Nail Biting/Picking

[ChetnikPeater]

Hello Everyone,

I have had a nail biting/picking habit since forever and I find it a bit disgusting. I wish I could stop, but my nails are always there. I stopped nail biting because of the effects on my teeth, but I cannot drop the habit completely. I don't see wearing gloves nonstop realistic (I could try again but I always end up taking them off) and am wondering what are some Peaty tips to stop what I see to be my biggest personal issue.

I would assume it is tied to stress which may mean too much cortisol/serotonin. Eating carrots daily and using Idealabs products (although I am still learning how they work) is not helping, and am looking for any and all kinds of suggestions or thoughts on the subject.

Thank you :)

 

[AlaskaJono]

I understand picking nails, (never bit them). I have experience. Basically you are needing to calm down, and not go the anxiety way, or stress, or hyper thinking mode. Breath, relax, and get into your parasympathetic nervous system. In French language they call it -la petit mort- (also means the death feeling some folks get after orgasm, but not here). You are hurting yourself by doing this. Become more aware, and you can make it to a state where either get the nail clippers IF YOU REALLY NEED them, or, just relax. (Or do 10 pushups, etc.). It is completely up to you. I did it as a kid, until teens, and then had success after a few months of intense focus and becoming more aware. That's it. You can do it. No one or no drug or cure is there other than this.

 

[Raw Egg Gnostic]

I still kind of pick at my nails when they get too long or if they get chipped when doing work. But I was a life long nail biter until three or four years ago when I started drinking raw milk and raw egg yolks. This also made it way easier to quit a bunch of other bad habits. I mainly attribute to the eggs but the milk could not hurt. I squeeze one orange, put in 6 to 12 yolks and add honey and stir. Best wishes.

 

[jameske]

Hello Everyone,

I have had a nail biting/picking habit since forever and I find it a bit disgusting. I wish I could stop, but my nails are always there. I stopped nail biting because of the effects on my teeth, but I cannot drop the habit completely. I don't see wearing gloves nonstop realistic (I could try again but I always end up taking them off) and am wondering what are some Peaty tips to stop what I see to be my biggest personal issue.

I would assume it is tied to stress which may mean too much cortisol/serotonin. Eating carrots daily and using Idealabs products (although I am still learning how they work) is not helping, and am looking for any and all kinds of suggestions or thoughts on the subject.

Thank you :)

It is the act of bringing your fingers to your mouth that needs extinguished. Buy some nice fragrances, spray on the back of your hands, and each time you attempt to bring your fingers to your face you will turn your fingers away from your mouth to smell the fragrance on the backs of your hands. Over time this will extinguish the urge to bite your nails, replacing it with a more benign urge to smell a fragrance on your hand. The latter urge will be much easier to extinguish once it has done its job to compete with the original urge.

The focused anxiety can be reduced by the administration of a little pregnenolone. Avoid caffeine. Drink carbonated water.

 

[stoic]

You might have a glutamate – GABA imbalance, which is typical of body-focused repetitive behaviours.

I used to have a similar issue and solved it with a few months of NAC and raising GABA.

 

[Advocate2021]

I had a friend years ago with Trichotillomania- hair pulling- which is in the same genre. When i asked Dr. Peat about it so that I could help her, he said it was low thyroid. After taking thyroid and progest-e and following this philosophy diet, etc. She completely recovered from it and got very healthy.

 

[Yann]

For me, filing my nails helped a lot! I do think it is stress/anxiety related.

2014 - Ying Chen* and John Lyga - Brain-Skin Connection: Stress, Inflammation and Skin Aging
Brain-Skin Connection: Stress, Inflammation and Skin Aging

Hope this helps!

 

[ChetnikPeater]

It is the act of bringing your fingers to your mouth that needs extinguished. Buy some nice fragrances, spray on the back of your hands, and each time you attempt to bring your fingers to your face you will turn your fingers away from your mouth to smell the fragrance on the backs of your hands. Over time this will extinguish the urge to bite your nails, replacing it with a more benign urge to smell a fragrance on your hand. The latter urge will be much easier to extinguish once it has done its job to compete with the original urge.

The focused anxiety can be reduced by the administration of a little pregnenolone. Avoid caffeine. Drink carbonated water.

I have stopped bringing my teeth to my mouth. I excessively drink caffeine (more benefits and seemingly no problems) but I had this problem long before I started drinking coffee and whatnot.

I heard pregnenolone could help but need to do more research about its effects before I start administering Bulgarian pseudopharmaceuticals.

 

[ChetnikPeater]

For me, filing my nails helped a lot! I do think it is stress/anxiety related.

2014 - Ying Chen* and John Lyga - Brain-Skin Connection: Stress, Inflammation and Skin Aging
Brain-Skin Connection: Stress, Inflammation and Skin Aging

Hope this helps!

This helped me quit for a while as well, but I always start doing it. I think I should get another nail file, it really did help!