How to stop biting your nails. Reasons and solutions

Health 10.10.2017

Dear readers, you probably know that not only small children bite their nails, but also adults. And when you encounter such a problem, of course, thoughts immediately arise that it’s not just a bad habit, but there are certainly psychological moments. It’s good if you manage to survive and leave such an experience in childhood, but how to stop biting your nails as an adult? Today I would like to discuss this with you, especially since the problem is not so harmless.

What is the reason

About 30% of people constantly bite their nails. Where did this habit come from? Are there people who are more susceptible to this? Is there a scientific explanation for this mania? Let's try to figure it all out together.

Many people are convinced that people bite their nails when they are very excited or anxious. Some of you must have felt the need to do this when you were irritated or when you were working on a difficult task. And someone just likes the process itself.

In medicine, there is a term "onychophagia", which refers to the habit of biting nails. Such a diagnosis implies the presence of obsessive-compulsive disorders, when a person is not able to control himself. But not all "rodents" things are so serious. While I was looking for information on how to stop biting my nails, I realized that the explanations for this phenomenon are still poorly understood. It is difficult to treat a disease without knowing the true causes of its occurrence. But not everything is so hopeless.

It's all about psychology!

American studies say that one of the reasons why we periodically bite our nails is perfectionism. There is some logic in this explanation. After all, people who are focused on high performance, striving for excellence in all areas of their lives (often not sparing themselves) tend to get upset over any little thing.

In perfectionists, against the background of internal irritation, nerve impulses can manifest themselves not only in the form of biting off nails, but also in constant stroking of hair, scratching of the skin. In all these situations, we are talking about reflex violations.

That Sigmund Freud

There is not a single disease that has not been explained in terms of science by Sigmund Freud. The psychoanalyst is world famous for his unusual views, and he also touched on this topic - why people bite their nails.

It is hard to argue with the fact that a small child experiences joy and peace when being attached to the breast. The consequences of the lack of such close contact with the mother, the impossibility of breastfeeding, Freud considered a violation of the sense of security. And if at a young age, children cope with internal experiences by biting their nails, then at an older age, the matter can turn into the abuse of alcoholic beverages. As we know, all our habits come from childhood.

Matter of habit

It may well be that the basis of the desire to bite your nails is not a psycho-emotional disorder, not the consequences of chronic anxiety, lack of maternal love. You can think of it only as the result of a complex of factors that, with random variations, lead to the formation of such a strange and at the same time bad habit.

First of all, it is very convenient to keep fingers in the mouth, and infants could confirm this if they could talk. So the origins of such a habit can be sought even in infancy.

And in some situations, it's some form of self-care. This is especially pronounced in men who want to make their nails shorter, but they are too lazy to use nail scissors.

We all know that once the habit of nail biting begins, it instantly becomes a routine. And so it will continue until you think about the nature of such behavior.

Metaphysical causes of nail problems

Until recently, most people, including doctors, were skeptical about the importance of psychosomatics. It seems to me that for the first time they began to seriously think about this with the increase in the number of cancer patients. It's not a secret for anyone that when problems are "jammed", ignoring one's psycho-emotional state, malfunctions in the work of internal organs begin to occur. From a mental standpoint, the problem begins the moment a person reaches his or her physical and emotional limits.

One of the outstanding psychologists of our time is Liz Burbo. Her name is not just associated with deep love and self-acceptance. In her book Your Body Says Love Yourself, which is popular all over the world, she also touches on the problem of nail biting.

Liz Burbo is convinced that such a habit is associated with an internal sense of remorse, the inability to cope with some events in her personal life. Strong nails themselves are the personification of reliable protection, the embodiment of health, confidence. And indeed it is! When people have unsightly bitten nails, they try to squeeze their fingers so that no one notices them. That is, on a subconscious level, they are looking for security.

Liz Burbo believes that in these situations it is necessary to accept the idea that no one is obliged to protect you. It is this delusion that leads to mental blockage and frequent stress. At the same time, it seems to us that biting our nails, we weaken the level of anxiety.

Consequences of a bad habit

In fact, it is not so important how experts explain the reasons for the need to bite their nails. But if you are thinking about the dangers of this habit, then you should be aware of what will happen if you bite your nails.

Damage to teeth and mouth

If we ask what happens to our teeth due to constant nail biting, dentists will sigh heavily. After all, it is these specialists who have to deal with the consequences of this bad habit, which can lead to complete chaos in the mouth.

First of all, it is necessary to remember the relative fragility of tooth enamel, which is daily exposed to hot food, cold drinks, cracking nuts, etc. And here we also begin to bite our nails and thereby increase the risk of developing microcracks. As a result, with an increase in the sensitivity of the teeth, you begin to experience aching sensations. This, of course, is not unbearable pain, but there is little pleasant in this.

Bracket systems are worn not only by small children, but also by adults who want to correct their bite or at the stage of preparation for orthopedics. Orthodontists warn that in this case, the habit of biting nails is a rather risky activity, since this way there is a possibility not only of the bracket peeling off the enamel, but also of root resorption - bone loss around the tooth.

