Nail Biting

 

 

 


Nail Biting, Finger sucking, Thumb sucking

 

Nail biting is a common habit. It is usually not a serious problem for children. It becomes most common in adolescence when almost half of all children bite their nails to some degree.

Most children that bite their nails have no problems. In some cases, nail biting may cause:

Some of the reasons children bite their nails include:

Treatment

It should address the reason why the child is biting his nails. If the child is under a lot of stress, try to reduce the stress.

For example, try to figure out what stressful situations seem to cause your child to bite his nails (such as being bored, watching a suspenseful TV show, or getting frustrated with homework) and try to avoid those situations.

Cutting long nails helps some children. Nails can also be smoothed so that they do not bother the child. Direct the child's attention away from nail biting and try to help the child feel good about himself.

Punishing or shaming a child for nail biting is not helpful.

If you have an older child that wants to stop nail biting, you can help the child make a plan to break the habit. You can help the child find something to put on his fingers to remind him to stop nail biting.

If the child's habit is making you develop some of your own, you think she is too old for it, or if it is annoying to others, you may want to try the following steps to discourage the habit:

Calmly point out what you don't like about the behavior and why. This approach can be used with children as young as 3. Say something like

·         I don't like it when you bite your nails. It doesn't look nice. Could you try to stop doing that?" Most important, the next time you see your daughter biting her nails or twirling her hair, do not scold or lecture her. Punishment, ridicule, or criticism could cause the behavior to escalate.

·         Involve the child in the process of breaking the habit. Ask your child what she thinks she could do to stop the habit or if she wants to stop the habit. If your 5-year-old comes home crying from kindergarten because the other kids made fun of her thumb sucking, it is her way of asking you for help.

·         Clearly and positively state the alternative behavior you desire. Instead of saying, "Don't bite your nails," try saying, "Let's try to let your nails grow." Sometimes, foul-tasting substances applied to the fingers may help to discourage nail biting or thumb sucking, but continual use diminishes their effectiveness.

·         Reward and praise your child when she displays self-control. For example, allow a little girl to use nail polish if she lets her nails grow. Every time your son refrains from sucking his thumb, reinforce the positive behavior by allowing him to watch television or reading him a bedtime story.

For example, the child may want to try wearing a pair of gloves, putting Band-Aids on the fingers, or applying a bitter-tasting preparation to the fingers.

One should not require your child to use any of these strategies. It should be the child's decision to work on breaking the habit.

Most nail biters eventually stop the habit. It is difficult to say when children will stop biting their nails. More than 75% of those who bite their nails as adolescents will stop by the time they are 35 years of age.

 

Nail biting, thumb sucking, and finger sucking are common, everyday symptoms. Psychiatrists should be aware however, that the thumb sucking and finger sucking may do considerable damage to dentition.

 

 

Epidemiology

 

Nail biting may begin as early as 1 year of age. From that point on, it shows a steady increased incidence until age 12. Even so, at age of 17 to 18 in select population of patients, as many as 1 of four persisted on the habit.

 

Finger sucking is still present in about 31 percent of children around 12 years of age. The habit is more common in girls than boys. There seems to be some coincidence of finger sucking and nail biting.

 

 

Causes

 

In psychoanalytical theory nail biting is thought to be caused by intense or competitive impulses toward a parent. If such impulses were actualized, the child would destroy his source of dependency gratification.  To resolve the conflict, the child may bite his nails, thus denying his hostility, injuring himself, and demonstrating his punishment.

 

At the same time, he is able to express aggression but spare the object of his aggression. Finger sucking and Thumb sucking are thought to be the result of regression to oral satisfactions when the person is placed under the duress of tension or fatigue.

 

Learning theorists have satisfied themselves that the symptoms are the result of simple learned habits. Most investigators agree that no particular personality features characterize a person who is troubled with nail biting or thumb sucking.

 

There is a spirited debate as to the relationship of inadequate or unsatisfactory breast-feeding and the later development of thumb-sucking. However the general surroundings and social conditionings that are present when an infant goes to sleep may exert an influence. Rocking, lullabies or story telling by an adult or a parent seem to be positive factors.

 

Some of these habits are simply copied from friends, and disappear on their own accord after 1 or 2 gentle reminders.

 

These habits are a sign of tension. The body is geared up through emotional energy, to do something physical(shouting, fighting, running away) to deal with the cause of its anxiety, but since it may not know the cause and since physical activity may be forbidden, it releases the pent up energy, by nail biting or nose-picking or thumb sucking or whatever.

 

The more tense the child becomes, the stronger the habit. And trying to put the habits to an end by threats or punishments, only makes matters worse, not only because it adds yet another anxiety but because the highly charged emotional energy will only seek another restless outlet.

 

 

Clinical Features

 

Nail biting is an active process. Finger-sucking and thumb-sucking are more passive processes.

 

Although nail-biting may be an oral–aggressive, tension reducing, impulse that is most likely to occur when the patient is bored or anxious, the habit is often present in persons in whom there is no obvious emotional disturbance.

 

Finger-sucking and thumb-sucking are present in nearly all babies in the first year of life. Such sucking should cause no concern. By age 2-5, children may resort to finger-sucking when under emotional stress.

 

The persistence of the habit may be associated with general immaturity characterized by such habits as baby-talk and bed-wetting.

 

 

Treatment

 

With children who do not bite their nails severely, treatment techniques relying on suggestibility and self-reliance have been successful.

 

 

The child recognizes that the family members are interested in him and that they have confidence he can master a large problem. The physician should help the family reduce tension on the child by being more tolerant and consistent. The child may participate in the treatment by means of placebo task, such as taking the responsibility of soaking his nails daily in olive oil.

