Stop Biting your Nails with the Rubber Band Technique
Biting nails is a socially repulsive behavior, and can also spread diseases and deform the teeth's structure. This article is a simple method of stopping this habit within a week.
I thought of writing this article when a person left a comment in one of my other articles, “The Cabbage Soup Diet”, asking if I already had the Diet. I gave the honest answer that although I met many who had, I have never gone through it. So, after that, I wanted to share a technique that I actually used and saw its benefits. I hope it can help you as much as it helped me.
Onychophagia is the scientific name for the disease known as nail biting, and is related to stress and anxiety states, being very common among OCD patients. The self-destructive habit of biting the nails provoke a few seconds of oral relaxations and anxiety relief in the same way that cigarettes work. As smoking, it is also an addiction (sorry; I'm a psychologist, and couldn't avoid giving this little lecture).
However, since there is no substance addiction in nail biting as there is in smoking, the treatment is much easier, and that's when you must use the rubber band technique.
That's it. The first step is to take a rubber band. A simple one, like the elastics people use to roll money. In fact, don't get only one; do what I did, and buy a hundred of them.
Now that you have the elastics, you will tie one of them around your wrist (make sure to use a new one).
After that, whenever you realize that your finger is in your moth, pull the elastic and release it. Make sure you pull enough for it to be painful, because if doesn't hurt, it won't work. You must make the effort to associate the act of biting nails with pain.
In the first day, you may forget to do it sometimes and it is natural. However, after a while, you will always remember to pull the rubber whenever you put the finger in the mouth. In the first couple days, your wrist will get sore and red, but when the habit starts to vanish, you won't need to punish yourself to the point of soreness. Believe me; in three days the habit will be almost gone.
Of course, there are a few things you must remember.
- Always use the rubber band. It is small and discreet. People won't notice you wearing or using it.
- Make sure to be always wearing a new rubber. After some uses, the rubber will get loose and won't provoke the necessary pain.
- Always pull the rubber when you put the finger in the mouth. You may forget in the first days, but will become natural after the third.
As I said, the habit will be probably gone after three days, but you mustn't leave the rubber band yet. I left it in the third day the first time I used that technique, and by the end of two weeks, I was already biting my nails again. So, keep the rubber band for at least a week. Even when you are not biting your nails, the yellow rubber on your wrist will be a reminder that you shouldn't.
After a week, if you spent the last three days without putting the finger in the mouth, congratulations. You just stopped biting your nails.
Of course, there is always the possibility of the bad habit to try to come back in some stressful time of your life. Whenever you think it may happen, put the rubber back. If you start biting your nails and no pain gets associated to it, the conditioning will be gone along with all your hard work.
Oh… and after your nails have grown, don't let them to be like those:
It is too tempting. Keep the nails short and the fingers clean. It will be enough to make your hands look good and give a healthier look to them.
Well… I hope this technique helped you. It certainly helped me. If you have any questions or a desire to share your experience, please, leave a comment.
