Posts Tagged ‘finger tips’

Nail biting or Onychophagia as it is known in the medical world, is considered to be a compulsive disorder, if it’s maintained for a longer duration and occurs very frequently during the day. The condition is of higher prevalence among the very young children as well as the teenagers and approximately 30 – 40 % of these categories would practice biting of nails.

There can be several reasons apart from being a compulsive disorder for the biting of nails. These can include anxiety, lack of self confidence or being simply a ‘bad habit’. Thus, it is essential to give the due vigilance to such practice, especially in children, as it may be the presenting feature of a mental conflict.

The given consideration towards nail biting is not only because it appears a bad habit but because it actually influences the health of such individuals. Thus, some of the health issues that can be seen in long term nail biters will be,

* Shortened nail bed

* Swollen finger tips known as ‘big headed fingers’

* Discolored and less appealing nails

* Gum diseases or gingivitis

* Tooth damage and increase incidence of dental caries

* Infections and pus formation in the fingertips

* Deformed nails

* Transmission of infections from nails into the body

* Social unacceptability

There are several means of alleviating the nail biting habit and apart from such direct measures; it may require certain supportive measures in order to alleviate these symptoms. Following are some of the widely used interventions for nail biting.

* Discouraging the nail biting

There are certain nail polishes which are flavored in bitter taste and thus would discourage the person from biting the nails.

* Habit reversal training

The process being a behavioral therapy will seek to un-learn the biting habit and replace it with a more constructive action or procedure.

* Stimulus control

In this method, the children as well as the adults are examined and interviewed in order to identify what leads to the unacceptable behavior and steps will be taken to eliminate the stimulus and thus its effect.

* Mouth protectors

When children are engaged in nail biting, it’s possible to make use of a mouthpiece to protect the nails as well as the teeth and gums from effects of nail biting.

An important aspect that needs to be remembered is, the condition although will be troublesome and un-healthy for a child, it should not be given the highest priority on the day to day activities. Proper understanding of the circumstances, explaining the bad effects and praising at times of avoidance are preferred than confrontational actions.

Nail biting or Onychophagia as it is known in the medical world, is considered to be a compulsive disorder, if it’s maintained for a longer duration and occurs very frequently during the day. The condition is of higher prevalence among the very young children as well as the teenagers and approximately 30 – 40 % of these categories would practice biting of nails.

There can be several reasons apart from being a compulsive disorder for the biting of nails. These can include anxiety, lack of self confidence or being simply a ‘bad habit’. Thus, it is essential to give the due vigilance to such practice, especially in children, as it may be the presenting feature of a mental conflict.

The given consideration towards nail biting is not only because it appears a bad habit but because it actually influences the health of such individuals. Thus, some of the health issues that can be seen in long term nail biters will be,

* Shortened nail bed

* Swollen finger tips known as ‘big headed fingers’

* Discolored and less appealing nails

* Gum diseases or gingivitis

* Tooth damage and increase incidence of dental caries

* Infections and pus formation in the fingertips

* Deformed nails

* Transmission of infections from nails into the body

* Social unacceptability

There are several means of alleviating the nail biting habit and apart from such direct measures; it may require certain supportive measures in order to alleviate these symptoms. Following are some of the widely used interventions for nail biting.

* Discouraging the nail biting

There are certain nail polishes which are flavored in bitter taste and thus would discourage the person from biting the nails.

* Habit reversal training

The process being a behavioral therapy will seek to un-learn the biting habit and replace it with a more constructive action or procedure.

* Stimulus control

In this method, the children as well as the adults are examined and interviewed in order to identify what leads to the unacceptable behavior and steps will be taken to eliminate the stimulus and thus its effect.

* Mouth protectors

When children are engaged in nail biting, it’s possible to make use of a mouthpiece to protect the nails as well as the teeth and gums from effects of nail biting.

An important aspect that needs to be remembered is, the condition although will be troublesome and un-healthy for a child, it should not be given the highest priority on the day to day activities. Proper understanding of the circumstances, explaining the bad effects and praising at times of avoidance are preferred than confrontational actions.

Nail biting or Onychophagia as it is known in the medical world, is considered to be a compulsive disorder, if it’s maintained for a longer duration and occurs very frequently during the day. The condition is of higher prevalence among the very young children as well as the teenagers and approximately 30 – 40 % of these categories would practice biting of nails.

There can be several reasons apart from being a compulsive disorder for the biting of nails. These can include anxiety, lack of self confidence or being simply a ‘bad habit’. Thus, it is essential to give the due vigilance to such practice, especially in children, as it may be the presenting feature of a mental conflict.

The given consideration towards nail biting is not only because it appears a bad habit but because it actually influences the health of such individuals. Thus, some of the health issues that can be seen in long term nail biters will be,

* Shortened nail bed

* Swollen finger tips known as ‘big headed fingers’

* Discolored and less appealing nails

* Gum diseases or gingivitis

* Tooth damage and increase incidence of dental caries

* Infections and pus formation in the fingertips

* Deformed nails

* Transmission of infections from nails into the body

* Social unacceptability

There are several means of alleviating the nail biting habit and apart from such direct measures; it may require certain supportive measures in order to alleviate these symptoms. Following are some of the widely used interventions for nail biting.

