natural remedies for nail biting
Nail Biting is usually caused by an emotional trigger such as anxiety, stress, or even boredom. And biting your nails is usually your coping mechanism for these stressors. Citation.
Coping Mechanisms are perfectly normal and healthy. But biting your nails isn’t, it damages your nails, and can even increase your risk of getting an infection because of the high amount of microbes found under your nails. Citation.
So what you need to do is either avoid your triggers or condition yourself with new coping mechanisms to handle your stressors; such as playing with a stress ball or a pen when bored.
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Stress management and Shifting your Mindset, to better handle emotional stressors are the best and more long term solutions but they can sometimes take years to master.
All remedies that are used to stop nail biting should be used in tandem with developing new emotional coping mechanisms and proper stress management.
This means is that even if you apply Aloe Vera Gel or wear Band-Aids on your nails you should still use a stress ball or a fidget spinner.
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2- Increases the effectiveness of the method, a perfect example is if you tend to unconsciously bite your nails a fidget spinner or a stress ball might not work alone.
Now by using Aloe Vera Gel, or Band-Aids; the bitterness of the gel and unfamiliar texture of the fabric; would instantly alert you when you attempt to bite your nails, and then you can redirect your hands to play with a stress ball or a fidget spinner.
Now it’s important to know that when you first start playing with a pen, fidget spinners, or using a stress ball or play dough as coping mechanisms they won’t work initially.
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Studies have shown that they don’t reduce stress or anxiety when you just start using them. The key part is that over time you can condition yourself to make them work just like how your body conditioned itself to like nail-biting. Citation.
Aloe Vera Gel has an extremely bitter taste so much so that the name Aloe comes from Arabic word Alloeh which translates to “shining bitter substance”. Citation.
And when it’s applied onto your nails it gives your nails that same terrible taste which can serve as a deterrent from nails biting. Citation.
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Once the gel is extracted from the leaves just take a little it and dab it onto each of your nails and let it dry for a minute.
Additionally, every time you wash your hands you should reapply some gel onto your nails so as to keep your nails tasting bitter.
2- Heals Your Nails Aloe Vera Gel has been used for centuries to heal wounds so it will help to repair your chewed up nails and damaged skin. Citation.
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3- Aloe Vera Gel Has Powerful Anti Microbial Properties so much so that it’s used to make hand sanitizers. This helps to reduce the chance of your chewed up nails getting infected.
4- Natural and Safe To Use: Aloe Vera Gel is very safe to use both as a topical cream and as a food. Citation.
Aloe Vera Gel has been used as a natural skin cream for years now to help heal wounds and fight acne. Its also considered a Superfood that can reduce blood sugar and inflammatory signals. Citation 1, Citation 2, Citation 3, and Citation 4.
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An allergic reaction to Aloe Vera Gel, like with most uncommon foods is possible, and for this concern, I would advise that you use a little at a time on your skin to test it out.
1- Easy to Wash Off: For Aloe Vera gel to be effective it needs to be reapplied several times a day to your nails so as to continue making them taste unpleasant. This is because the gel can be washed off.
I would advise using a Nail Biting Polish which lasts roughly two days after being applied. So you won’t have to constantly be applying it you can click here to learn more about these polishes and to read about the brand of polish that I recommend.
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2- Sensory Adaptation: Another drawback of using Aloe Vera is that your taste buds over time can get accustomed to the taste which diminishes the effectiveness of the gel as a deterrent.
If you are fortunate like me to have an Aloe Vera plant you can just cut off one its leaves and then proceed to extract the gel.
Now if you are one of the majority who doesn’t have a plant you can buy the aloe leaves from herbal stores or supermarkets such as Walmart, Whole Foods, and Amazon, sometimes have them in stock. You can click here to see the price of an Aloe Vera Plant on Amazon
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Alternatively, if you can’t get your hands on Aloe Vera Gel you can apply the juice from Bitter Melon to your nails as a deterrent to stop nail biting.
But unlike most fruits, Bitter Melon has an extremely bitter taste and because of its bad taste, it has been used as a traditional method to stop nail-biting and also deter kids from sucking on their thumbs.
Now some people might be sensitive towards this compound so my advice is that you test a small amount of the juice on your skin before applying it in a larger quantity.
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1- Bitter Melon Juice acts as an extremely good deterrent to nail biting, this is because as the name suggests it has a very bitter taste.
2- Bitter Melon is natural and safe to use and is commonly used to make Karela juice or smoothie, of course, these smoothies usually have sweeteners to cut the bitter taste. Citation.
Bitter Melon has been shown to have a lot of benefits with some studies showing that it can significantly reduce blood sugar. Citation.
Ways To Stop Biting Your Nails
1- Just like Aloe Vera Gel, the juice from Bitter Melon needs to be reapplied to your nails often, this is because it is easily washed away.
2- And after awhile you can get accustomed to the bitter taste of its juice which will reduce its effectiveness as a deterrent.
If you are in a hurry and don’t have time to blend your melon up you can just rub your nails with a piece of bitter melon.
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This isn’t as effective since you need to squeeze the melon really hard to extract the juice, blending is more tedious but you get more juice.
And also whenever you wash your hands you should reapply some juice onto your nails again so as to make them bitter again.
Now having to reapply the juice constantly is not convenient and that’s why I recommend using a nail biting polish which can last for two days. You can click here to read more these polishes.
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Now if you find the taste of Garlic unpleasant you should definitely consider using it as a deterrent to stop nail biting.
All you need to do is chop a clove of garlic in half and rub it onto your nails and then let dry for a minute.
Now using garlic is the least effective deterrent featured in this article because most people are already somewhat accustomed to the taste of garlic. But if you hate the taste of garlic then this method can definitely work.
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Garlic also has a bunch of health benefits one of them being its antibacterial properties so it will also help keep your chewed up nails from being infected. Citation.
One of the easiest things you can do to help stop biting your nails is to keep them as short as possible.
Also if you can I would advise that you design and use nail art to make your nails look as nice as possible by doing so it increases your motivation to want to protect your design.
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The drawback with this is that a very chronic nail biter, when faced with their stressor, might still end up chewing on them regardless of how short or nice your nails are.
Now you can even use gloves if you don’t want to use Band-Aids, the main aim is that you create a barrier to protect your nails from your teeth.
2- Protects your nails so even if you acclimatize to the texture and still chew on your nails the fabric serves as a physical barrier.
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But the drawbacks of using Band-Aids are that they look odd and out of place and can make using your phone and typing more difficult.
Wearing gloves is a good alternative and would work just like the band-aids but the main drawback is that gloves would make your hands get hot and sweaty fast.
I would advocate using finger sleeves, these are mini gloves that cover just your fingers and most of them are touch screen friendly you can click here to read more about them.
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The advantage of wearing fakes nails is that it would look more natural and less out of place like and yet still provide great protection to your nails.
But the drawback is that most nail biters will chew on artificial nails quite easily since it has a texture more similar to your nails. So, in the long run, it won’t really help you to kick your nail biting habit.
Whilst Gloves