Adults sometimes bite their nails. They often do this out of frustration, fear, tension or stress. Nail biting often starts at a young age, somewhere between the ages of 3 and 18. Adolescents bite their nails more often than young children. Nail biting can also be increased during puberty. Sometimes it is imitated behavior, but often the child experiences stress, tension or anxiety. It is important to determine the cause. Only then can nail biting be tackled. Unlearning this only works in cases where the behavior has been imitated. In other cases, the child can unlearn it by being given sufficient distraction.
What is nail biting?
Both adults and children bite their nails. This is a habit in which the nails of the fingers are bitten, chewed or torn off with the help of the teeth. Some nail biters not only limit themselves to the nails themselves but also take the cuticles with them. Generally, only the fingernails are bitten off, although a small number of nail biters also attack the toenails.
Anyone who bites their nails to remove a hook or other irregularity from the nail is not yet a nail biter. Sometimes there are no scissors or nail file at hand and the problem with the navel is remedied using the teeth. Nail biters are unconsciously biting their nails.
Development in children
Nail biting occurs at an early age. Often between the ages of 3 and 18 years old. Nail biting occurs more frequently in teenagers. It also occurs more often in boys than in girls. More than a third of all children between the ages of 3 and 6 are nail biters. More than 40 percent of people between the ages of 13 and 18 are nail biters.
Causes
The most common cause of nail biting is inner tension and stress. Nail biting can then be seen as a release of this tension or stress. Children who go to kindergarten for the first time (they are around four or five years old) often experience a lot of tension. The ‘new’ school then poses a major challenge. They don’t know what is coming their way and their daily schedule is drastically changed. In addition, the first weeks to months are very tiring for the young child. The toddler is given many impressions to process. This is not always visible on the outside for parents, but nail biting reveals the child’s inner turmoil.
We then see that adolescents bite their nails even more often than young children. Around the age of 12 to 13, the child will leave primary school and go to secondary education. This also brings new tensions. The child was trusted in primary school and was the oldest and ‘biggest’ of all the classes, but now he or she will have to stand up for himself as an early adopter. It is again the youngest and least experienced of all classes. Adolescents are concerned with this a lot internally and cannot always release their stress, tension and fears well.
Physical and hormonal changes in teenagers also cause unrest. Suddenly an interest arises for the opposite sex, or the adolescent experiences that this interest lies with the same sex. Moreover, adolescents are increasingly looking for their own identity. This can sometimes be accompanied by wrong choices, which also leads to tensions. Tensions can be expressed in different ways. Nail biting is just one of these. In addition to nail biting, other symptoms of stress, tension or anxiety may also occur.
In a number of cases, nail biting is caused by imitation. When father, mother, brother or sister bite their nails, there is a chance that the child will imitate this. Once learned, it becomes a habit that is difficult to unlearn.
Unlearning, is that wise?
It is frustrating for parents to see how their child’s nails sometimes destroy until they bleed. Unlearning the condition using a dirty ointment, plasters or other methods often has no effect. In some cases the child only bites his or her nails. So is it wise to stop your child from biting their nails? No, that’s not it. Unlearning can only cause more tension for the child. And that is exactly something we want to prevent.
It is better to look at the underlying cause. Nail biting often starts around the time the child first goes to school. This could be the nursery school (group 1) or the playgroup. It is important to provide good support to the child during this exciting period. Distraction for the child is a good method. The child must find a way to release the tension in another way. This can be done, for example, through sports or games. Paying attention when the child is not biting their nails is essential. If the child does bite their nails, it is best to ignore it and provide distraction. Make sure that the child does not associate nail biting with doing something fun.
Cutting the nails ensures that there is not much left to bite. In any case, it is less inviting to bite on it. So keep them short. The above also applies to teenagers who bite their nails; distraction works well. Moreover, conversations can sometimes provide clarification. Some people encounter problems but do not dare to put them into words or ask for help.
