Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsCausesRisksHow to StopWhen to See a Healthcare Provider
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Causes
Risks
How to Stop
When to See a Healthcare Provider
Although the behavior may seem simple to stop, many individuals who have attempted to break the habit have not succeeded. Instead, they experience unsightly nails, soreness around the nails, and risk damage to the skin, cuticles, and nail bed.
This article discusses the causes that lead to nail biting, how to stop biting your nails, and when to see a healthcare provider.
Getty Images /JGI/Jamie Grill
Why Do I Bite My Nails?
Stress and Anxiety
Boredom
It may also be that nail-biting occurs automatically (without thinking about it) to keep your hands busy when you’re bored.
Mental Health Disorders
The fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’sDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM-5) notes that nail biting is a body-focused repetitive behavior disorder listed under obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Obsessive-compulsive disorderis a mental health condition where an individual has unwanted thoughts, ideas, or sensations (obsessions) that make them driven to do something repetitively (compulsions).
Behaviors of this type can interrupt a person’s day-to-day activities and personal interactions.Notacting out on the compulsive behavior causes more distress than relief. In the case of compulsive nail biting, it feels good and releases stress.
Othermental health conditionsa nail-biter may have include:
Genetics
Risks of Nail Biting
Nail biting has several potential side effects, including:
If you bite your nails on occasion, they will grow back normally. However, habitual nail biting can disrupt normal nail growth and result in deformed nails.
How to Stop Nail Biting
Being under a great deal of stress and anxiety may lead to persistent nail biting. To break the nail-biting habit or to treat long-term nail-biting that results from psychological disorders, learn the triggers that lead to nail biting and take appropriate measures to stop the habit.
Strategies may include keeping your hands busy, using bitter nail polish, trimming your nails short, andcognitive behavioral therapy(CBT) to better manage the stress and anxiety at the root of this behavior.
SMART Goals
One tactic for health behavior change is to set a SMART goal.The acronym means:
An example could be: Starting Oct. 1 I will adopt tactics to stop biting my nails. I will record daily whether I have bitten my nails or not, including how many nails were bitten. By Dec. 31 I will not have bitten my nails in the past 10 days.
Cut Them Short
The easiest solution is to simply cut your nails short, which may motivate you to not bite them. However, if you often experience stress and anxiety, or have obsessive-compulsive disorder, even short nails may not deter you from biting them or chewing on cuticles or hangnails.
Get a Manicure or Trim Often
Investing the time and expense in a manicure or trimming nails often may be enough incentive to not bite your nails. Another option is to wear gloves to prevent nail biting.
Keep Your Hands Busy
An easy and efficient way to keep your fingers away from your mouth is to keep your hands busy. This is a replacement behavior. There are many creative activities you can try to distract you from nail biting, such as:
Use Bitter Nail Polish
You can find bitter-tasting nail polish at a local pharmacy and apply it to your nails. If you’re unable to locate this type of nail polish, another option is to spray a bitter apple mixture on your hands. You can make it using white vinegar,apple cider vinegar, and water.
Manage Stress and Anxiety
Understanding the triggers that make you anxious, stressed, or bored may help to stop nail biting. If you’re unable to stop, and nail-biting becomes more and more habitual, talk to your healthcare provider to get a referral to a therapist.
An occasional nibble on your nails may not require a visit to a healthcare provider, but if your nail beds are infected and the infection has spread to your mouth, you will need to see a healthcare provider to be treated with antibiotics.
If your nail biting has reached a point that you can’t stop and it is affecting your self-esteem and relationships, ask for a referral to see a therapist. Many healthcare provider offices have access to behavioral health specialists or consultants who can help you make changes.
Summary
To stop the habit, you may take benign approaches like keeping your hands busy, but if you feel your habit is out of control, you may need to consider therapy to determine what is triggering the activity.
