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Nail biting treatment is applied to eliminate anxiety and prevent nail biting. Improving the psychological state is the first priority, followed by visual corrections. Experts offer solutions by applying bitter nail polish or gel coating on the nails.
Experts medically define nail biting disorder as onychophagia. Psychological reasons trigger nail biting behavior, and this condition may appear as a habit. It usually starts in early childhood and is associated with anxiety and inability to cope with stress. This habit, which begins in childhood, can increase during adolescence.
Although nail biting habit starts at an early age, it can occur in any age group and may last for years. Consistent effort is required for such long-lasting impulsive actions to disappear. Psychological support is crucial in nail biting treatment. Experts apply bitter nail polish or gel coating to prevent nail biting behavior. Nailyuba provides gel nail application as part of nail biting treatment. To better understand this application, let’s examine nail biting disorder, its causes, and harmful effects. Additionally, let’s look at methods to stop nail biting habits for children and adults.
What Is Nail Biting Disorder?
Clinically known as onychophagia, it is a common condition seen in many people. Nail biting habit usually starts at ages 3-4. Some children develop this behavior after thumb-sucking habit. Nail biting in children increases during adolescence. The increase in nail biting behavior during adolescence is associated with lack of social approval, feelings of exclusion, and not being loved. Angry, anxious, and introverted children develop nail biting behavior by suppressing their anger and aggressive feelings. Children who are accepted by their friends and have a good social environment experience a decrease in their anxieties and stress over time. Thus, in such positive conditions, nail biting habit in children significantly decreases.
Nail biting is among repetitive behavior disorders like lip biting and thumb sucking. It is usually associated with biting off fingernails and surrounding skin. However, there are also cases where toenails and surrounding skin are bitten off. Children or adults who bite their nails tear them off with their teeth. Some people swallow these nails after biting them off, while others don’t. People who make nail biting a habit also damage the skin around the nails and nail beds. This causes damage to the nail bed. Nail biting can occur together with impulse control disorders such as hair pulling, cheek biting, and eyelash plucking.
People who bite their nails may exhibit this behavior when they are anxious or angry. People who tear off their nails to suppress their anxieties feel relief afterward. However, this relief is short-lived. Although the nail biter feels relieved at that moment, in the long term, nail biting behavior is repeated when a stressful or anxious situation occurs. People whose nail structure is damaged and have an unattractive appearance may feel uncomfortable when others examine their nails. This situation causes people to feel ashamed and more anxious.
Nail Biting in Children
Nail biting habit begins to appear during childhood. Although the exact cause of this action is unknown, children and adults who bite their nails share some common characteristics. Nail biting habit is associated with anger, stress, anxiety, lack of attention, lack of approval, and low self-esteem.
Experts determine the causes and reasons for continuing nail biting behavior by observing the person.
Preschool children may develop nail biting habits due to oppressive parents, jealousy, or neglect.
During school years, oppressive teacher attitudes, exam anxiety, attention deficit, or learning difficulties trigger this habit. Children who bite their nails may imitate this behavior by observing someone in the family who bites their nails. The learning and role modeling process supports the development of nail biting habit.
What Are the Causes of Nail Biting Disorder?
The habit of nail biting occurs in all age groups. Various reasons trigger this behavior. A person’s general emotional state affects this habit, but the exact cause is unknown. Babies may start biting their nails early on by sucking their fingers. Genetic factors, mood disorders, anxiety, and irritability increase the risk of developing this habit.
Children imitate nail-biting behavior by modeling their parents. Emotions such as worry, anxiety, fear, anger, and shame reinforce this habit. During stressful moments, people try to relax by biting their nails. Environmental changes, sudden losses, and feelings of insecurity trigger nail-biting behavior. Individuals suppress negative emotions and try to cope with stress through this behavior.
Certain negative events within the family also affect this situation. Frequent pressure from the family on the individual, a child growing up in a loveless environment, feeling endangered, and worrying about not being understood can cause nail-biting disorder. When a person feels under pressure, they constantly bite their nails to reduce anxiety and stress. Additionally, there is a relationship between nail-biting and conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mental retardation, and separation anxiety.
Some physiological conditions can also cause nail-biting habits. Vitamin deficiency is one of them. Research has shown that nail-biting habits are more common in people with B12 and iron deficiencies. So, in addition to social and psychological factors, physiological causes can also trigger nail-biting behavior.
