Nail biting as an addiction

Nail biting in itself is a problem and is a disease of a kind. Sometimes it is an addiction. This addiction is called onychphagia where onycho is the Greek word for nail and phagia means to eat. Thus onychophagia means nail eating. It has been seen this addiction affects around 45 percent of the adolescents. This is normally considered to be a minor addiction but still it is something that has to be dealt with. As compared to other habits like alcohol and drugs this is something that in itself is a bad habit and thus gets to be an addiction for many. Biting of nails many a time has been seen to lead to oral herpes, viral infections and problems like gingivitis. There have been cases when even an adult has found it difficult to get out of this simple habit. Skin picking, nail biting are all habits that come under the body focused repetitive behaviors. There have been many who have said that the entire problem is due to some kind of brain mechanism that is responsible to regulate the levels of stimulation inside the central nervous system. These addictions like nail biting are an attempt to control these stimulations in an external manner. It is seen that those who have this habit need some kind of want that is fulfilled by these actions.

Man is said to pull, pick or bite when he is either stimulated to a great extent or when he is greatly stressed or excited. Sometimes when he is stimulated very less or is very bored then he is said to get into some kind of addiction. Even animals are seen to have this kind of behavior and thus addictions such as nail biting are very much a part of those who have some problems with co-coordinating stimulations with their wants.

There are special habits that help you get over this addiction. These tactics generally focus on giving awareness, training, relaxation, response and practice. it focuses mainly on teaching the person how to avoid getting into the addiction. Nail biting is not a good thing to indulge in as the hands are the main carriers of germs and microbes and nails are the storehouse of these small invisible beings which cause a lot of diseases. There is a unique remedy to nail biting and this is the rubber band method. There is a rubber band that is tied around the wrist and the idea is that the rubber band would snap very hard when there is a movement of the nails towards the mouth.

There are many other cures like applying nail polish or using a mouth guard that makes nail biting a very difficult proposition. But the best ways one could deal with it is to use hypnotherapy, and other relaxation techniques like breathing, yoga and many other distressing factors. there are other techniques where the patient can use his hand but not the nails.

Many nail biting addicts use gloves so that the hand is closed and the skin is not in touch with the nails. Wear the gloves always and so when you feel like biting all that you would get is the glove material.

Another way of stopping nail biting addiction is to sit on your hands. Make the hands disappear and you would really get out of the habit. The only problem in this is that it would look quite odd.

Hypnosis is another way to solve the nail biting addiction. Hypnosis soundtracks help you to forget the nail biting problem. So listen to songs on an MP3 player and make your way towards getting out of nail addiction.

Today in the market there are special creams to apply in the nails so that the person doesn’t get into the nail biting habit again. This is however a product that is meant only for the woman. Well groomed nails not only increase the personality quotient but also look very well maintained and good.

There are also neuro linguistic addiction methods that would help you to get out of the nail biting habit.

In shore the nail biting addiction is a difficult addiction to get out and  one should be really alert about it.