Health-hiccups, you can't bite your nails, sore tongue, watery eyes, etc. Why you can't bite your nails Consequences after biting your nails

- an involuntary reaction of the body to stress in the presence of certain psychological prerequisites and characteristics of the human nervous system. ? Understanding the reasons why you should not bite your nails helps to overcome the bad habit.

Despite the fact that the habit of biting nails is predominantly related to children, a significant percentage of adults balance their current psychological state in this way. Usually, an adult bites his nails when he is nervous or thinks hard about an important issue. In such cases, it is advisable to switch attention to performing other actions; in a stressful situation, sedatives can help. Onychophagia is based on psychological and neurological problems, and if a person is not able to get rid of this habit on their own, one should consult a psychologist or neurologist for a course of appropriate therapy.

The habit of biting your nails is fraught with a whole range of problems. First of all, we are talking about infection of the gastrointestinal tract. Whole colonies of pathogenic bacteria and microbes remain under a person's nails, even after washing their hands. In the process of biting nails, they enter the mouth and then into the stomach. In the presence of a favorable environment, the infection begins to develop rapidly and causes indigestion. This significantly weakens a person's defenses, provokes the development or exacerbation of other diseases, leads to dehydration of the body and an overload of the cardiovascular system.

People who bite their fingernails usually do not think how dirty they are, because they act unconsciously, without controlling the beginning of the process. For this reason, both adults and children risk harming their bodies by swallowing any chemical substances eg small particles of synthetic detergents or cleaning agents.

The consequences of nail biting can also affect the condition of the hands. Gnawing nails, it is quite easy to damage the nail plate, because of which it practically stops growing or continues the growth process already deformed. Using teeth instead of manicure tools, a person often damages the cuticle and pulls out burrs "from the root". As a result, open wounds are formed, which serve as a gateway for the penetration of all kinds of infections. The periungual space becomes inflamed, purulent foci may occur and require surgical intervention... In simpler cases, the thin skin near the nail becomes highly sensitive and permanently damaged.

Psychology also explains the accompanying onychophagia habit of gnawing the skin on the fingers. As a result of such actions, the hands look very untidy, their appearance evokes negative emotions in others. This can be the reason for the poor socialization of children in the peer group, the reason for refusing to provide certain types of work to an adult.

Of course, in most cases, people are well aware of why they should not bite their nails. But not everyone is ready to make some effort to get rid of a bad and unsafe habit. Overcoming the body's habitual response to stress is a multi-stage process, the main part of which is the search for and overcoming the underlying causes of the emergence and development of this habit.

Everyone has bad habits. Some "accompany" us from childhood, and getting rid of them is a whole problem. One of these bad habits is the habit of biting your nails. Do you want to know why can't you bite your nails?

According to statistics, approximately 10% of the population gnaw nails. Most often, this bad habit appears in early age... Some experts argue that nail biting is not just a bad habit, but a serious mental illness - onychophagia.

What are nails for?

Nails are keratinized plates of the epidermis that cover the tips of the fingers of the upper and lower extremities. Not everyone has nails, mainly primates and, of course, humans. Nails protect the phalanges of the fingers from mechanical damage and provide them with firmness when performing various actions. The absence of nails brings inconvenience to our life, because without them, the usual actions become inconvenient and inaccessible. In addition to the main functions, a person uses nails to create nail nail art (decorative art of manicure, painting and design of nails).

Why do they bite their nails?

Most often, the habit of biting nails occurs thoughtlessly and is accompanied by severe stress, psychological stress or active thought process... This bad habit helps to get rid of problems, fear, worries, nervous tension, self-doubt and self-doubt, aggression directed at oneself. Some bite their nails to perfect a broken or peeling nail.

Another reason is the lack of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium in the body, which affects 10% of people who bite nails. To make up for the lack of vitamins, it is necessary to include certain foods in the diet. The rest 90% of those who “eat” their nails need rest and psychological help.

To get rid of such a bad habit, you need to constantly monitor your actions. This is most difficult for children, in whom this bad habit indicates the psychological discomfort that the child feels. More often than not, nails are gnawed by vulnerable, impressionable and anxious children. By biting their nails, the child relieves the stress associated with life changes, for example, with a new environment or conditions to which it is difficult for him to adapt. Any cause for excitement will constantly exacerbate the bad habit. In addition, idleness and boredom are common causes of nail biting, and some experts associate this habit with infant finger-sucking “memories”.

Why can't you bite your nails?

To answer the question: “ Why you can't bite your nails ? ", It is enough to name two reasons - medical and aesthetic.

During the day, a huge amount of dirt and microbes accumulates under the nails, because it is not always possible to wash your hands. 90% of all microorganisms on the hands "hide" under the nail plates. Once in the mouth, dirt, microbes, as well as the eggs of the worms enter the body through microcracks in the gums, damage in the tooth enamel or on the inner surface of the oral cavity. The infection gains access to the body and wanders there, causing inflammation and dangerous diseases such as hepatitis. In addition, the bitten nails themselves are also an excellent "transport" for infections while traveling through our body.

