NAIL BITING

Nail biting/Onychophagia, is a telling sign of excessive Vata in the system. This is a typical  symptom of high anxiety, worry, or fear—all of which are Vata imbalances in the Nervous System. This can be a chronic or acute problem, depending on the individual. The person with a nail-biting habit does it without awareness and rarely has nails that can grow beyond the nail bed. Doesn’t matter if it’s an old habit or new, this is a clear sign of high Vata and should be treated.

Sometimes, nail biting can be a sign of emotional or mental stress. It usually tends to show up in people who are nervous, anxious or feeling down or worried. It’s a way to cope with these feelings.

REASONS TO STOP

• Soreness of the nails and surrounding skin
• Abnormal-looking nails – nail biting damages the tissue around your nails, they may stop growing the way they should. This gives you abnormal-looking nails.
• Fungal infections of the nail plate and surrounding skin
• Hands are hotbed of germs – Nails are perfect hideout for the germs and can make you very sick. When you  put your fingers in your mouth multiple times a day, it increases your chances of getting sick or catching infections. Also, the skin damage you create when you bite your nails makes an easy way for germs to get in.
• Harm to teeth – It can harm the teeth as well, such as chipping, misalignment, and dental resorption
• Temporomandibular joint pain and dysfunction
• Swallowing bitten-off nails can increase the risk of stomach and intestinal infections.

HOW TO STOP?

• Cut them short. If there’s not enough nail to grab/bite with your teeth it won’t feel as satisfying and eventually you’ll loose the habit
• Coat them with a bad taste. There are special nail paints with a bitter flavor you can paint on your nails. The terrible taste of which will make you think twice before chewing.
• Keep your nails manicured – this will give you both good-looking nails and a reason to keep them that way.
• Wear gloves. It may sound a bit silly, but if you can’t get to your nails, you can’t bite them. If gloves won’t work for your daily schedule, you can go  for stickers made to cover nails – they will have the same effect. Or you can just apply band aids on your nails.
• Keep your hands or mouth busy. Find something to fiddle with — a stress ball, a worry stone, or even a pen to click. You can Chew gum so your mouth is busy. Give your nail-biting energy another place to go.
• Find your triggers. Notice how you feel or what you’re doing when you bite your nails. Once you know what kicks you into nail-biting drive, you can try to find other ways to cope.
• A person who continuously bites his or her nails, not only does his/her  calcium in the nails wears out, but  also calcium in the teeth. Biting your nails constantly, can weaken your teeth severely.

AYURVEDA MANAGEMENT OF NAIL BITING

As STRESS, ANXIETY (vata imbalance) is the root cause of this habit, CHANDIGARH AYURVEDA CENTRE has prepared “STRESS GO KIT” which helps in balancing aggravated vata and hence with the stress and anxiety triggering nail biting.

It contains : 

• Vata balance tablets
• Man mitra tablets
• Brodley syrup
• Brain relaxant churanam
• Stress care tablets

STRESS GO KIT

BUY NOW

YOGA, MEDITATION AND PRANAYAMA

Yoga and pranayamas helps in relieving stress and anxiety and balancing vata dosha. 

MEDITATION – Meditate(OM CHANTING ) atleast for10 minutes in morning

ASANAS 

Do Sun salutations regularly, other than that you can perform these asanas : Sukhasana(easy pose), Balasana(Child pose), Paschimottasana(seated forward pose), Anand balasana(Happy baby pose), Uttanasana(standing forward bend)

PRANAYAMAS 

Regular practice of pranayama is a great stress reliever. Few of them you can do in day to day life are : 

Kapalbhati (Alternate breathing), Brahmri pranayama(Humming Bee breathing), Sheetali/sheetkari(The cooling breath)