How to stop biting your nails: it's hard, but you can!
A fact that many feel ashamed of is their habit of biting their nails. But how do you stop? Sometimes behind the tendency to bite your nails there is a lot of anxiety: read on and find out how to stop biting your nails immediately, but first, stop for a moment, relax and above all smile, watching this video we have selected for you. Then continue the article and follow our advice.
Nail biting: a problem at hand!
Gnawing your nails is not a nice action to see and embarrasses those who do it and their interlocutor, it conditions the relationship between people, also due to the image of poor hygiene it arouses in the viewer.
Hands are a part of our body that is always very evident: with them we greet, offer, grasp. They jump up and down, in front of us and those who are close to us all the time. With our hands we do everything.
Such a visible part of our body cannot and must not be neglected - palm, back and nails must be perfectly clean and, in fact, most women and men have learned to take care of them more, regardless of the work they do. Women have always taken great care of their hands, they are part of their aesthetic heritage, such as the mouth embellished with lipstick and the cheekbones with blush, the body with creams. In the evening, they massage them with moisturizing cream, to remedy the damage of the detergents used every day in the household chores on their most sensitive and delicate skin. Once women rubbed them with olive oil, with which they cooked. Today you can find bottles of essential oils precious and very effective for skin and hair care, such as sweet almond oil, Argan oil. , that of castor and jojoba oil that make the nails shinier and more resistant, without abnormal hardening and scratching. There are also protective transparent enamels, useful to keep them from flaking. Many resort to the casting of permanent or semi-permanent gel, which have a much longer duration than that of a traditional "enamel application." Men, too, increasingly entrust their hands to an "expert manicurist. Nevertheless, many people cannot stop biting their nails, even when they are aware that they have ruined them almost irreparably and in a very visible way. This bad habit, this one. vice, it is called onychophagy from the Greek and is rather dangerous and unhygienic, as it compromises the state of health of the individual affected by this mania. First of all, the hands touch everywhere and anything and, therefore, putting the nails in the mouth, you risk bringing bacteria, for example Escherichia coli and various infections to the gums, bronchi, canker sores and warts in the oral cavity and caries and bad occlusion of the teeth; moreover it also worsens halitosis. Among the various bacteria there is also the staphylococcus aureus, which sometimes also leads to blisters with pus and pain. Attention also to a possible herpes simplex on the lips. It is a "habit that then also gives an" image of anxiety, tension, insecurity, emotional instability, hysteria and can therefore compromise interpersonal relationships and the judgment that others have of those affected by this physical and psychological problem.
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How to get rid of this bad habit? Natural and non-natural remedies.
Will is essential as in any vice to be eliminated. If you are not convinced that you want to do it and are well decided, every effort becomes useless and it is extremely difficult to reach the goal. We must seriously become aware of this "vice" and its consequences. If you have this problem, you could first try, to curb your instinct to bite your nails, to wrap around the tips of your fingers some patches that prevent the teeth from reaching the nail or to wear gloves or to get a nice cast of super-resistant permanent gel in your favorite color. This will probably cost you a certain sum and maybe it could stop you from ruining such a good job with a nervous alienating gnawing. You could also spread aloe vera on your nails and fingers, for do not be tempted to nibble mechanically and continuously. If you have a seedling at home, cut a leaf: the aloe vera juice will gush out and rub it well on your fingers and nails.If not, buy an aloe vera gel and spread a nice layer of it. Aloe is a wonderful plant, a real cure-all for the skin and for any type of inflammation, but its rather bitter and unpleasant taste will make you take off the "nail from the teeth with a sudden click. Or you can also replace the aloe with onion or a nice red pepper, which will burn your tongue so much that you give up. Even garlic or pepper with their stinging flavor do their duty well in this case. Or, if these remedies don't work, cheat your nails with another one, for example a licorice root, not with the usual unsanitary pen that could damage your teeth and lead to infections, or with a crunchy chocolate wand or a breadstick of those stuffed that have a pleasant flavor. You can also use tea tree oil with an unpleasant taste combined with almond oil in order to soften at the same time the cuticles or enamels with an unpleasant smell and taste. However, it is necessary to pay attention that these glazes do not contain harmful substances, such as formaldehyde Some herbal or perfumery products are useful as they contain plant extracts, highly reinforcing the nail structure, such as sunflower oil or tea tree essential oil combined with lemon and grapefruit and horsetail extract.
