The habit of biting nails is quite common in humans. To a greater extent, children from 4 years old suffer from this problem, sometimes a bad habit remains in adulthood and it can be difficult to cope with it.
Frequent reasons for wanting to bite your nails are stress (but not the only one). In children, this may be associated with kindergarten, the first grades of school - new acquaintances, increased mental stress. Biting nails, the child relieves anxiety. Adults have no less reason to bite their nails: stress at work, failures in life, low self-esteem, or just a habit for which there is no explanation.
The scientific name of this problem is onychophagia, which literally translates as "have a nail". It is considered a mental disorder that should be treated by a psychiatrist.
During my school years, I had a period when I chewed my nails. The reason for this was that I saw how my classmates do it, and it became interesting to me. It all ended quickly, because for me personally there was no interest in it, on the contrary - disgust. Imagine how many nails a person suffering from onychophagia eats in a year? And he gnaws not only the free edge, but also the periungual roller, and also collects all the dirt under the nails in his mouth (and there is enough of it, even if it is invisible to the eye). And the fact that teeth deteriorate - I generally keep quiet.
Long-term onychophagia affects the appearance of the nails and periungual roller, burrs and wounds appear, where bacteria enter and can cause inflammation or suppuration.
How to understand that a person is biting his nails?
- Changed size of the nail bed, it is small with uneven edges.
- Lack of free edge - nails do not have time to grow back, because they are gnawed.
- Damaged cuticle and periungual ridges.
In addition to being treated by a psychiatrist (to eradicate inner experiences), you need to make sure that your hand does not reach into your mouth and there is no desire to bite your nails. A special varnish will help men and children, it tastes so bitter that it discourages all the desire to "feast on" nails. Do not forget to cover your nails with it, because the varnish often peels off at the edges, and the person again takes up the old bad habit.
The easiest way to solve this problem is for girls, they can turn to a manicure master who will help them with this. But not every master knows how to cope with gnawed nails. Therefore, before visiting a manicure master, ask if he works with such nails, or even better - look at his similar works in the portfolio.
If you have chosen the help of a master and a beautiful manicure, then there are two options: to build up nails or cover with gel polish. The materials that cover the nails are hard and not so easy to gnaw through. It is possible that you will simply be sorry to spoil the manicure and the money spent on it.
Pay attention to how the master works. When covering such nails, there are nuances - a short nail plate and its increased moisture.
With insufficient preparation of the nails, the coating will not hold well and will soon go away, and you will be upset that nothing will help you. In the process, the master must disinfect your hands several times and degrease the nail plate well.
With the extension option, since such nails do not have a free edge, and the plate is short, the master extends (lengthens) the nail plate with acrigel, applying it to the edge of the nail and slightly on skin. After drying, gently detaches from the skin with an orange stick. Then the build-up occurs as usual, under the free edge it fixes the paper form and continues to build up the nail.
A short length should be built up, because a short and weakened nail plate will be heavily loaded, which will not have the best effect on the health of the nails. Plus, the chance of breaking your nail increases.
If you prefer gel polish, choose nude and light shades. They will look best on short nails. For a while, forget about volumetric designs with inlaid rhinestones, you will still have time to make them after the nail plate grows normally.
Do not forget about the cuticle, it also requires care, especially the damaged one. Buy cuticle oil and lubricate the skin around your nails at least twice a day until it returns to normal.
Keep in mind that it will take more than one month to grow the nail plate. Be patient, but then you will have a beautiful manicure with any design and, most importantly, healthy nails and cuticles.
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