I’m not sure how it started. Or when. Or why.
But I know it ended in the beginning of 2012. For the most part.
I still do it sometimes. When I’m stressed, nervous or I feel a little anxious.
I’m talking about my nail biting habit.
Really, guys, it is a serious thing. Think about it. You use your hands to hold, move and touch things that we don’t even know if they’re clean. And what do we do next? Take that same hand to our mouth to satisfy that weird… is it a need? Our mind tell us that we need to do it, the same way that some people (like my husband) need to keep moving or making noises with their hands or feet.
Anyways. Nail biting is a disgusting habit. Who knows what amount of bacteria (and other nasty stuff) are you putting in your mouth without even thinking about it? Yeah, I didn’t think about it when I was doing it. It was just a reflex action. And, sometimes, I would realize after a couple of minutes into it.
After a little research on the internet I have to say that my nails weren’t that bad. I always stopped biting when it hurt and, usually, before they bled. I have read stories and seen pictures of people that went waaaaaaaay further than I did.
For many years my mom tried to make me stop that nasty habit. She would use a special nail polish that didn’t taste good, garlic, the slap technique… Nothing worked. And then, in 2012, after a bad break up, I stopped. Maybe it was a sign that it was actually for the best LOL
The other day, though, I realized I was biting my nails again. That’s something that I still do every once in a while, when I’m stressed out or something. And lately I’ve had so many things in my head that it’s not weird that my mind reacted that way.
Also, I wasn’t paying that much attention to my nails, so they had some edges that I had to get rid of, you know…
I was thinking about the subject and I decided to look over the internet to check out some ideas to stop this bad habit and I gotta say I tried most of them. Below you will find a few ideas that you can follow to stop biting your nails.
- Trim your nails. If your nails are short, you will probably have nothing to bite. And be careful not to leave any edges so you don’t have a starting point. How many times I started with a very tiny edge and I destroyed the rest of the nail! *Answer: too many to count*
- Use a bitter tasting nail polish. I didn’t knew it was a thing until my mom brought it home. I don’t think it worked with me that much. I think you can get used to the taste or just be careful to use only your teeth. In any case, I think the main reason for it to work is because it makes the nails shiny and they look pretty. You can also put garlic on your nails to get the same result (except the pretty part).
- Get a manicure. Either if you pay for it or it takes you some effort to go through the “filing-trimming-coating-waiting-coating-waiting” part. You don’t want to destroy something that costs you money or time, right? And they look so pretty, you won’t want to destroy them either!
- Discover what triggers this impulse and find other ways to manage the situation. Yoga, meditation, breathing…
- Tell your friends and family to let you know when you’re biting your nails. Many times we don’t even realize that we’re doing it until someone points it out (or it hurts).
- Whenever you feel the urge to bite your nails, try playing with a stress ball, snapping a rubber band in your wrist or something similar. That will distract you from the bad habit.
- As motivation, you can take daily pictures of your hands and track your progress with them.
Tell me, have you ever bitten your nails? What did you do to stop? And, if you are still doing it, are you planning on stopping? Let me know in the comments!
frommaiwithlove.wordpress.com 