What does the bad habit of biting nails lead to?

Constant uncontrolled biting of nails leads to:

• damage to the cuticle, which protects the nail from foreign bodies and bacteria;
• the formation of bruises in the corners of the nail plate;
• the risk of helminths or intestinal infections entering the body through a damaged nail, which can lead to severe infectious diseases;
• inflammation of the fingers called paronychia, which requires antibiotic treatment and sometimes surgery
• deformation of the nail plate;
• a mental disorder called in medicine, onychophagia;
• unaesthetic and unkempt appearance of nails.

Who are Onychophages?

Uncontrolled nail biting can be not only a bad habit, but also carry deeper psychic roots. Scientists called this disease onychophagia (from Greek - "to devour a nail"). Others may also "hide" under this name. mental disorders that are difficult to trace and identify. Most often, girls become onychophages. It would seem that the harmless habit of biting nails requires increased attention not only from doctors and psychologists, but also from masters of nail service.

Ways to get rid of a bad habit

• The use of various compounds (varnishes, gels, ointments with an unpleasant taste), which cover the nail plate.
• Hypnosis, soothing anti-stress audio recordings.
• Chewing gum or apple.

Some doctors dealing with the problem of this bad habit consider the most effective way constant control over their actions.

If a child bites his nails, it is necessary to find out the reasons for this bad habit. To do this, parents must mentally communicate with their child, explain why you can't bite your nails and help find a way out of the difficult situation in which their child finds himself. Kids should try to switch to other activities or games. Only the joint efforts of the child and the parents will help to get rid of the habit of biting nails.

The problem of nail biting has been popular at all times, but only now they are seriously interested in it. People who cannot get rid of such a demeanor seek advice from doctors and a psychologist, but it is not always possible to solve the problem of getting rid even with their help.

The habit of biting nails in medicine is called "onychophagia", which translates as "eating nails." But even knowing what will happen if you constantly bite your nails, some people find it difficult to get rid of this habit, because many experts classify it as a form of neurosis. In children, nail biting may be associated with an atavistic tendency to suck the thumb to calm down and relieve anxiety when the mother is not in the field of vision. In adulthood, the urge to bite nails is also associated with latent stress, which a person tries to neutralize in a similar way.

Why is the habit of biting nails dangerous?

Psychologists have long stated that the problem of nibbling the nail plates is psychological in nature and appears either due to boredom or due to incessant emotional stress. For example, being inactive, or in anticipation of an exciting event, a person unconsciously brings his fingers to his mouth. Thus, a person is trying to transform energy into a kind of movement. Such a habit repels others: the sight of a person biting nails is unpleasant

Onychophagia is harmful both medically and aesthetically. The appearance of the nails suffers in the first place: the plates become thinner, expand towards the end of the growth of the nail and become short. Often, irregularities are observed on the nail plate. Women, in terms of eliminating such consequences, were more fortunate: the shortcomings that have arisen through the fault of the habit can be corrected by building up artificial tips. However, this will not stop you from biting your nails. The extension procedure is expensive, so it is not available to everyone. Preventing the destruction of the stratum corneum is much easier than wasting time, money and nerves on treatment.

Fans of biting their nails and taking dirty hands in their mouths will be surprised: the risk of contracting diseases of an infectious nature in such people is 45%. Bacteria and microorganisms that get from dirty hands to the internal mucous membranes of the mouth acquire fertile soil for reproduction, which means they can easily provoke illness. In addition, traumatizing the skin of the fingers near the nail fold, a person gets another possible source of inflammation. To eliminate such negative consequences can only be completely eliminated from the habit of biting nails. Subsequently, the infection can be transmitted by shaking hands and touching an infected person, or by contact with other people's personal household items... However, for this to happen, the wound on the skin around the toe must be open enough.

Causes of nail biting and remedies

Most often, the reason for biting nails lies in psychological state person. These are childhood trauma, daily stress and other factors that cause emotional discomfort. It is impossible to break a habit unless the root cause is addressed. Consider the factors that are most likely to lead to the emergence of nail biting behavior:

• Stress

To get rid of stress, you need to completely change your daily routine. First of all, he will make sure that sleep occurs no later than 22-23 hours and lasts 8 hours. This sleep duration helps to improve physiological resources. It is imperative to set aside time for rest or engaging in your favorite hobby, and include an obligatory relaxing walk in your daily routine.

The stress that has arisen against the background of a certain event disappears when the emotional background of a person comes to balance. Together with such stress, the habits acquired with its appearance disappear.

