If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s a crash course in proper hand hygiene. Before this year, many of us thought we were handling our hands and fingers like pros, but, let’s face it, many of us had less than ideal habits. Maybe you skimped on the 20-second handwashing rule, or maybe you had clean hands but used them to touch your face and rub your eyes constantly. And there are those who, try as we might, can’t figure out how to stop biting our nails.
If you’re (like me) among the nail-biting people of the world, then you’ve probably discovered the following: Nail biting doesn’t stop just because we want it to. My guess? Even though the stakes are high given the new coronavirus pandemic, many of us are probably having a tough time avoiding nibbling away at our nubby nails from time to time. You’re not alone. Way before the new coronavirus was disrupting our lives, writer Emily Rekstis tried a few common hacks to see if she could break herself of the habit. You’ll find those tips below. But before we get into that, let’s run through a few basics, shall we?
Why do people bite their nails?
You might not know this, but nail biting falls under a list of behaviors known as body-focused repetitive disorders (or BFRDs), which are those little habits we have (think hair pulling or skin picking) that, when done often enough, can cause harm. As SELF previously reported, it’s not entirely clear why some people have BFRDs, but there are known triggers. SELF previously reported that those triggers fall into five main categories: There are sensory triggers, which might be anything that evokes the senses (taste, touch, sight, smell, or hearing). You may be triggered by certain thoughts or beliefs (these are called cognitive triggers). You could bite your nails when you face something called a motor trigger, which involves postures and movements that you make (and might not even be aware of). Even certain places might make your nail nibbling more prevalent (these are called setting triggers).
Is nail biting actually that bad?
Here’s the thing: Some viruses live on surfaces and when we touch those spots (like doorknobs or subway rails) and then touch our eyes, nose, or mouths, we run the risk of helping those germs get into our bodies, Philip Tierno, Ph.D., microbiologist and clinical professor of pathology at NYU Langone, previously told SELF. It’s not a given that biting your nails will make you sick more frequently than those who don’t, but putting your fingers in your mouth isn’t doing your immune system any favors.
But even if you’re not thinking about germs, biting your fingernails can also cause damage to your nail bed, the Mayo Clinic explains. This can leave tiny cuts that put you at greater risk for bacteria and fungus to hang out and cause infections, the Mayo Clinic says. Biting your fingernails can also potentially damage your teeth, according to the Mayo Clinic. All of that means it’s best to keep your fingernails out of your mouth. So, how to do that you may wonder?
There are things you can do to help you stop biting your nails.
It might be possible for some people to go cold turkey, but many people will need some strategies to guide them. The tips from the American Academy of Dermatology Association (AADA) are a great place to start. They offer a mix of practical strategies as well as mental exercises that can help you. For example, among the strategies recommended by the AADA are identifying your nail-biting triggers, keeping your nails clipped short, and taking a gradual approach (as in, just work on stopping biting one fingernail at a time). The AADA also explains that nail biting might be a sign of emotional or psychological distress. So if you’ve tried to stop biting your nails and can’t, there’s no harm in contacting your doctor to discuss your concerns. And if you develop an infection from nail biting, a dermatologist or other healthcare provider can help you treat it, the AADA says.
Here’s what happened when Emily Rekstis tried to break her nail-biting habit. Here’s what she said:
Biting your nails is a terrible habit, one that I can’t seem to knock. I turned to the internet and talked to experts to find the best hacks that will hopefully help me break my habit. Here’s how my little experiment went:
1. I dipped my nails in salt.
I’ve used anti-biting polish like Maval Stop Polish ($31, Walmart) in the past, so I didn’t want to try that this time around. Instead, I went for a DIY solution that served the same purpose. This hack I found while scrolling through the many threads on Reddit about nail biting: First, you dip your nails in water. Then you dip them in salt and dust off some of the excess (funnily, this is the same process I use when putting salt on the rim of a margarita glass).
Like the anti-biting polish, the salt is meant to leave a gross taste in your mouth when you bite your nails. “This unappealing taste is worth a try if you are looking for a DIY solution,” dermatologist Melanie D. Palm, M.D., explains. “But some may not find this is enough of a deterrent, and the salt granules may cause a mess.” She also points out that if you rub your eye with salt-covered fingers, it can really sting and hurt. Keeping that in mind, I decided to give it a try.
Did it work?
Simply put—no, it did not work and for many different reasons. First, it was hard to keep the salt on the nails. It was fine if I was just watching TV or reading. But when I did it before I started working on my computer, the salt would fall off and make a mess on my keyboard. I also did it before going out one night, so I rubbed some (actually, most) of it off before hopping on the subway. It just felt kind of sloppy and weird to have my fingers covered in salt. After removing some there was still the faintest hint of salt left behind. However, this didn’t really bother me.
Which brings me to another reason it didn’t really work. I love salt! I don’t love huge amounts of it like my fingers would pick up when they first were dipped in it. But the faint traces the salt would leave behind after most of it fell off did not keep me from putting my finger in my mouth. The only thing I will say is that the taste of salt would remind me that my nails were in my mouth when they weren’t supposed to be—not a great deterrent, but a good wakeup call.
2. I rubbed jalapeños on each nail.
This was another Reddit hack I found in the same thread as the salt tip, and the premise is the same: putting a bad flavor on your nails to keep you from continuing to bite them. I bought a jar of jalapeño slices and rubbed the juice all over my cuticles and nail beds. Palm notes, “This is relatively safe, but one should make sure they aren’t allergic to the pepper or accidentally rub their face and eyes, as this could cause a severe reaction.” I do not have an allergy to peppers, so I went for it. I was very—VERY—careful not to rub my eyes afterward.
