If you’re a chronic nail biter and you’re searching for a sure-fire method to kick the habit, well, join the club. Like you and me, there are literally millions of people all over the world trying relentlessly year after year to find a way to stop biting their nails, and finding right solution that works isn’t really that simple. But there is a way, and I’m going to share with you what has worked for me personally.
If you’re like me (and I’m just like most people with this very unhealthy habit), then you likely started biting your fingernails when you were a young child. This is a natural starting point for most habitual nail biters because we are so vulnerable. We begin the formation of our learned behaviors in the early stages of childhood development, and many of these behaviors are learned from those closest to us (e.g., our parents). So if you have a parent who chewed their nails, that is very likely how you picked up this terrible habit. I picked up the habit from my dad. But before you go pointing the finger, it can’t be blamed entirely on mom and dad.
Biting nails is also a common replacement for thumb sucking. This is especially the case when a child’s oral habit is necessary because of stressful conditions and/or anxiety or other frustrations in the child’s life. And unless the nail biting habit is nipped in the bud early, the nail biting habit then continues through the teenage years and into adulthood.
Causes
Nail biting can be caused by obsessions, compulsions, and aggressiveness. All too often, fingernail biting becomes an unconscious act of frustration, anxiety and a way to relieve stress. What’s most concerning 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 serious trouble. There are so many health concerns related to biting fingernails such as contracting diseases from all the germs on your fingers. Chronic nail biting can lead to deformed fingers and serious dental problems. It has even been linked to causing heart disease. Furthermore, nail biting can significantly lower self esteem and confidence, which directly impacts your social life and your career.
Treatments & Cures
If you’ve researched nail biting treatments, you’ve probably been bombarded with a slew of products aimed at helping you kick the nervous habit. There are creams, and nail polishes, and prescription medications (most are anti-depressants). But which ones really work? More importantly, which method will stop your habit dead in its tracks immediately?
The only method that has proven to work most effectively, and this is the method that 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 her wave a wristwatch in front of you while you count backwards into a deep sleep.
It’s actually a simple technique that you can do from the comfort of your own home and it can literally have you stop biting your nails in under 10 minutes, and you’ll never go back to biting your nails ever again! There are some phenomenal low-cost programs that essentially get you to tap your conscious and subconscious mind to eliminate all the reasons why you bite your nails, and all the reasons you should never bite your nails ever again.