Nail biting is an oral compulsive habit which is very common in children and adults. It is also known as onychophagia. Nail biting is a very bad habit, it not only make your hands look unattractive but also look annoying to other when they see you biting. It may permanently damage your nails, gums, and teeth. Stress, frustration, boredom, loneliness, anxiety are the common reason behind your nail biting habit. Regular biting of nails can sore your skin around the nails and damage the tissue that makes nail grow and lead to abnormal looking nails. Nail biting can also leave virus and infection that transfer from mouth and fingers. The habit of nail biting is also very addictive like smoking and drinking but there is no need to worry, you can stop biting your nails by using these following methods.
Way to Stop Biting your Nails:
1.) Breaking the Habit of Nail Biting
If you find difficult to break the habit all at once. Then Picking one nail to protect at a time is a very effective way to stop biting your nails. Begin with the nail which looks more damaged. If all nails look similar so you can pick any nail which you want. Go for a few days without biting that particular nail you choose, but if you need some extra assistance, consider wrapping bandages around the fingertip of chosen nail. This will block your access to nail and make it difficult to bite.
After a few days, notice how much better that nail looks than the others. A nonbiting nail will flourish and reward you. Don’t bite your chosen nail during the whole process. If you feel the urge to bite consider unprotected one. Then pick another nail to stop biting and during this process you have to keep both first and second nail alone. You will not like to undo your good work. Repeat the process until you got success to avoid all your nails. This habit will help you to stop biting your nails. If you ever feel an urge to bite your nails. Reverse this process by focusing on just one nail to bite. This will limit you to an amount of damage done.
2.) Find a Habit to Replace Nail Biting
Whenever you have an urge to bite nails. Start distracting your finger and hands like clasp your hands, drum your finger, twiddle your thumb, put your hands in your pockets. Make sure that whichever habit you are following should not be a bad habit. Choose a helpful one that doesn’t really matter either way.
Distract your hands, when you usually bite your nails like when you are in class, or during car rides. Find a new way to replace the habit depending on the situation and where you are; if you are in class, focus on writing notes. If you are a passenger, play with your keys. Carry a rubber band or something else with yourself and play with them constantly instead of biting nails. Try to keep a coin in your pocket and play when you feel the urge to stop biting your nails.
3.) Nail Biting Polish to Stop Biting Nails
There are many nail-biting polishes available in the market which are specially designed to help people to quit that habit. Bitrex and Mavala are two examples of them. You can easily buy any inhibitor in your local pharmacy or grocery store.
Use a bitter tasting nail biting inhibitor to coat your nail. The bitter taste of nail polish will prevent you from biting your nails. Each of the inhibitors uses a safe, non-toxic chemical that tastes bad. Read the instruction prior to use. It works like that when you bite the painted nail without thinking you get the nasty taste of paint. Next time you will not dare to do the same mistake. You can even use a dark color nail polish because when the nail is covered with dark color nail polish, they looked bad when chipped from nail-biting. Next time you will try to bite your nail and make your nail look uglier.
4.) Distract your Hands to Prevent Biting your Nails
You can easily distract your hands by taking up a hobby to stop biting your nails. The hobby will not only keep you away from biting nails but also discover a new passion at the same time. A hobby to distract your hands could be anything like making models or maintaining your house, crocheting or knitting, finger knitting, running or even outdoor games. You can even do nail care and decoration.
If you like art and craft, try doing projects with plaster or clay. It will get over your hands and the flavor of plaster stays on your nails for long even after you wash off any visible mess. Both clay and plaster taste bad. Clay tastes salty and plaster tastes chalky. But doing project will keep your hands busy.
5.) Keep your Mouth Busy to Stop Biting your Nails
A few small tricks can keep your mouth busy and will cut down the amount of time you spent on nail biting. But you should avoid to developing a serious new oral fixation. Try to suck on mints and start chewing which is very effective to stop biting your nails. Biting your nails would be tough if you are busy chewing gum or taking the flavor of tasty candy.
Start taking small snack through the day to keep your mouth busy. You should avoid snacking so much that you start gaining weight and develop a new problem. You should carry healthy snacks like carrot or celery so you can munch them throughout the day. Carry around a water bottle wherever you go and take a sip when you feel the urge of nail biting.
6.) Maintain Healthy Diet to Stop Nail Biting
A healthy diet will not only help you to feel better but it will also help your nail to repair and grow well. Eat food rich in calcium and magnesium so that nails will repair and grow well. Human body wants to bite nails due to the lack of calcium and magnesium. The body need that material back and therefore one begins biting nails.
Add eggs, soy, liver, and whole grain in your diet. Apple, cucumber, garlic, grapes, onion and asparagus are rich in sulfur which helps for consistent growth of nails. Essential fatty acid or EFAs are found in salmon, tuna fish, nuts, seeds, shellfish, and leafy vegetables. These foods require for human metabolic process and help nails to look shiny and pliable.
7.) Wear Fake Nails to Stop Biting
This is another good way to stop biting your nails. Wearing artificial nails will keep your nails covered so that you cannot bite them. Get your nails professionally manicured, which involves acrylic glue to your nails. They last for long and when you take them off you will have your real natural nails underneath. Artificial nails will also hide the bitten nails in a stylish manner.
There are many types of artificial nails available in the markets like wraps, gel, and press on nails. Always go for the right size of artificial nails to reduce the risk of falling off.
8.) Garlic to Stop Biting your Nails
It is a natural ingredient that will help you to fight with nail biting. Garlic has very strong taste and aroma, which most of the people dislike. It also has an antiseptic property which will help to keep your nails free from infection. Garlic also helps to strengthen your nails. You can use raw garlic or garlic oil.
Take a clove and garlic and cut into two pieces. Rub a piece of garlic over your nails and leave it for a few minutes before washing. The lingering taste of garlic will stop you from biting nails. You can also rub garlic oil with a cotton ball. Both are equally effective.
9.) Indian Lilac Oil to Prevent Nail Biting
The bitter taste of Indian lilac oil can help you stop biting nails. It has antiseptic property, so it will help to keep your nails free from infection. Take one teaspoon of Indian Lilac oil, it will be enough to polish all your nails. Use a cotton ball to rub Indian lilac on your nails. Allow oil to dry on its own, the taste will leave behind on your nails after getting dry. When you will unconsciously try to bite your nails, the bitter taste will make you feel worst and next time you will dare to bite your nails. It will help you to stop biting your nails.
10.) Trim your Nails to Stop Biting
If you have surplus growth cut your nails frequently. Keep a clipper with you to prevent biting nails. When you keep your nails very short, so there is nothing left to bite. It will help you to stop biting your nails. Trimming your nails will also keep them looking more neat and tidy than your uneven biting nails. Choose the right chipper with you and after trimming, polish the edges with a nail filer.
