The Horror of Bitten Nails!

Hey ladies,

It’s the end of October, the start of dark evenings and a fresh crisp autumnal air. To be fair the weather has been great, the sun is out and has given us some stunning sunsets the last week, it’s been beautiful driving home from wexford town each evening I must say! But also it’s Halloween, and I need to confess a secret of mine, I’m not the biggest fan of Halloween! But I do try to indulge into the spirit of it a little bit, I have been watching Sabrina the teenage witch on Netflix which is pretty dark? And also I have tried to do a Halloween inspired make up and nail look. 

 

NOW, I’m going to try spook you with this blog post. It has a bit of a twist as you have seen the in the title. Yes, I’m a going to share my findings on horror stories I have found on varies websites on the health risks that nail bitting can cause! So if you are a nail bitter who wants to give up bitting, or know someone who does? Please share and we’ll see if we can spook them together!

So this idea came from my nail clients, a common phrase I would get is ‘My nails are so bad’ ‘I have tried everything, and I still bite!’ And my answer always is ‘I’ve seen worse, they are not that bad atal!’ Or ‘Nail bitting is very common, and would see it at least 3-5 times a day!’. As the nail industry is growing and growing, people are embarrassed about their bitten nails and hide them on a daily basis. They also ask me for advice on how to stop! 

Nail bitting or Onychophagia, is a common habit from a negative emotion like feeling stressed, nervous or anxious, it also becomes a comfort to ease those emotions. We feel a bit better after a good old chew, am I right? Bit then we look down at our hands, the nails are red and sore. Simple things like washing your hair can be a bit sensitive to do and we get into the constant vicious circle of nail biting again and again.

So I did some nail biting research and also to add some Halloween fun to a blog post, I’m gonna share what horrific nail bitting stories I found thanks to some great websites which I will also reference too. But I will also share some tricks and treats (see what I did there, haha!) to help stop nail bitting too.

 

 

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Dental health risk

If you like your pearly whites and healthy smile, then nail bitting is gonna to cause you problems! I did read about a case of a young boy under 10years who bite his nails, and one day complain and cried to his mam about pain he had is his mouth. When the mother had a look to see where the pain was coming from she noticed her sons gums were severely swollen, red and bleeding. When she brought him to his dentist, they did an X-ray which showed small particles tucked in beside the tooth underneath the gum. So the Denist ask, ‘do you bite your nails?’, the boy replied ‘yes I do’. The denist pulled out SIX bitten nails, caught between the teeth and grew into the gum! Like ouch! The poor young boy, the article didn’t say if he had stopped bitting after that but I sure hope he did!

Also here are a list of dental health risks from nail bitting, and simply putting your fingers in your mouth.. remember what we touch in a day? And that bacteria can last on a surface up to 24 hours.

- Mouth STI’s 

- Ulcers
- Herpes
- Gum disease
- Tooth loss
- Bad breath 

- teeth erosion 

- chipped teeth

You can read more info on these risks here

 

 

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General health

A dad of two was close to a going into septic shock after a week after biting skin from his fingernail. In the article, the dad who works as a operator in a factory, said one day he bite off a piece of skin which did hurt at the time but thought nothing of it. As the daily life went on he started to develop flu like symptoms, and when the weekend came he thought he would just get some bed rest and dose up on cold & flu tablets, hoping he would feel better for work Monday morning. But after sleeping for over 12 hours his mother was very worried and brought him straight to A&E! He had a very high temperature and his systems were getting worse! The doctors said he had a bacterial infection, making its way through he’s blood stream which started from the bite of the finger nail, which was serious swollen and seeping puss! He was immediately put on two drips, antibiotic’s and on observation for 24hours. Now the dad has made it he’s mission for people to be more aware of this bacteria infection called Sepsis - ‘the presence in tissues of harmful bacteria and their toxins, typically through infection of a wound.’ 

You can read more on this here

Also other illness you can get - remember a flu or cold bacteria can live on a surface up to 24hours! 

- Cold & Flu’s

- Bacteria infections 

- HVP Virus & warts 

- Diarrhea 

- Abdominal pain 

- plus more 

 

 

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Tricks & Treats to help stop! 

- Get your Nails done! 

This has to be the most proven one that’s works that I have seen. Getting regular manicures or a set of Gel/Acrylic Nails, and make them as pretty as you want and fall in love with them, therefore you won’t feel the urge to bite. 

- Applying something nasty! 

There are loads of treatments you can buy in your local chemists to give the nails a nasty taste. This method is great for kids. 

- Treat jar! 

Similar to a swear jar, every time you bite you add money to a jar! 

 

 

Well that’s it, did I spook you? Will you bite or pick yours nails ever again? Let me know if this helped, I would love to know! 

Happy Halloween 

Steff 

Xxx