What Are the Harmful Effects of Nail Biting?
The habit of nail biting can cause tissue damage to fingers, nail beds, and around the nails. These individuals experience deterioration in nail structure and shape problems. The nail structure of a nail-biter does not develop properly and becomes damaged. This results in an unattractive appearance. Anxious and stressed individuals become even more unhappy with this unappealing look. They don’t want their hands to be seen or noticed by others. As a result, the person may become more introverted by withdrawing from social circles. This negatively affects their social life and limits their functions. Consequently, the individual enters a self-perpetuating cycle.
The harmful effects of nail biting are not only social. It also causes significant damage to the person’s body. It causes damage to the jawbone and tooth structure. It leads to crooked teeth, pushing them forward and distorting their shape. Moreover, our hands come into contact with many surfaces throughout the day and harbor germs. Even if we wash our hands regularly, not all these germs are eliminated. Additionally, due to stressful and anxious situations, nail-biting behavior occurs without considering whether the hands are clean or not. This allows various microorganisms to enter the body and cause diseases.
Specific problems arise, such as oral infections, and intestinal and stomach infections due to swallowing nails. Constant contact of nails with the mouth is very dangerous for body health and causes many other problems. It creates a foundation for the emergence of fungus, viruses, and many other negative conditions.
How to Stop Nail Biting Habits in Children and Adults
Nail biting is a common problem in both children and adults. To implement treatment, the problem must first be identified. To quit the nail-biting habit, it should be investigated whether the problem has a social, psychological, or physiological cause. If a solution is found at an early age, the person will cause less harm to themselves and their body.
Nail Biting Treatment for Children: One of the biggest mistakes that lead to reinforcing nail biting in children rather than stopping it is parents continuously and harshly warning the child about this issue. For example, warnings like “Don’t bite your nails! Take your hand out of your mouth! How many times have I told you not to bite!” during the act of nail biting cause the child to become more anxious and focus their attention on the nail-biting behavior. Instead, this behavior should initially be ignored.
The child’s attention should not be drawn to the nail-biting action. Engaging in activities that use their hands and keeping their hands occupied will help them move away from the behavior. Additionally, it should be examined in which situations or conditions the child feels the need to bite their nails. One of the most common reasons for children is feeling lonely and neglected. Children who do not receive enough attention from family members develop nail-biting habits more frequently. Showing the child the desired attention and care, spending time together, and engaging in activities that will make them happy will help reduce nail-biting behavior in children.
Nail Biting Treatment for Adults
The nail-biting problem that emerges in early stages and remains unresolved can lead to nail-biting disorder in later years. Nail-biting in adults, similar to childhood, is a strategy for coping with stressful and anxious situations. Factors that emotionally trigger the person negatively, causing boredom, stress, anxiety, anger, etc., need to be identified and eliminated or the person should be removed from such environments. Seeking help from a professional psychologist and undergoing therapy is a good start to feel better mentally and solve these problems. Physiologically, investigating conditions such as vitamin deficiencies in the body is also important for achieving a healthier outcome. Additionally, there are some elements that can physically support nail-biting treatment:
- A person can prevent nail-biting behavior by using objects like stress balls.
- To avoid nail-biting, bitter-tasting nail polishes containing unpleasant flavors can be obtained from pharmacies or cosmetic stores. Thus, when nails touch the mouth, an unpleasant taste emerges. Over time, the conditioned person can reduce the habit of nail-biting. However, for this to work, the person needs to apply these polishes regularly.
- Regular nail care and keeping nails short will help reduce the habit of nail-biting. People with well-maintained nails tend to appreciate the appearance of their nails and gradually try to quit the habit of nail-biting.
- Nailyuba provides gel nail application as part of nail-biting treatment. Experts first smooth out the bitten nail cuticles of people with nail-biting habits. Then they cover the nail with gel. Thick prosthetic or gel coating prevents the person from biting their nails. The prosthetic application on the nail helps the nail grow from underneath. This improves the nail structure and results in a healthy nail appearance. As a result, the person cannot continue the habit of nail-biting and gradually abandons this behavior.
If you want to achieve a healthy nail appearance, you’re at the right place. You can contact us for detailed information about the nail-biting treatment performed by experts at Nailyuba and to make an appointment.