1. Be patient with the process

For lots of folks, nail bite is a habit. Habits can become a mainstay in our day by day lives, which is why they ’ re so hard to break. But be affected role with the serve and wear ’ metric ton give up even if you slip up. A 2020 study found that willpower wasn ’ metric ton a important as consistency when trying to reach long-run goals.

besides, it ’ randomness OK to treat yourself. In a 2018 report, researchers found that the promise or percept of a reward is a big assistant to habit-formation .

2. Trim your nails on the reg

If your nails get besides farseeing, they can become tempt targets for your chompers. By keeping your nails trimmed short, there ’ s less for you to nibble on. Plus, it will help you replace a habit you don ’ t like with one that you do. Keeping your nails bang-up and tidy totes counts as self-care, and we ’ re hera for it .

3. Make them too pretty to bite

You can DIY a pot manicure at home or principal to your local anesthetic salon. If your nails look great, you might be less incline to bite them. Feeling fancy ? Give gel a whirl. Gel or acrylic manicures are harder to bite through than your actual smash. Bonus : They besides tend to last longer .

4. Use a nasty-tasting polish

There ’ randomness beacoup nail polish on the marketplace that ’ mho designed to taste cruddy. The idea is that if your nails taste awful, you won ’ t want to put them in your mouthpiece. simple apply the varnish like you would a regular polish, and voilà ! The downside is that some of these varnishes contain ingredients like formaldehyde, which is hella toxic when ingested. There ’ south besides a find it can do damage when applied locally. so, try to opt for a nontoxic stigmatize. You ’ ll get the same results without the potential side effects .

5. Cover up your nails

Wrap your fingers with Band-Aids or wear some gloves. It might sound pathetic, but it creates an extra barrier between your nails and mouth. This buys you an extra moment to consider what you ’ rhenium doing. precisely note that this access international relations and security network ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate foolproof. If the urge to bite is potent adequate, you can easily remove your anti-bite gear. so, this method acting might work best when combined with another strategy, like the disgusting tasting polish we fair mentioned .

6. Distract yourself

Keeping your hands busy can keep your beware off nail bite. When you feel the urge to bite your nails, try to do something else alternatively. possibly you can break out the erstwhile fidget spinner or try your hand at journaling. sometimes even a stick of glue can do the flim-flam. equally long as it ’ s a goodly distraction, it might be helpful.

7. Take things one finger at a time

NGL, going coldness turkey tends to be rugged. You might be better off taking things one finger at a time. Start with your thumbnails, for example. then, once you ’ ve gone a workweek without biting them, branch out to your pinkies. This can make quitting much more manageable .

8. Get to the root of the problem

Studies show that collar bite is frequently triggered by stress or anxiety. But it may besides be the leave of boredom or concentrating on a bully trouble. Either manner, understanding why you bite your nails can help you stop. Make a list of situations where you feel the urge to bite. then, think about what you can do to either invalidate these situations or handle them more easily .

9. Give yourself time to quit

Nail biting can be a hard habit to break. That ’ mho why it ’ s superintendent important you give yourself a naturalistic timeline to stop. You might be able to kick the habit in a few days, but it could besides take a few months… or longer. All of this is natural and is nothing to be ashamed of. admonisher : Be patient and kind to yourself ❤️ .

10. There’s an app for that

There are dozens ( if not hundreds ) of apps that can help you reevaluate your habits. Some are classical journal-style apps where you set your own milestones. Others are specific to individual needs and routines. P.S. If you think tension is behind the bulk of your bite, you might like on-line therapy. There are oodles of properly priced options that can benefit your mental health without breaking your budget.