Biting your nails, scientifically known as onychophagia, is a habit that affects both men and women, can start from childhood and persist into adulthood, and is closely associated with anxiety and feelings of insecurity.
To stop biting your nails, it is recommended to control anxiety, which could be the root cause of the problem. However, some tips can be followed to avoid this habit, such as:
- Short nails avoid tempting tricks.
- Avoiding habit.
- In addition.
- Keeping your nails well cooked and painted weekly with a manicure is also an additional incentive to want to keep your nails beautiful and avoid eating your fingers.
A good tip is to always have a nail clip on the bag. If you feel like biting the tip of your nail, ideally use the nail clipper to lose your addiction.
Nail polish to stop biting nails has a very bitter taste, which prevents the person from sticking their fingers in their mouth. They are colorless, suitable for men, women and children over 4 years and can be purchased in pharmacies.
There are several brands, such as Derma nail, Avon or Mavala, for example.
Covering your nails with false nails or gel nails, in addition to improving aesthetics, reduces the desire to bite them because the person is afraid to damage the manicure. Find out how gel nails are applied.
Another trick is to cover one or more of them with a bandage, and after a week remove it and see how the nail has become prettier and healthier compared to the others.
Adopting a new habit that replaces nail biting, such as playing with an anti-stress or elastic ball, for example, are ways to keep your head and hands busy with new activities instead of biting your nails.
Especially in times of increased anxiety or boredom, gum is also a good option to prevent addiction.
Finding ways to relieve anxiety, such as listening to music, talking to someone, or engaging in physical activities after work, for example, can relieve anxiety and make the person have less mania and dependence, such as biting their nails.
In some cases, the habit of biting the nails can result from nutritional deficiencies, such as lack of calcium and/or magnesium, which leads the person to bite the nail, in order to recover these minerals.
Therefore, it is important to maintain a balanced diet, rich in vitamins and minerals, to avoid nutritional deficiencies. See which foods are rich in calcium and magnesium.
Some of the main consequences of nail biting, which make it important to quit this habit, are:
Nails serve as protection from the top of the fingers, to help with the pressure exerted with the fingers, and as a barrier to the entry of microbes into the body and bloodstream, so they must be well preserved to prevent disease. by contact with microorganisms. Learn what to do to strengthen fragile nails.