Did it work?
This worked a little better than the salt did since the taste was more shocking when my tongue hit it. My hand would pull out of my mouth immediately. The shock of a spicy jalapeño is not something you’re used to tasting without other food. However, the spiciness only lasted an hour or so, and unlike the salt, there really wasn’t even the slightest hint of residue. So when I was out of the house for long periods of time, it would wear off, and I’d end up biting away again.
But the real reason I can’t recommend this one, is the sheer ickiness factor. If I thought the salt felt dirty, this felt even dirtier. My fingers felt sticky and stinky after I’d rubbed a pepper all over them. Even if I just kept it to the nail, the juices would drip all over my fingers. It felt like I needed to wash my hands after, because, honestly, I did! But then that would defeat the purpose of using the jalapeño.
3. I carried cuticle scissors around.
When I say I bite my nails, I mean I bite my nails and tear off the cuticles surrounding them. Unfortunately, this means my cuticles are sore and often bleeding. Carrying a cuticle cutter around, like the Revlon Full Jaw Cuticle Nipper ($14, Walmart), was supposed to give me a way to deal with my ragged cuticles so I wouldn’t pick at them with my teeth. “Some people are able to avoid manipulating the cuticles by trimming them when they have the urge to pick them,” explains RealSelf contributor, Sejal Shah, M.D. I was hoping that I was one of those “some people” she was talking about.
Did it work?
Yes and no. Yes, because having the scissors at hand (pun intended) kept me from using my mouth to clean up hangnails or cuticles. With that being said, having them around almost brought more attention to the work my nails and cuticles needed. I found myself becoming obsessive about keeping my cuticles clean and precise. I’d whip out the scissors at any moment—and place—if I noticed an issue. I’m not very good with the scissors, so I almost always messed up my cuticles and nails even more, and then would spend more time fixing them.
The scissors did keep my hands out of my mouth. But it did not help with my quest for stronger, longer, healthier nails and cuticles. In fact, my cuticles looked even worse after this hack.
4. I snapped a rubber band on my wrist.
The idea here was to substitute a different nervous habit for the one I was trying to break. Unlike the salt and jalapeño, this hack occupied my hands with something other than biting my nails. “It’s basically an alternative behavior,” explains Shah. “Nail biting or picking cuticles are often nervous habits or a way to relieve stress, so by engaging in an alternative behavior when you feel the urge, especially one that keeps your hands busy, you may be able to avoid biting your nails.”
Did it work?
Not really. There isn’t too much to say about this one because it simply did not work. I think that maybe if I were to continue doing it that I would subconsciously begin to reach for the rubber band instead of putting my nails between my teeth. However, my immediate reaction was to put my nails in my mouth, not go to my wrist. When I found myself going to my mouth with my fingers, I would move to the rubber band, but other times it was too late, and I already was biting my nails.
5. I just thought about all the bacteria on my fingers.
One of the motivations for getting back on the no-biting wagon was that in the past two months, I’ve gotten tonsillitis twice, and I’m convinced it’s because of the germs I’m putting in my mouth when biting my nails. I asked two doctors about it, and while they both said I’m definitely ingesting some grossness—I live in NYC for goodness sake!—it’s unlikely that’s what’s causing my illnesses.
My fear (however unfounded) ended up working in my favor, though, when I tried a mindset practice that kept coming up in my research. Each time I found myself putting my hands in my mouth, I thought about where my hands had been that day, all the germs that might be on them, and how much I wanted not to get sick. Psychologist Emma Seppälä tells SELF that using my worry about ingesting bacteria to fight the urge to bite makes a lot of sense. “Ways to break bad habits are strengthening your willpower through exercises like mindfulness and meditation,” she says. Tapping into my emotional response could help me resist the pull of my ingrained behavior.
Even though I know that nail biting and tonsillitis aren’t directly associated, I could use my distinct memories of the sore throat and fevers as an easy tool to use to break my habit.
Did it work?
Surprisingly, this trick seemed to work best. Since I really don’t want to bite my nails, I stopped when I noticed what I was doing. It’s hard to say if this would always work, though. Since I was working on a story about biting my nails, I was often thinking about it and making notes for this piece. However, in day-to-day circumstances, I bite my nails without even realizing I’m doing it a lot of times. That’s where the other hacks like salt and jalapeño come in. They may not have turned me away from doing it, but they did make me aware that my hands were in my mouth—which made them beneficial in their own sort of way.
The lesson: When it comes to nail biting, mindfulness helps.
These hacks didn’t help much more than my mom applying anti-biting polish when I was younger. Will I be rubbing salt or jalapeños on my nails again? No, definitely not. I might keep carrying a cuticle scissor around with me, though, so that if I find myself obsessing over some rough skin, I can take care of it without turning to my teeth. The best thing to come out of my testing was realizing that my nail biting is clearly a subconscious behavior I do when I’m anxious and bored, so the best thing for me to do is notice and stop. Being mindful of the fact that I’m biting my nails—and when and where and how often I do it—is step one in getting myself not to bite my nails. So that’s what I’m going to focus on. And when I do, thinking about all the gross germs on my fingers is motivation enough to keep them out of my mouth. At least for the moment.
Related:
This Manicure Box Makes Doing My Own Nails Easy and Fun
9 Ways to Not Ruin Your At-Home Manicure
8 Grounding Techniques to Try When You’re Spiraling
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