The dangers of eating nails

There are many children who often like to bite their nails. No matter how parents try to stop them, it has no effect. This is a very common bad habit. Once this habit is formed, it is difficult to change. However, the nails contain a lot of bacteria, which will enter the baby's body when biting the nails, causing bacterial invasion. Therefore, it is necessary to divert the baby's attention through toys and games.

Nail biting, also known as onychophagia or nail biting, refers to the behavior of biting nails repeatedly. Nail biting is a common bad habit in childhood, which is more common in children aged 3 to 6 years old and can occur in both boys and girls. Most children will stop biting their nails as they grow older, but a few stubborn ones will continue to do so into adulthood.

1. Find out the cause and prescribe the right remedy. For children, if the feeding method is incorrect, they should be trained to have regular eating habits, with fixed food quantities and a sense of moderation in hunger and fullness; if the reason is loneliness or other reasons, children should be given some interesting toys, so that they have the opportunity to play with adults or other children, and their interest in the environment and games can be cultivated to divert their attention and gradually correct such bad habits. For adults, they should be guided to recognize the childish nature of their behavior, and taught correct and effective ways to relieve their worries, so that they can consciously get rid of this bad habit.

2. Educate correctly and avoid being rude. Thumb sucking and nail biting are natural in early childhood and should not be simply prohibited as this will reinforce the behavior and make them feel more nervous. Only by actively providing a variety of interesting things to do, such as handicrafts, games, etc., and not viewing them from an adult's perspective, can their confusion be naturally resolved and these bad habits be prevented from developing.

Therefore, it is harmful rather than beneficial to forcibly stop such children's bad habits. It is even more inappropriate to ridicule, mock, intimidate, beat or scold them. Doing so will only make the children more nervous and uneasy, and even cause unhealthy psychological problems such as inferiority complex and loneliness.

3. Aversion therapy. During childhood, if a child develops the habit of sucking his fingers or biting his nails, aversion therapy can be used to treat and correct it. For example, applying berberine water or chili water on a child's fingers will make him feel the pain of biting his nails or sucking his fingers, thus stopping the behavior.

Children's nail biting habit is mainly related to tension and anxiety, heavy homework, reviewing for exams, watching thrilling movies and TV shows, and being scolded or punished by their parents. Some children often bite their nails when they are concentrating on watching TV, listening to stories, looking for things, doing homework, and thinking about problems.

The main manifestations of children's nail biting habit are: children usually bite all ten nails indiscriminately, and the bitten nails often become short and uneven. Some children will bite other things they carry with them, such as pencils and handkerchiefs, when their attention is attracted by something or when they are nervous. Due to repeated nail biting. It will damage the nails and skin of the fingers, making the free edge of the nails rough, bleeding around the nail edge and nail deformity, and even causing paronychia, periungual warts, small cracks on the edge of the front teeth, and gingivitis.