 

In case of adults or children who have obvious emotional illness, the therapist must attend to the urgent and pressing life stresses.

 

Behavior therapy is largely used to treat the symptoms of finger sucking and nail biting.

 

Positive rewards for eliminating the habit have been successful with children and adults.

 

·         When sucking becomes a problem to the environment and the patient, psychotherapy is indicated. Besides securing task oriented help by the patient, the physician directs major efforts towards the patient’s general emotional problems. In many instances, an uncontrolled assist comes from the patient’s regard for his peer status.

 

·         Many children stop sucking on their thumb or pacifiers around their third birthday. After this age, if he still uses a pacifier or sucks his thumb, one should consider taking action to stop this habit if he is sucking on his thumb/pacifier for most of the day, if it is affecting his communication or social skills, if he is having trouble with his pronunciation of words, or if it is causing problems with his oral development.

 

Some treatment tips to help the child give up thumb sucking or pacifier use include offering a reward or special treat, begin to limit thumb/pacifier use (first limit use to inside the house, and then put the kitchen off-limits, etc.), taking the air out of the pacifier by poking a hole in it or cutting off the end, replace the comfort of sucking with other comforts (for example, holding his hand when he upset), supply a substitute and keep his mouth busy by singing a song, playing a musical instrument or having a snack, and most importantly, ask the child about giving up sucking his thumb or pacifier and how he would like to go about doing it.

Avoid putting the child down or describing him as being ‘babyish.' Also avoid nagging the child or turning this into a power struggle.

 

Most children have a comforter (an object that makes them feel secure when they are tired or unhappy) at some stage in the pre-school years. It could be an old teddy that brings them tranquility, or a tattered cot blanket. One may be amazed at the importance the child places on such a sruffy object- but it’s the familiar smell of the comforter, its familiar appearance, and its familiar texture, which matter to him.

 

A child may have a comfort habit, for instance, ‘thumb sucking’ rather than a comfort object. Adults often become annoyed with pre-school children who thumb-suck, because they regard it as babyish. And dentists are aware that continuation of the habit beyond the age of 5 may result in the child’s set of teeth being pushed out of the line.

 

When this happens, dental treatment to correct the defect is necessary.

 

To stop the child from thumb-sucking:

 

·         Decrease the habit gradually: Just as an adult who wants to give up smoking often finds it easier to do it gradually, so too does a child who needs to stop thumb-sucking. Set a time scale of, say 8 weeks, during which time we may hope to eliminate a habit.

 

·         Explain to the child why he should stop the habit: Use language he can understand- for instance, tell him that his best friend dosen’t suck his thumb, or that his teeth will be damaged. A child aged three and upwards will understand this sort of explanation.

 

·         Select one short occasion, during which he usually sucks his thumb, and use this as the starting point: It may be when he is watching television, or perhaps when the parent is reading a story to him.

 

·         Slowly increase the number of occasions the child has to do without thumb-sucking: Build up gradually from, say, once every two days, to once every day, and so on. Decide on a clear plan of action and stick to it.

 

·         Give him lots of praise when progress is being made: Each day when one sees thumb sucking decreasing in frequency, let the child know that he has done good. Make a big fuss of his achievements.

 

·         Don’t use techniques based on avoidance principles: Strategies such as painting the child’s finger with a nasty tasting solution, or covering the offending thumb in sticking plaster, rarely work. This usually makes a child more determined to persist with the habit. It may show an instant success, but if one takes an aversive approach it runs the risk of heated confrontation.

 

Children who bite their fingernails may be damaging their IQ, a study suggests

Researchers in Russia say children who chew their nails are at greater risk of lead poisoning.

This is because lead can gather under their nails simply by playing in dusty conditions, both indoors and outdoors.

It has long been known that exposure to lead may contribute to developmental problems in some children. Previous studies have suggested it may also damage the nervous system.

Lead is found naturally in soil and dust. As a result, it is sometimes consumed via fruit or vegetables that have not been washed properly. Many men, such as plumbers, painters and printers, are exposed to lead at work.

But scientists at the Ural Regional Centre for Environmental Epidemiology in Ekaterinburg, believe that biting finger nails may explain why some children also show high levels of the chemical.

 

Worrying levels:

They assessed children living in a number of cities in the Urals. They found that as many as two out of three children in some areas had worryingly high levels of lead.

Levels varied depending on whether the children lived in homes that overlooked busy roads or if they had a habit of eating soil, snow or paint.

But they also found a link between high levels of lead and children who regularly bit their nails.

They found more than 69% of girls and 62% of boys involved in the study bit their nails or other objects like pencils.

All of the children involved in the study lived in highly industrialised cities with high levels of lead.

However, children living in the UK and other western countries may also be at risk.

 

Paint:

Dr Erik Millstone, a senior lecturer at the University of Sussex, said: "The government stopped collecting figures on blood lead levels a number of years ago.”

"However, I wouldn't be surprised if something in the order of 6% to 10% of children under the age of six had blood lead levels at which there is evidence of adverse effects."

Lead levels in soil across Britain are quite low. However, old paintwork is often a source of this potentially damaging chemical.

"Many homes built before the mid 1960s have old leaded paint," Dr Millstone said.

"When this is sanded down it can create contaminated lead dust.

"For that reason we should not be trying to stop children putting their fingers or other objects into their mouth, but rather focus on the importance of handling old leaded paint with care."

 

 

 

 

DR. SUMIT GOEL M.D. (Hom)

DR. AMITA AGARWAL BHMS

www.homeopathyspace.com