get freedom from the pathological addiction. Otherwise, it will not be possible to solve the problem.

Experts offer a number of ways to help alleviate the problem, if desired:

• If the source of the pathological addiction is anxiety or a stressful situation, it is quite possible to use sedatives. These can be light herbal tinctures based on lemon balm, valerian, motherwort, etc. If the situation is particularly complex, pharmacological drugs can also be prescribed: persen, life 600, circulin, dormiplant, negrustin, novopassit, stressplant, deprim (produced on the basis of plant components) or valocordin, valoserdin, dormiplant, cardolol, corvaldin, corvalol, nobrassit, sanason and others.

The combined drug Novopassit is prescribed one teaspoon, which corresponds to 5 ml, three times a day. If the clinical picture of the disease requires it, the recommended amount of the drug can be increased by two times and taken 10 ml three times a day.

But this pharmacological drug has its contraindications: individual intolerance to the components of the drug, the presence of muscle weakness (myasthenia) in the patient's medical history. The drug should be administered with caution to patients with disorders affecting the digestive tract.

Also, in this case, doctors can prescribe behavioral therapy, which involves confronting the patient with his fears and developing the ability to control his emotions.

• A person bites the nail plate due to its fragility, then, therefore, it is necessary to strengthen them. Therapeutic measures can include warm baths based on sea salt, vitamin complexes or a monodrug containing calcium and other microelements and vitamins. For example, calcium gluconate is taken 1-3 grams of the substance, two to three times a day.

Contraindications to the use of this drug may be hypercalcemia, hypersensitivity to the components of the drug. Calcium gluconate is not prescribed for severe hypercalciuria, severe renal dysfunction, and if the patient's body is prone to thrombosis.

• For a woman, one of the ways to get rid of a bad habit can be nail extensions and painting them with acrylic paints or gel. In this situation, a psychological switch works more. Well, what woman, having paid a considerable sum, would want to part with such beauty.
• If necessary, it is possible to introduce into the therapy the application of substances with a repulsive taste to the nails. This will make it easier to control your involuntary desires.
• If a person really wants to get rid of the habit, then one can ask relatives or close friends to gently pull back the next time they try to put their finger in their mouth.
• Another way to distract yourself from the urge to bite your nails is to engage in an interesting activity and focus your attention on it.

How to quit nail biting?

If the habit in question does not cause any discomfort to a person, then it will be impossible to cope with the situation quickly, since the person lacks motivation to solve the problem.

And when a person is "ripe", the first thing that arises is a legitimate question: how to quit the habit of biting nails? We can recommend some activities that will help find a substitute for the pathology, and teach you to control your emotions.

• One of the points of therapy is the ability to relax. It will reduce the intensity of stress, bring peace, which simply does not need an emotional release, which is often manifested by nail biting. In this situation, soothing herbal baths will help. You can try to light an aroma lamp that emits specialized soothing aroma oils. If desired, you should try yoga, meditation, relaxation or positive auto-suggestion.
• Another way is to set a goal to get rid of the pathology. To control the process, it is worth marking the date of the "beginning of the journey" in the wall calendar. Every evening, sum up the results of the day. If during it you managed not to bring your phalanges to your teeth even once, you should reward yourself. This path is quite long, but the result is worth it. And the main thing is the result, as well as moral satisfaction from the work done and the difficulties overcome.
• You can "forcefully" replace the need to bite your nails with the opportunity to nibble on nuts and dried fruits. Such a replacement is not only psychologically justified, but will also benefit the body.
• You should always have a manicure set with you, which, if necessary, can be used to treat a broken nail. And this applies not only to women, but also to men.
• Review your diet, it may be poor in vitamins and minerals (especially calcium), which is the reason for increased fragility and delamination of the plates. To improve the situation, the following products and dishes should be regularly present on the table: nuts, jellied pork legs, fermented milk products, bell peppers, all kinds of greens, pumpkin seeds and others.
• To strengthen and improve the condition of the nail plate, it is necessary to regularly use special nourishing creams. At least once a week, do hand baths based on sea salt or medicinal herbal tinctures. The use of preparations containing vitamins D and A shows high efficiency of the result. It is better to apply cream, nourishing masks, and water procedures before going to bed. After the nourishing composition has been applied, you can put on cotton gloves and go to bed. This way, the bed linen will remain clean and the skin and nails will receive their nutrition.
• When working around the house or in the garden, you should use rubber gloves - this will protect your hands from exposure to chemicals and the external environment.
• If you want to give up the habit of biting your nails, you should not forget about the psychological side of the problem, it is to this that you should first of all direct your attention. Perhaps the person has serious psychological problems. Then it would be right to seek help from a specialist. The treatment prescribed by the doctor may include hypnosis, acupuncture and many other methods of traditional and non-traditional medicine.
• If the situation is related to organic lesions, then more substantial examination and treatment are necessary.
• There is a category of people who start biting their nails when they are overcome by hunger. Therefore, in such a situation, you need to watch your diet. The intake regimen should be frequent, but in small portions, so as not to treat obesity later.

Experts believe that the most effective method of getting rid of the problem is a set of measures that include psychological exercises along with various, more practical tricks (smearing the nails with substances with an unpleasant taste).

For small children, you can try applying adhesive tape to their fingers. For very young patients, psychological methods are not quite suitable and are ineffective. It is quite difficult to explain to a small child that biting nails, putting dirty fingers in the mouth carries a certain danger. Naturally, this does not mean that you should not talk to the child about this. Over time, you can find more compelling arguments for your baby. For example, you can explain to a teenage girl how ugly a manicure will be, and subsequently the very appearance of her hands, which even the most elegant manicure will not save.

Another option that can help wean a child off the habit of biting nails is to pay more attention to the little "why" and his problems. You should do more with the child so that he is interested and not bored, then the reason for the manifestation of harmful inclinations will disappear.

The habit of biting nails is an unpleasant, dangerous to human health reflex. But it is not a death sentence for the rest of your life. You can and should fight it. But you won’t be able to get rid of it by simply taking a pill. You need to set yourself up to do some work, first finding the cause that is the catalyst for the manifestation of this pathological reflex. If you can’t stop the problem on your own, you shouldn’t brush off the help of specialists. But having gone through this path, such a person also receives other dividends, becoming calmer, more self-confident and able to manage their emotions and their life!