If you’re a chronic nail-biter and looking for a safe way to kick the habit, join the club. Just like you and me, there are literally millions of people around the world who try relentlessly year after year to find a way to stop biting their nails, and finding the right solution that works isn’t really that simple. But there is a way, and I am going to share with you what has worked for me personally.
If you’re like me (and I’m like most people with this very unhealthy habit), then you probably started biting your nails as a young child. This is a natural starting point for most habitual nail biters because we are so vulnerable. We begin forming our learned behaviors early in childhood development, and many of these behaviors are learned from those closest to us (for example, our parents). So if you have a nail-biting parent, chances are good that you picked up this terrible habit. I took the habit from my father. But before you point fingers, mom and dad can’t be blamed entirely.
Nail biting is also a common replacement for thumb sucking. This is especially the case when a child’s oral habit is necessitated by stressful conditions and/or anxiety or other frustrations in the child’s life. And unless nail biting is nipped in the bud early, nail biting continues through adolescence and into adulthood.
Causes
Nail biting can be caused by obsessions, compulsions, and aggressiveness. Too often, nail biting becomes an unconscious act of frustration, anxiety, and a way to relieve stress. The most worrying thing about this habit is that most of the time you bite your nails, you don’t even realize you’re doing it!
Anyone with a nail biting habit is in deep trouble. There are so many health problems associated with biting your nails, like getting diseases from all the germs on your fingers. Chronic nail biting can lead to misshapen fingers and serious dental problems. It has even been linked to causing heart disease. Furthermore, biting your nails can significantly reduce self-esteem and confidence, which directly affects your social life and career.
Treatments and Cures
If you’ve researched nail biting treatments, you’ve probably been bombarded with a plethora of products meant to help you kick the nervous habit. There are creams, nail polishes, and prescription drugs (most are antidepressants). But which ones really work? More importantly, which method will stop your habit immediately?
The only method that has been shown to be most effective, and this is the method I used to kick the habit, is hypnotherapy. Contrary to popular belief, this does not mean taking a trip to a hypnotherapist’s office, having him wave a wristwatch in front of you as you count down to deep sleep.
It is actually a simple technique that you can do from the comfort of your own home and you can literally have it. stop biting your nails in less than 10 minutes, and you’ll never bite your nails again! There are some phenomenal low cost programs that essentially make you tap into your conscious and subconscious mind to eliminate all the reasons you bite your nails and all the reasons you should never bite your nails ever again.