Everyone has a tell for when they are nervous. It can be pacing nervously or fidgeting nonstop but biting nails has to be the most common giveaway. It’s not just you but a lot of people start biting their nails like a chocolate bar as soon as they start to feel a little nervous.
What may seem a little harmless at first, constant nail-biting is not good as it can damage the health of your nails. So, let’s discuss it further, shall we?
Why Nail Biting Is Bad For You?
Whether it’s an important cricket match, exam results or waiting for a reply to a risky text, a lot of us tend to start biting our nails as soon as we’re in any sort of tense situation. In the long run, it’s not good and we’re giving you three solid reasons why you need to ditch this habit.
An Open Invitation To Deadly Germs
Every time you are about to bite your nails, think about all the places your hands have been throughout the day, and you’d automatically get a dirty mental picture.
Germs are always present underneath our fingernails, even if we can’t see them. By biting them constantly, we are giving those nasties a free pass to enter our mouths. Yuck.
What To Do: If you are a chronic nail bitier, then make sure you keep your fingernails short and keep your nails clean at all times. Another thing to keep in mind is to wash your hands constantly, especially with a germ-killing handwash, and keep a hand cream handy to moisturise your hands.
Infecting The Skin Around Your Hands
Most of us also bite the skin or peel it off with our mouth because it feels oddly satisfying. It not only damages the nails but also the skin around them, thus increasing the risk of infection such as Paronychia.
It can also cause major swelling of hands and even the nails falling off in some cases!
What To Do: Keep yourself busy! if you are feeling the urge to bite your nails or peel off the skin, then try diverting your mind elsewhere as nobody wants to visit a doctor for biting their nails vigorously. Keep a germ-killing hand cream with you at all times. Using cuticle oil is a great idea too.
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Bad For Teeth
Teeth are meant to chew food and be the superstar of our selfies, right? Regularly biting your nails can cause them to shift out of place, which will require using correctional braces to rectify them.
The germs beneath your fingernails can potentially infect or cause irritation to your gums.
What To Do: One of the easiest ways to stop this bad habit for good is by using bitter nail polish. whenever you’re about to bite your nails, the bitter taste of the polish will remind you not to do it!
If you do bite your nails a lot, fix an appointment with a doctor to understand the best way to go about it. In the meantime, try these simple suggestions- wash your hand as much as possible and always keep the hydration mode on by using hand creams.
It’s time to form a new habit, y’all!
Featured Image: Pinterest
