Do you often find yourself mindlessly picking at your split ends, tapping your foot, or biting your finger nails? Nervous habits like these are unconscious behaviors that you most likely learned over the years and repeat due to stress, anxiety or boredom. Although these may be annoying habits that you can’t seem to break, none of them are necessarily bad for you, except for nail biting.
The nasty truth about biting your nails is that it not only negatively affects the appearance of your nails, but also can cause infections that can permanently damage your nails. Another thing to keep in mind the next time you find yourself gnawing on your nails, is that you are transferring bacteria from your fingers to your mouth, which isn’t where you want germs to be spreading!
“Do you often find yourself
mindlessly picking at your
split ends, tapping your foot,
or biting your finger nails?”
If you’re currently looking down at your half-bitten nails, wondering how to break this bad habit, here are five tips for you to try!
1. Adopt a New Habit
Any cigarette smoker or recovering addict can tell you that some bad habits are extremely hard to break. Nail biting is no exception. Luckily, there are several healthy alternatives for you to adopt. For example, the perfect alternative to nail biting may be chewing a piece of gum or eating a mint. This will keep your mouth distracted and keep your breath staying minty fresh.
2.Avoid Temptation
If you’ve adopted a new habit and still find yourself tempted to bite your nails, find a solution so that you can’t bite your nails. For example, try painting your nails using Dashing Diva’s gel nail polish instead of regular nail polish. Not only does gel nail polish protect your nails and make it challenging to bite through, but also it lasts for weeks at a time and helps your nails grow.
3.Apply a Deterrent
Since biting your nails is typically an unconscious habit, if you apply a bad tasting nail deterrent, you’ll be startled into awareness when you taste the nasty solution. If you visit the nail care aisle in the drugstore, there are specific solutions made specifically for nail biting. Ingredients for these products are typically bitter tasting, such as denatonium saccharide. You will quickly learn that every time you put your nails in your mouth, the repulsive taste will deter you from biting your nails.
4.Keep Your Nails Groomed
If you bite your nails as more of an obsession and you’re constantly trying to “fix” that annoying hangnail or chipped nail, then an easy solution is to keep your nails properly groomed. The best way to do this is keeping a small manicure kit with you at all times. This kit can include as many items as you would like, but the two tools that are crucial to have are a nail file and nail clippers. This will help you properly clip an annoying hang nail or file down the jagged edges of your nails without biting them.
5.Find Out Why You Bite
If you can figure out the reason why you bite your nails, then you can find a more constructive way to deal with it. Perhaps the best way to discover the cause of your nail biting habit is to keep a journal or take note of the moments you find yourself biting your nails. Ask yourself a few questions: Where are you? What are you doing? How are you feeling? Once you take note, you can look back at your journal and find a pattern or the specific reason why you bite.
“The nasty truth about biting your nails
is that it not only negatively affects
the appearance of your nails,
but also can cause infections.”
Any of these tips should help you break your bad habit, but it would be best if you tried each of these tips, especially when you are just starting to quit. It’s also important for you to take note of even the smallest improvements and consider it an accomplishment. Rewarding yourself with a manicure or a spa day will motivate you to continue with your progress!
Do you bite your nails now or in the past?
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