Periodontists also have a negative attitude towards this bad habit.

Bitten off nail particles can lead to serious gum injury and subsequent swelling.

Risk of infection

A huge number of bacteria accumulate under the nails, which lead to infection of the body. Moreover, doctors believe that E. coli may also be present among them.

Do you know what happens when a person bites a nail? At the first stage, delamination and thinning of the nail plate occurs, then small cracks appear invisible to the eye. The skin around the nail becomes rough and inflamed, resulting in suppuration. In this case, it is impossible to do without the help of a surgeon.

I was surprised to learn that infection will occur if you pet a sick animal. We are talking about situations when you forgot to wash your hands and began to diligently bite your nails, under which helminth eggs may remain. The consequences of such a habit will very quickly make itself felt. This is another reason to seriously think about why you should not bite your nails.

In medical practice, situations are not uncommon when the causes of food poisoning, stool disorders were the consequences of nail biting after cutting raw meat or fresh vegetables. And such a disease of dirty hands as dysentery will put you in a hospital bed for a long time and is guaranteed to beat off the desire to return to a bad habit.

Did you know that the nail polish we put on contains formaldehyde, a substance used in embalming corpses? I think it is not worth talking about the possible consequences in this case.

We should also not forget that in the mouth of each person there is a large number of bacteria that cause infection of the nail plates. Moreover, herpes is transmitted in the same way.

In terms of aesthetics

The habit of biting nails is not only harmful to health, but also leads to aesthetic defects, since over time the plate is deformed and loses its attractiveness.

Possible consequences of this habit include:

• the formation of longitudinal or transverse grooves resembling a wave. In this case, not a single varnish can hide the defect;
• deformation of the nail, which acquires a concave shape;
• the appearance of yellow spots;
• delamination of the plate, loss of strength, increased sensitivity when touched;
• by raising the side rollers, the nail is compacted and becomes too large.

Many women continue to ignore this problem and resort to nail extension services. But this implies a monthly financial cost. At the same time, you need to understand that this method does not solve the problem, but only allows you not to see its scale.

Of course, the deformation does not occur instantly, but develops over several years. But during this time the situation is becoming more and more complicated, and this applies not only to aesthetic problems.

How to overcome a bad habit

I think, my dear readers, that at this point it is no longer necessary to give additional arguments about the need to solve this problem. If you are not afraid of the possibility of losing the visual appeal of your hands and you are confident enough in yourself, then think about the harm that you cause to your body every day.

You already know that the root cause lies in the head, which means that you need to start with it.

Psychologists give quite interesting, and most importantly, effective advice on fighting a bad habit. For example, hypochondriacs are prone to stress, manic reasoning, constant anxiety. Experts recommend that they imagine that they suddenly fell ill with all of the above ailments. Only in this way can you stop the habit of pulling your fingers to your mouth.

If you notice that you are biting your nails when you are experiencing nervous tension, then first you need to fully realize that this action will in no way help you cope with the cause of this condition. It just seems that we are helping ourselves, forgetting about the negative. If in moments of excitement you definitely need to occupy your hands with something, occupy them! For example, embroidery or you can use special relaxant toys that look like soft balls. Play relaxing music or read a book to help you relax.

Help of cosmetics

If you are looking for a way to stop biting your nails in a short period of time, then you can resort to little tricks. Previously, people applied mustard powder to their nails, rubbed pepper oil. Today, pharmacology allows us to get away from such methods and suggests using a special varnish so as not to bite our nails. And believe me, you won’t be able to do this, or rather you won’t want to, because it has a bitter taste. Varnishes are absolutely harmless to health, so they are safe to use even for pregnant women.

The most popular tools are: Belwederr, Smart Enamel, Orly. These cosmetic products are resistant to water and detergents, so the effect will last throughout the day. As a rule, the duration of use of such a varnish is several weeks.

Psychologists believe that the development of a new habit occurs in 7-10 days, but everything is very individual. These pharmacy products can be used until the steady reflex to bite your nails disappears.

The power of beauty

And the last way that I can recommend is the most original. Get a manicure with a beautiful design. A prerequisite for this is that the procedure is pleasant for you and expensive. Enjoy the beauty of your well-groomed hands. Believe me, not a single girl will exchange beautiful nails for deformed ones. In this case, the psychological mechanism begins to work: we appreciate what we paid for. The same advice applies to men. In addition, if you decide to build up your nails, then you will not be able to bite them because of the strength of the artificial coating, which also has a positive effect.

For more information about why they bite their nails and how to get rid of this habit, I propose to learn from the video on the Super Interesting channel.

The most important thing is willpower, since it is quite difficult to give up a long-term habit. But I hope the tips on how not to bite your nails will be useful to you.

And for the soul, today we will listen to an amazing beautiful composition Ernesto Cortazar At Your Side .

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