Break the Habit: Stop Nail Biting

A bad habit that affects people of all ages is nail biting. Nail biting is commonly used to cope with stress or excitement. People often bite their nails out of boredom as well. This habit is a common nervous habit for many people. Many people bite their nail without even realizing they are doing it. Biting nails does not strictly mean the nails are bitten but it can mean the surrounding areas of the nails as well such as the cuticles and skin.

Although nail biting occurs in any age group, it is very common among adolescence going through puberty. Young adults often bite their nails as well progressing even into middle age. Boys are more common to bite their nail than girls. Luckily, there are many treatments that can be used to break this bad habit.

An easy way to break the habit of nail biting is to use a bitter tasting nail polish made to stop this habit. This polish is simply painted onto the nails so when the nails are place in the mouth there is a bitter taste. This discourages nail biting.

Another technique that can be used to stop nail biting is to learn stress management techniques to learn how to cope with stress that often leads to nail biting. If a person learns to deal with stress or anxiety properly, than the new techniques can replace the old habit of nail biting.

To stop nail biting, eliminating the temptation can break this bad habit. This is done by keeping the skin around the nail well moisturized to reduce any annoying hang nails, Keep the nail and cuticles well trimmed to reduce the temptation of chewing on them.

Another technique to use in place of nail biting is learning new ways to occupy your time, such as drawing or squeezing stress balls. In times of boredom drawing is a good way to pass the time and will keep your hands busy so there is no need to chew. Stress balls are great to use during stressful situations when it is most common for the nails to be bitten.

For more extreme nail biting habits a person can cover the nails by wearing gloves or bandages over the fingers. This will not allow a person to chew even if they wanted too. A person can also decrease chewing on nails by placing a rubber band on the wrist. This works by snapping the rubber band on the wrist every time the person catches themselves chewing. This produces a negative physical response to a bad habit.

Most people out grow nail biting as they age but some habits can linger longer than others.Webmd.com has a lot of useful information on how a person can break the habit of nail biting.