• Boredom

In the absence of external stimuli, the brain independently turns on involuntary reactions. This can be like wringing hands, scratching, and biting nails and burrs. It is important during activities with limited movements (watching TV, reading a book) to hold an object in your hands that will replace the need to bite your nails. Any anti-stress toy will become such an item.

• Copying

Children under the age of five tend to copy the behavior of adults. Therefore, if someone in the house already suffers from the habit of biting nails, then with 100% probability the child will perceive this as a variant of the norm. Parents can either explain to the child that this should not be done, or distract attention until the child forgets about this action on his own.

It is difficult to wean yourself from biting your nails. The strength of the habit is much higher than the reasonable arguments of others or your own discontent. If the moment has come when a person is ready to part with his manner of nail biting, then only an integrated approach will identify and eliminate the cause of the habit, as well as cure damaged nails.

What can happen if you don't stop biting your nails

The consequences of nail biting, however, are not always pleasant for a person. Since there is a constant mechanical effect on the nails and teeth at the same time, then for both of them it will be fraught with superficial damage. With weak tooth enamel, crumbling of the teeth can begin over time, especially if the nails are hard and hard.

For nails, constant biting off of the tips of the nail plate results in delamination. Long-term exposure to human saliva softens the nails and makes them vulnerable, so even with sufficient calcium and phosphorus in the body, nails can begin to flake.

Other results, if you constantly bite your nails, will also not keep you waiting:

• in case of improper observance of the rules of hand hygiene, intestinal infections are possible (remember the proverb "all diseases are from dirty hands");
• deformation of the nail plates, which over time acquire an ugly shape;
• inability to do a normal manicure;
• in children - deformation of the shape of the fingertips from constant exposure to wet saliva and teeth.

How to get rid of the nail biting habit

To get rid of the habit of biting your nails, answer honestly to yourself the questions: where and when do you have the desire to take your fingertips into your mouth. Make it a rule to watch yourself, and interrupt the action halfway if it has already begun. If self-talk doesn't help, find something to replace the temptation to taste your fingers with. These can be inanimate objects or food. For example, anti-stress toys that can be squeezed in moments of excitement or rosary beads that can be fingered constantly when hands are free will come in handy. With regard to food, then drying or hard fruits such as apples or pears will help. However, if you bite your nails often, then this method is not convenient, as it disrupts the normal diet.

Take advantage of professional help psychologists and attend several sessions. Perhaps these sessions will give you an opportunity to understand the deeper reasons for the experience that led to the formation of the habit. Take sedatives during your meals. pharmacy products or self-made herbal infusions.

Sometimes it happens that without realizing it, people bite their nails if they feel hungry. Therefore, during the period when you get rid of addiction, monitor your diet and regimen.

Additional tricks to help break the habit

Combination psychological methods breaking the habit with other methods is much more effective than either method alone. For example, get a bitter varnish from a pharmacy and process it nail plates... The bitterness of the varnish will not allow you to put your hands in your mouth; over time, a reflex will develop: the brain will bind the fingertips with bitterness. It is also worth lubricating the skin around the plates. vegetable oils or any creams, as often the skin is dry and cracked there.

As mentioned above, women can grow their nails. There is a chance that the habit will disappear, but it is not as high as with integrated approach... Usually, the extended plates are hard, but they can be left with imprints from the teeth - this will spoil the appearance of the manicure.

Since young children do not understand what the principle of psychological introspection is, then they need to be weaned off with the help of physical means. For example, cover the tips of your fingers with adhesive tape. Be sure to accompany your actions with a story about why this is done, and what the habit of biting your nails leads to. In addition, it is necessary that the child is constantly busy and does not think about the nails. Explain to teenage girls that fingertips will become unaesthetic in the future if the habit is not eradicated.

To summarize, you can only advise one thing: get rid of the problem of nail biting in a complex way. Seek help from a psychologist and use available home and pharmacy remedies.

Getting rid of the habit of biting your nails is also a social task. It is usually unpleasant for people around you to watch and hear someone biting their nails nearby. If the problem is neurological in nature (obsessive and irresistible desire), then you need the help of a specialist. Psychologist and psychotherapist will establish internal reason onychophagia and prescribe therapy. You may need to take mild sedatives to reduce anxiety and increase stress tolerance. Having learned what will happen if he constantly bites his nails, the patient may try to stop on his own, but with serious psycho-emotional factors, this usually fails.

It is impossible to explain the reason why people begin to bite their nails. But we can say that the one who performs these actions experiences some kind of discomfort, anxiety.

It happens that a person who has outlived this bad habit in childhood can return to it again during periods of stress, severe shocks. From the point of view of psychologists, gnawing his nails, a person, as it were, "gnaws" himself, considering himself a worthless loser, reproaching for numerous mistakes, mistakes, failures, etc. This habit indicates increased anxiety. Through these actions, a person finds an outlet for his negative emotions and experiences. This obsessive biting of your nails is called onychophagia.

