Nail Biting

Nail biting (onychophagia) is a common stress-relieving habit exhibited by many individuals. You may often start to bite your nails in times of stress or excitement, or in times of boredom or inactivity. It can also be a learned behavior from watching close family members. Nail biting is the most common of the typical "nervous habits," which include thumb-sucking, nose picking, twisting or pulling of the hair, tooth grinding, and picking at skin. Some people may bite their nails without realizing that they are even doing it. You might be involved in another activity, such as reading, watching television, or talking on the phone, and bite your nails without thinking about it. Nail biting includes biting the cuticle and soft tissue surrounding the nail as well as biting the nail itself.

Who bites their nails? Anyone and everyone! Well not everyone of course, but a good majority of people do.

Consider about 50% of children between the ages of 10 and 18 bite their nails at one time or another. You most often see more children who are going thru puberty begin to bite their nails. A smaller percentage of people from 18 to their mid-twenties also bite their nails. A much smaller number of older adults bite their nails. Most often, people stop biting their nails on their own by the age of 30.

Several treatment measures may help you stop biting your nails if becomes an issue that you are unable to correct on your own. Some treatments focus on behavioral changes and others focus on physical barriers to nail biting.

Some of those treatment suggestions might be:

- Keeping your nails trimmed and filed regularly. Taking care of your nails can help reduce your nail-biting habit and encourage you to keep your nails looking attractive.

- Get a manicure regularly or use nail polish, you are less likely to bite at your nails or cuticles if they are well kept. Men can use a clear polish. Wearing artificial nails also may stop you from biting your nails and protect them as they grow out.

- Work on stress-management techniques if you bite your nails because you are anxious or stressed.

- Paint a bitter-tasting polish on your nails, the taste will most often make you sick to your stomach and prevent you from biting at your nails. The awful taste will remind you to stop every time you start to bite your nails.

- Try substituting another activity, such as drawing or writing or squeezing a stress ball or Silly Putty, when you find yourself biting your nails. If you keep a record of nail-biting, you will become more aware of the times when you bite your nails and be able to stop the habit.

- Wear gloves, adhesive bandages, or colored stickers whenever possible to remind you not to bite your nails. As unattractive as it might look, it works for some people!

- Try snapping a rubber band on the inside of your wrist when you start to bite your nails so you have a negative physical response to nail biting.

Children may bite their nails more often when they are having problems at school or with friends. Talk with your child or his or her teacher about any new stress at school. Children are more likely to stop biting their nails when they understand what may trigger it. It is also important for your child to help choose a treatment method so he or she can use the treatment successfully.

There are some problems associated with nail biting. Excessive nail biting can cause your fingertips to be red and sore and your cuticles to bleed. Nail biting also increases your risk for infections around your nail beds and in your mouth. (Think of how often you use your hands and touch dirty surfaces…thinking about that might keep you from putting your fingers in your mouth!) Dental problems and infections of the gums can be caused by nail biting also. Long-term nail biting can also interfere with normal nail growth and cause deformed nails.