Frequent nail biting, called nail biting, is a frequent and uncontrollable activity and a common addiction in childhood and adolescence. The reasons are mainly related to tension and anxiety. The manifestation is that patients bite which nail is non-selective, and the bitten nails often become short and uneven. Because of repeated nail biting, the skin of the finger is damaged, the free edge of the fingernail becomes rough, the hemorrhage around the nail edge and nail deformity, and even the occurrence of paronychia, perinail inflammation and so on. Nail biting is an embarrassing, unpleasant and even painful habit. It is not only discriminated by society and family, but also affects the physical and mental health of adolescents. Therefore, this deviation behavior of children should be corrected in time.

General Therapy

Parents should first recognize that this is a disease. It is not only useless to curse or punish, but also worsen the condition. Secondly, we should actively look for factors that cause tension and anxiety, and improve children’s living environment in time, and cultivate healthy living habits. In addition, children should be regularly trimmed to prevent nail infection and skin damage.

Psychotherapy

Behavior restriction and positive guidance are mainly adopted. The so-called behavior restriction is that when a child bites his nail, parents should patiently teach him to slowly remove his finger from his mouth, and express approval with a smile, nod or praise, and distract the child’s attention through a meaningful event or toy. Positive guidance is to make sense to cooperative elders and make them realize that nail biting is a kind of deviation from behavior and harmfulness of nail biting, which can be corrected by their own efforts. At the same time, children are encouraged to participate in collective activities and outdoor exercises to develop their potential and promote physical and mental health.

The treatment of nail biting is not effective overnight. It takes a long time to correct the nail biting. Therefore, parents should not only have confidence in themselves, but also enhance the confidence of the children. With the combination of parents’supervision and children’s self-supervision, as long as we persist for a period of time, we can get rid of the deviation of nail biting.

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