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Quittin’ to the Quick: How to Stop Nail Biting for Good

A Woman Reclining on her Stomach While Biting Her Middle Fingernail

We do many things with our hands. Unfortunately, biting your nails does not make a healthy platform.  

Digitz by Design isn’t your average nail salon because they sell handmade press on nails and have a blog section dedicated to solving all the problems you might encounter while wearing press on nails.

On the one hand, the nail salon has made running your hands through your hair, removing contact lenses, and reusing press on nails much easier for their clientele. On the other, it has also advocated for natural nail care because healthy nails provide a stable platform for your new claws.

Here’s what their experts recommend to quit nail biting.

The Prevalence of Nail Biting

Nail biting is prevalent among 20 to 30 percent of the population. It’s caused and characterized—in equal parts—by stress, shame, embarrassment, anxiety, guilt, relief, and self-consciousness. 

Nail biting doesn’t just affect your interpersonal relationships, it may also turn chronic, causing nail deformities, infections, and permanent tissue damage around the nails and oral cavity.

On a milder note, the habit might be why your luxury press on nails don’t stick around as long as they should.

Nail biting might be a body-focused repetitive behaviour (BFRB), but you can still eliminate it once and for all.

A Faceless Woman with Long Custom Press On Nails Arranging Work-related Documents in a Folder, a Potential Nail Biting Trigger
Start Tracking Your Nail Biting

Do you know when you bite your nails? Knowing when could help you shortlist potential triggers. Some people bite their nails when they’re watching something they enjoy, while others do it while doing something very difficult, such as looking up feedback on a paper or a piece of work.

The steps to identifying triggers are simple in theory. You have to figure out the activity, your surroundings at the time, and whether or not when you were compelled to bite your nails. Things get tricky when you have to connect them with an emotional factor.

However, you can try changing one or two things—activity, surroundings, and company—at a given time to stop nail biting. For instance, if you’re more likely to bite your nails in the living room, go to the bedroom. The point is to be more conscious of this compulsive behaviour.

Monitor the Behaviour

Most people don’t have a specific time when engaging in this habit. Don’t be surprised if your list of triggers becomes so long you have to write them down when committing them to memory becomes unfeasible. 

A study showed self-monitoring this destructive behaviour and having someone else measure your nail length can greatly reduce the habit. It wasn’t clear what role involving someone else played in stopping nail biting, but it probably has to do with knowing someone who cares about you. 

If nothing else, you might be more conscious about your triggers in the future for someone else’s sake, if not your own.

A Faceless Woman with Short, Painted Nails About to Jot Down her Nail-Biting Behaviour on a Spiral Notebook

Be Equally Aware of Your Inner Monologue

By focusing only on activity, location, and company, you’re assuming there aren’t any emotional triggers to your behaviour. If changing the three physical factors doesn’t make much difference, try getting acquainted with your thoughts and feelings in the lead-up to the nail-biting session.

Being as aware of your internal triggers as you are of your external triggers can help control the habit. You’ll be aware of your emotions, thoughts, and feelings beforehand and can consciously stop them from manifesting into nail biting.

Keep Nails Short and Sweet

Why have long nails when Digitz by Design’s premium press-on nails handmade are just a click away? Shorter nails aren’t as satisfying to bite down on as long nails. They are also easier to clean and maintain and help press on nails adhere better to your nail beds.

The stress of maintaining long nails can sometimes lead to unconscious nail biting. With shorter nails, you have one less trigger on your list.

Give Yourself a Reason Not to Bite Nails

A Hand with Perfectly Manicured Fingernails

Give yourself a reason not to bite your nails by getting a manicure or painting your nails at home. You don’t want to ruin your nail paint or damage your pricey manicure by biting your nails. The conscious thought might just be enough to trump the unconscious behaviour.

Apply a Turnoff to Your Nails

Make your nails taste like something nasty to stop nail biting. Instead of giving in to any anti-bite nail varnishes on the market, pick the most bitter or foul-tasting ingredient at home and lather it on your nails. The more you reach for your nails, the worse they’ll taste. As a result, you’ll bite them less and less until you’re not biting them; that’s when you may stop covering your nails with the foul-tasting ingredient.

Examples include hot peppers, jalapenos, garlic, ginger, and bitter berries. However, be careful and avoid touching your face or eyes while you have these ingredients on.

Apply Press On Nails When the Urge Strikes

Custom luxury press on nails cost a pretty penny, all the more reason for you not to bite them. Once you’ve identified your triggers, keep them from leading to nail-biting by applying these press on nails over your nail beds.

Buy press on nails in Alberta or any other part of Canada at Digitz by Design. Browse premium nails, explore seasonal nail sets or order custom nails. While they’re more affordable than most other press on nails, the amount of money and hard work that has gone into creating this handmade art will make you think twice before biting your nails.

Don’t forget to comment after using the relevant nail set, and contact us for questions and concerns.

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