9 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.MentalHelp.net.It’s Called Onychophagia or Nail Biting.Scientific American.Nail Biting May Arise from Perfectionism, July 2015. doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind0715-15bUCLA Health.How nail biting is affecting your health.American Psychiatric Association.What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?Hsueh CW, Chen CW.Prevalence of nail biting and its chronological relationship with tics in child and adolescent outpatients with Tourette syndrome: a single-centre, retrospective observational study. BMJ Open. 2022 Sep 15;12(9):e063874. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063874Bhardwaj A, Agarwal S, Koolwal A, et al.Onychotillomania as manifestation for underlying depressive disorder. Indian J Psychiatry. 2016 Jan-Mar;58(1):98-9. doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.174398Baghchechi M, Pelletier JL, Jacob SE.Art of Prevention: The importance of tackling the nail biting habit. Int J Womens Dermatol. 2020 Sep 17;7(3):309-313. doi: 10.1016/j.ijwd.2020.09.008Pauls DL.The genetics of obsessive-compulsive disorder: a review. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2010;12(2):149-163. DOI:10.31887/DCNS.2010.12.2/dpaulsWhite ND, Bautista V, Lenz T, Cosimano A.Using the SMART-EST goals in lifestyle medicine prescription.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2020;14(3):271-273. doi:10.1177/1559827620905775
9 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.MentalHelp.net.It’s Called Onychophagia or Nail Biting.Scientific American.Nail Biting May Arise from Perfectionism, July 2015. doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind0715-15bUCLA Health.How nail biting is affecting your health.American Psychiatric Association.What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?Hsueh CW, Chen CW.Prevalence of nail biting and its chronological relationship with tics in child and adolescent outpatients with Tourette syndrome: a single-centre, retrospective observational study. BMJ Open. 2022 Sep 15;12(9):e063874. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063874Bhardwaj A, Agarwal S, Koolwal A, et al.Onychotillomania as manifestation for underlying depressive disorder. Indian J Psychiatry. 2016 Jan-Mar;58(1):98-9. doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.174398Baghchechi M, Pelletier JL, Jacob SE.Art of Prevention: The importance of tackling the nail biting habit. Int J Womens Dermatol. 2020 Sep 17;7(3):309-313. doi: 10.1016/j.ijwd.2020.09.008Pauls DL.The genetics of obsessive-compulsive disorder: a review. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2010;12(2):149-163. DOI:10.31887/DCNS.2010.12.2/dpaulsWhite ND, Bautista V, Lenz T, Cosimano A.Using the SMART-EST goals in lifestyle medicine prescription.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2020;14(3):271-273. doi:10.1177/1559827620905775
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
MentalHelp.net.It’s Called Onychophagia or Nail Biting.Scientific American.Nail Biting May Arise from Perfectionism, July 2015. doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind0715-15bUCLA Health.How nail biting is affecting your health.American Psychiatric Association.What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?Hsueh CW, Chen CW.Prevalence of nail biting and its chronological relationship with tics in child and adolescent outpatients with Tourette syndrome: a single-centre, retrospective observational study. BMJ Open. 2022 Sep 15;12(9):e063874. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063874Bhardwaj A, Agarwal S, Koolwal A, et al.Onychotillomania as manifestation for underlying depressive disorder. Indian J Psychiatry. 2016 Jan-Mar;58(1):98-9. doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.174398Baghchechi M, Pelletier JL, Jacob SE.Art of Prevention: The importance of tackling the nail biting habit. Int J Womens Dermatol. 2020 Sep 17;7(3):309-313. doi: 10.1016/j.ijwd.2020.09.008Pauls DL.The genetics of obsessive-compulsive disorder: a review. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2010;12(2):149-163. DOI:10.31887/DCNS.2010.12.2/dpaulsWhite ND, Bautista V, Lenz T, Cosimano A.Using the SMART-EST goals in lifestyle medicine prescription.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2020;14(3):271-273. doi:10.1177/1559827620905775
MentalHelp.net.It’s Called Onychophagia or Nail Biting.
Scientific American.Nail Biting May Arise from Perfectionism, July 2015. doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind0715-15b
UCLA Health.How nail biting is affecting your health.
American Psychiatric Association.What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
Hsueh CW, Chen CW.Prevalence of nail biting and its chronological relationship with tics in child and adolescent outpatients with Tourette syndrome: a single-centre, retrospective observational study. BMJ Open. 2022 Sep 15;12(9):e063874. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063874
Bhardwaj A, Agarwal S, Koolwal A, et al.Onychotillomania as manifestation for underlying depressive disorder. Indian J Psychiatry. 2016 Jan-Mar;58(1):98-9. doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.174398
Baghchechi M, Pelletier JL, Jacob SE.Art of Prevention: The importance of tackling the nail biting habit. Int J Womens Dermatol. 2020 Sep 17;7(3):309-313. doi: 10.1016/j.ijwd.2020.09.008
Pauls DL.The genetics of obsessive-compulsive disorder: a review. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2010;12(2):149-163. DOI:10.31887/DCNS.2010.12.2/dpauls
White ND, Bautista V, Lenz T, Cosimano A.Using the SMART-EST goals in lifestyle medicine prescription.Am J Lifestyle Med. 2020;14(3):271-273. doi:10.1177/1559827620905775
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