There are also medical treatments that involve the use of benzoate, a substance with an unpleasant taste to be applied to the nails, or antidepressants that reduce the sense of loneliness and stress. Vitamin B can also reduce the desire for aggression and thus improve the problem. . Another remedy could be soaking your nails in a hot sauce, chewing on mints or peanuts so that you don't give in to the temptation to put more in your mouth. Chewing gum in particular could help you: busy mouth, better breath and also you would have a beautiful anti-wrinkle facial gymnastics. White vinegar is also good on nails because of its unpleasant smell and taste. Practice self-control, bringing your finger close to your mouth, but making an effort not to touch the nail. Try to devote yourself to outdoor pastimes, getting your hands dirty with mud, soil or chalk, for example, take care of your garden or a small vegetable garden.
If you really can't do it, respect the self-imposed rules even in biting your nails to avoid getting to do it in a compulsive way.
But why do we bite these nails? The word to the psychologist.
Perhaps loneliness contributes a little and boredom more. The finger in the mouth always has a comforting and relaxing function. Even the newborn always sucks his thumb to fall asleep. Many do it without realizing it, others out of conscious nervousness, such as those who constantly bite their lip or squeeze tiny blackheads with a single nail or get physical pain with repeated movements near sharp objects, as if to dampen inner conflicts with small or medium physical pains. This unhealthy habit therefore certainly has a psychological origin of inner suffering. Biting your nails all the time gives you a sense of temporary contentment, mixed with a strange sense of guilt, and it's not just an adolescent or preteen ailment. In fact, it also involves many adults. It serves to relieve nervousness and momentarily brings relief, especially when the gesture comes from anger. In this case, therefore, it depends on anxiety and nervousness in the difficult moments of life, of waiting, of worry, of anger and anxiety. There are those who, besides the nails, also gnaw the part of the skin that surrounds the nail, the cuticles, often causing small skin lesions on the fingers, until the blood comes out of the skin. This can lead to an "infection on the contour of the nail", called paronychia.
However, it is a way to reveal and throw out one's anguish and all the oppression created by anxiety.There are also greater causes, more serious, related not to transient phenomena of stress, to melancholy after quarrels and abandonment, but to real and own traumas that alter the balance of the nervous system. In this case, the intervention of a psychotherapist will be necessary, a great help for the patient in being able to achieve impulse control. This vice sometimes becomes almost an aggression to oneself, sometimes punitive for an erroneous sense of guilt that feels those who are subject to abuse at home, mistreatment or even harassment, and voluntarily procures wounds and disfigurements of their own body: a real and own OCD. This damage to the skin of the hands can cause serious viral infections and even chronic dermatitis that are difficult to heal. Very important to heal the nails put continuously in the mouth and gnawed by the teeth is a treatment of keratin, a protein found in the hair, nails and even in the skin, to which the combination with collagen gives elasticity.
Keratin beautifies both nails and hair, which also accelerates growth; gives firmness and elasticity to the skin of the face and the various tissues of the body. Precisely for this reason it is necessary to control and increase the levels of keratin, in order to improve the health and appearance of hair and nails, at the same time promoting their growth. Gel pours made by amateur beauticians ruin the keratin structure of the nails. Wrong and too reductive diets can also negatively affect hair, eyebrows and nails.
A healthy, balanced diet, based primarily on the necessary proteins, but also rich in vitamins and minerals, guarantees keratin. Nails, as well as hair and skin, need constant hydration, especially if you are in contact with aggressive substances, to avoid injuries and to prevent the formation of scratches and cracks. If you find it difficult to stop suddenly, you can try to remove one finger at a time, wrapping it or lacquering it with a very resistant nail polish. When you're tempted to eat them, play with a plasticine ball to keep your fingers busy or suck on one of those colorful candy canes that were once called "donuts". Get a nice manicure often. Seeing yourself with beautiful, manicured and perfect nails might make you want not to ruin them. Try! Come on, give it your all. No nails in the mouth. And "good luck"!
