Do you bite your nails? Or know of someone who does? Nail biting is a habit that’s typically picked up during your childhood or adolescent years. If you’re an adult who is still biting your nails, this is most likely because you’ve been having this habit since your younger years.
Nail biting is physically harmful and a mental health concern. Read on as we explore further on this common habit, which can be on of the biggest threats to your health.
It’s Onychophagia
Medically known as Onychophagia, this behaviour is characterised by uncontrollable biting of the fingernails and its surrounding tissues. Onychophagia falls under the umbrella of body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs), together with hair pulling and skin picking.
BFRBs are often linked to anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In most cases, individuals end up with nail biting as a way to cope with anxiety and treatment depends very much on the severity of the condition. Though, this behaviour can be difficult to get over especially for those who have been engaging in it for a long time.
If you’re a nail biter and have not found a good reason to stop this habit, here are some
reasons that we hope you would take into consideration that would encourage you to stop this behaviour.
Good reasons to stop
Although nail biting might not cause major physical harm except for cosmetic reasons, it is still discouraged very much. Here are some reasons as to why you should stop nail biting.
#1 It’ll spoil your pearly whites
It’s not only your nails that will be damaged, nail biting can cause damage to your teeth as well. Cracked and chipped teeth are some of the major concerns as you engage in excessive nail biting. Plus, in the long run, it could affect your jaw too!
#2 It causes distortion
One of the main cosmetic concerns associated with nail biting is that it would most likely make your nails grow differently from its natural form. As you bite into your nails and its surrounding tissues, this causes damage to the affected area and hence, cause distortion.
#3 It’ll make you sick
As you go about your day, you’re bound to touch surfaces that are dirty. This could cause bacteria and germs to gather under your nails. Hence, when you’re biting your nails multiple times a day, this definitely increases your risk of falling sick. On top of that, germs can get into the grooves of your damaged skin too and once again, this increases your risk of falling ill as well as an infection.
Take action
Clearly nail biting can affect your physical wellbeing in more than one way. There could also be a time in your life where you’ll realise that this habit needs to stop but by then, you might have faced the music as mentioned above. So, before that happens, we would like to highly encourage you to stop biting your nails. You don’t have to stop cold turkey. As a matter of fact,
little steps can go a long way in ensuring that you permanently stop this habit.
Here are some steps that you can take:
- Pamper yourself to manicure sessions. Spending money to make your nails look pretty will definitely make you think twice before biting into those pretty nails!
- Cut them as short as possible. Paint your nails to deter you from biting your nails.
- Find other ways to keep yourself busy. For example, if you feel the urge to start biting your nails, reach for a strip of chewing gum instead or if your hands are feeling restless, grab a stress ball.
Ultimately, the most important thing is to find out the cause of this unhealthy behaviour. If you find it difficult to get over this habit, perhaps speaking to a psychologist could help you with it. Remember, there are way more benefits to your health when you stop this habit and truly, there’s nothing more important that preserving your health!
