2023-07-31 08:14:01
If you have the bad habit of biting your nails, a recent study could help you stop this behavioral tic.
Nail biting is a nervous tic that can develop from childhood. Usually it occurs when a person is stressed, anxious or sometimes bored. In itself, this bad habit is not dangerous to health. Nevertheless, she can damage fingertips, degrade tooth enamel and cause infections in the organism.
It is therefore important to put an end to this bad habit. However, the available techniques are not always effective: hide the nail with a little skin, use a bitter varnish, essential oils… However, a recent study could provide the solution for inveterate rodents.
For that, it would be enough to replace the tic by another gesture which is not dangerous for the skin or the body.
Rub your fingers instead of biting your nails
The technique and study in question were published in July 2023 in the journal JAMA Dermatology. To determine the effectiveness of a specific treatment, the researchers used 268 volunteers divided into 2 groups. The first was a control group. While the second received training to learn how to stop their behavioral tics.
However, the study did not only include patients who bit their nails. There were also patients who pulled their hair and other manias involving repeated movement on the body. Then after 6 weeks, the researchers compared the volunteers of the second group.
They then found that more than half of the participants had stopped their bad habits. Moreover, the figures are even more impressive among volunteers who bit their nails. Over 80% of them had broken the habit by the end of the study. And to achieve this, the researchers gradually invited them to replace this gesture with another.
Reversing habits: a technique already validated in the past
The technique was already known to scientists and even has a name: “habit replacement”. This consists of make the brain forget the bad habit by performing a gesture that begins in the same way.
In the case of the fingernails, this meant bringing it closer to the mouth but deflecting it towards the head to scratch. Sit on hand or rub fingernails against a soft surface could also lessen the urge to gnaw. These small, simple gestures can help patients break their bad habits. However, goodwill and follow-up potential may be required to see results.
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