* Discouraging the nail biting

There are certain nail polishes which are flavored in bitter taste and thus would discourage the person from biting the nails.

* Habit reversal training

The process being a behavioral therapy will seek to un-learn the biting habit and replace it with a more constructive action or procedure.

* Stimulus control

In this method, the children as well as the adults are examined and interviewed in order to identify what leads to the unacceptable behavior and steps will be taken to eliminate the stimulus and thus its effect.

* Mouth protectors

When children are engaged in nail biting, it’s possible to make use of a mouthpiece to protect the nails as well as the teeth and gums from effects of nail biting.

An important aspect that needs to be remembered is, the condition although will be troublesome and un-healthy for a child, it should not be given the highest priority on the day to day activities. Proper understanding of the circumstances, explaining the bad effects and praising at times of avoidance are preferred than confrontational actions.

Many nail-biters get into the habit of biting their nails out of nothing more than boredom. (“There’s the nail. I’m bored. I know what I can work on….”)

Nail-biting is usually attributed to stress; but as a former adolescent who went through a nail-biting phase, I can testify that for me, and for other former nail-biters I know, the habit stemmed from boredom. Since boredom can be stressful in its own way, I suppose stress could be said to have been related to my own habit. (Still, I have to say it certainly didn’t feel the least bit like stress when I bit my nails out of boredom.)

On Mayo Clinic‘s website section, “Ask a Skin Specialist,” Mayo Clinic dermatologist, Lawrence Gibson, M.D, responds to the question of whether nail biting causes any long-term damage by noting that “most nail-biting is merely a bad habit that most people break”. Dr. Gibson notes that “constant, severe, nail-biting can be a sign of anxiety or compulsive behavior.” An article in iVillage’s Parenting channel notes that by adolescence as many as half of all children may bite their nails.

Nails grow fairly quickly. There’s usually at least a little bit of nail to bite; and when the nail has bitten to the point where there is little left to bit, there’s usually a rough edge that can “benefit from being chewed smooth”. Because nails that are bitten are usually soft as a result of it, they are prone to becoming frayed or torn. Frayed or jagged edges invite biting because nail-biters generally aim to bite the nail until there is nothing left to bite.

A nail-biter gets in the habit of needing the nail to be “down to nothing”, and particularly need there to be no tiny, out-of-line, pieces to destroy the smoothness they grown to prefer.

Bitten nails can be so short they result in the finger tips’ having rough skin at the corners of the nails, and nail-biters often feel the need to bite or tear off these small pieces of skin as well.

Many nail-biters are so accustomed to super-short nails they become uncomfortable once the nails begin to grow. In other words, there are times when nail biting isn’t some out-of-control inability to stop a habit. There is also the element of simply preferring super-short nails because they’re what the nail-biter is used to. Because nail-biters know that beautifully manicured nails are not an option for them they often simply feel free to bite (rather than cut) their nails to the length that feels most comfortable for them.

Nail-biting is common in school children because

Many nail-biters get into the habit of biting their nails out of nothing more than boredom. (“There’s the nail. I’m bored. I know what I can work on….”)

Nail-biting is usually attributed to stress; but as a former adolescent who went through a nail-biting phase, I can testify that for me, and for other former nail-biters I know, the habit stemmed from boredom. Since boredom can be stressful in its own way, I suppose stress could be said to have been related to my own habit. (Still, I have to say it certainly didn’t feel the least bit like stress when I bit my nails out of boredom.)

On Mayo Clinic‘s website section, “Ask a Skin Specialist,” Mayo Clinic dermatologist, Lawrence Gibson, M.D, responds to the question of whether nail biting causes any long-term damage by noting that “most nail-biting is merely a bad habit that most people break”. Dr. Gibson notes that “constant, severe, nail-biting can be a sign of anxiety or compulsive behavior.” An article in iVillage’s Parenting channel notes that by adolescence as many as half of all children may bite their nails.

Nails grow fairly quickly. There’s usually at least a little bit of nail to bite; and when the nail has bitten to the point where there is little left to bit, there’s usually a rough edge that can “benefit from being chewed smooth”. Because nails that are bitten are usually soft as a result of it, they are prone to becoming frayed or torn. Frayed or jagged edges invite biting because nail-biters generally aim to bite the nail until there is nothing left to bite.

A nail-biter gets in the habit of needing the nail to be “down to nothing”, and particularly need there to be no tiny, out-of-line, pieces to destroy the smoothness they grown to prefer.

Bitten nails can be so short they result in the finger tips’ having rough skin at the corners of the nails, and nail-biters often feel the need to bite or tear off these small pieces of skin as well.

Many nail-biters are so accustomed to super-short nails they become uncomfortable once the nails begin to grow. In other words, there are times when nail biting isn’t some out-of-control inability to stop a habit. There is also the element of simply preferring super-short nails because they’re what the nail-biter is used to. Because nail-biters know that beautifully manicured nails are not an option for them they often simply feel free to bite (rather than cut) their nails to the length that feels most comfortable for them.

Nail-biting is common in school children because