Are you in the habit of biting your nails? Do you want to get out of this habit?, but how do you stop it?
Well the good news is that you can stop biting your nails, it's just that stepping-out of this habit may prove troublesome.
Our bodies often need something to do, even when we're doing something like watching t.v, snacking for example is a common thing to do as it keeps our hands busy. In the same way biting our nails gives our hands something to do to fuel contentment.
These behaviours, like biting your nails, can come in many different varieties, but chewing your nails is common and can start to become obsessive and compulsive.
In fact there can be lots of different reasons for nail biting, so trying to put it all down to one reason would be wrong. After saying this, here are some other examples of what it could be down to: a developed habit, not being able to cope with stress or anxiety or extreme nervousness, hunger, boredom etc.
Here are some things you can do to stop biting your nails.
1. Admit your problem
The first thing to do whenever you're trying to stop a bad habit or break a problem, is to acknowledge that you have one.
If you're reading this blog post, chances are is that you do know you have a problem and you are wanting to fix it - which is good. Without the realisation that you have a problem, there is no point in trying to stop.
2. Eat calcium and magnesium rich foods
Making sure that your body gets enough calcium and magnesium is essential for growing healthy nails and repairing them.
A reason why you may bite your nails could be down to the fact that your body isn't getting enough calcium or magnesium.
3. Start a new habit
Instead of being in the habit of nail biting, try to find a new habit. Try not to get into an equally obsessive habit, but something that can be beneficial.
For example, if you're wanting to do something with your hands, try drawing or writing, this will allow you to be productive but still enabling hand-usage. It doesn't have to be these two examples, but normally if it's something productive, you'll most likely be using your hands.
4. Desire for the end-result
Try imagining how your nails will look after a period of time without nail biting. Aspire to get the nails and fingertips of others. Print out a picture of some un-bitten nail ends and set yourself the goal of restoring your fingers back to that shape.
5. Cut your nails
Make sure you cut your nails regularly so that there isn't any nail to bite. Doing this helps remove the temptation and makes it harder for you to chew on.
6. Buddy-up
Find someone else who has the same habit of chewing their nails, and stop biting your nails together.
Having someone else who is doing the same thing will encourage you all the more to keep away from this bad habit.
7. Reduce Stress
As a lot of nail-biters have their habit linked to stress and anxiety, try to find what could be causing you to get like this and try to fix it.
If you're interested, you can read an old post of mine: The Common Causes of Stress and how to deal with it.
8. Use a deterrent
There are specific products; oils, creams, nail polishers, and the like, that are especially designed to stop nail biting. As this is a common problem, these products have been invented to act as a deterrent by tasting horrible, causing you to flinch away from your fingers.
The only problem with these is that you may become too revolted to apply them to your nails, or you may get used to the taste and re-continue.