Why can't you bite your nails and burrs? The fingertips are severely injured in the person who does this, exposing the nail bed. This, in turn, can lead to inflammation. In order to get rid of this habit, you can apply a special varnish on your nails, which is sold in pharmacies. This varnish has a very unpleasant taste, and over time, the desire to bite your nails can disappear. Women can be advised to build up. It will be problematic to bite off such a nail, and you will not want to spoil what a lot of money was paid for.

To the question: "Why can't you bite your nails and burrs?" - you can also answer this way: "Such an unpleasant sight, like bitten nails, can lead a person into even deeper depression. And for those around you, the sight of your disfigured nails will be unpleasant, and you may be thought of as a weirdo."

Why can't children bite their nails and burrs? The child very often does these actions because he is experiencing aggression and anger. And parents are obliged to explain to him that his problems can be solved in other ways, and the habit of biting nails can go into adult life, which will lead to unpleasant consequences, and also, as mentioned above, can cause various inflammatory processes. But parents should not scold their child for biting his nails. Here you need to try to understand the baby, learn about the reasons for this habit and just explain everything to him.

Burrs: causes

Highly unpleasant thing- burrs. They appear when you have dry skin around your nails. In contact with other objects, with clothes, the skin begins to crack strongly, and burrs appear. They get rid of them in the following ways: moisturize the cuticle (thin skin at the end of the nail) with a cream, applying it at night. It is also recommended to visit the beauty salon from time to time. According to modern cosmetologists, the cuticle should never be cut off, as it then becomes rough and begins to crack. Now many specialists are switching to the so-called dry manicure, in which the skin around the nails is treated with emollients.

This article is an attempt to answer the question: "Why can't you bite your nails and burrs?" Of course, psychological reasons the occurrence of such a habit, maybe more, only the most common ones were considered here.

Unless you enjoy sucking in 10 million bacteria every day, of course.

1. Under the nails is a huge amount different types harmful bacteria.

Your fingertips are a buildup of dirt and are home to various types of bacteria, fungi, and yeast. One of the most common bacteria found under nails is Staphylococcus aureus, which can cause crazy skin infections like boils and abscesses.

2. When you suck and bite your nails, they become an even better breeding ground for bacteria.

Back in 2007, Turkish scientists conducted an experiment on 59 volunteers to see if nail biting had a real impact on the transport of bacteria to the mouth. They took the saliva from each of them to check for bacteria that cause diarrhea and vomiting, like E. coli. And you know what? Harmful bacteria were found in 76% of those who bite their nails, compared with 26.5% of those who do not have this bad habit.

3. If you bite your nails, there is a high probability that you have already damaged your own teeth.

Who knew that innocent nail biting would lead to such dental havoc? But seriously, in the most severe real cases, the habit of biting nails led to dental fractures, loss of teeth and crazy jaw movements.

4. You have most likely already ground your teeth into dust.

Very often, nail biting is an attempt to calm the nerves. If you have weak teeth, this bad habit can lead to chipped teeth enamel and even lead to their loss.

5. If you bite your nails while wearing braces, you risk causing unprecedented damage to your teeth.

Dr. Akram Ansa, a clinical professor of orthodontics at the University of Bristol, says biting nails with braces is risky. After all, this bad habit can not only destroy the braces themselves, but also start or intensify the process of resorption of the roots of the teeth, as a result of which the cells of the human body begin to dissolve the structure of the tooth.

6. The habit of biting your nails can cause gum disease.

Bit off nail debris can easily cause accidental injury to your gums. One of the most horrific cases is mentioned in the report of Dr. B. Carlin Kreichi, when a child had severe gum swelling due to a piece of nails stuck several years ago. When the doctors took x-rays, it turned out that there were 6 fragments of nails in that place.

7. Due to this habit, you can have an incredible stink from the mouth.

A disgusting smell can be caused by bacteria under the nails, because they develop with impressive speed among the favorable microflora of the mouth.

8. Your fingers may become pus-filled vessels.

Biting your nails can often damage the surrounding skin. So you can develop acute infectious paronychia at any time. It is caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in small open wounds that convert them into pools of pus around the nails. The disease can be treated with pills, but surgery is sometimes necessary.

9. Nail biting can even lead to oral STIs. And it's not a joke!

It turns out that because of this terrible habit, you can get herpes. These are rare cases, but it has happened that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have resulted in blistering of the mouth (lips) due to the transfer of bacteria from the finger to the mouth.

10. Nail polish is essentially a poison that shouldn't be chewed.

Many nail polishes contain formaldehyde, a material used to embalm corpses.

11. Finally, these nails may NEVER grow back.

Chronic nail biting can damage the nail bed, resulting in permanent nail reduction. In other words, the habit of biting your nails far enough down can lead to their gradual disappearance FOREVER.