How To Stop Picking At Your Nails

Much of the research available online for those of who like to work on shortening our nails with our mouth and hands is specifically related to nail biting. Just like the name of this website End Nail Biting.

But what about those of us (me included) who are actually more nail pickers than biters? While we may have the same reason(s) for picking our nails as nail biters, what we can use to get rid of our habit is slightly different.

In some respects nail picking may be a harder habit to break because it can be done more discreetly than nail biting. While you might be more likely to avoid putting your fingers in your mouth in public or if they’re unclean especially in the COVID era, you probably won’t have that same concern with nail picking.

To stop picking your nails, you need to look at triggers (reasons) for nail picking just like with nail biting. You should also look at modern behavioral strategies that treat nail picking as a body focused repetitive behavior like habit reversal and acceptance and commitment therapy rather than simply looking at old school tools designed mostly for nail biting like bitter nail polish.

Research

Most nail damaging research relates to nail biting rather than picking. One research report that focuses on nail picking highlights this fact up front:

Nail picking disorder (onychotillomania) is characterized by excessive picking or pulling at one’s own finger- or toenails. This condition has received scant research attention and may be related to other body focused repetitive behaviors such as pathological nail biting, skin picking and hair pulling. 

Science Direct

The research discussed the idea that nail picking could be treated similarly as nail biting, skin picking or hair pulling as a body focused repetitive behavior (BFRB). The report suggested that acceptance-enhanced behavior therapy was the method used to combat the nail picking in modern cases.

Acceptance-enhanced behavior therapy

Acceptance-enhanced behavior therapy (AEBT) to stop nail biting may refer to using a combination of habit reversal and acceptance and commitment therapy.

Habit reversal: People learn to look for triggers and situations whenever they find they are about to take part in their bad habit, learn to look for warning signs that they are about to act on their urges and identify all situations where they actually do the habit. For a nail picker this would include identifying triggers and keeping track of when you pick your nails to become more aware of it and eventually look at competing behaviors to counteract the habit and do that instead ie. instead of picking your nails you squeeze a stress ball or do some other activity to avoid nail picking.

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): A strategy whereby people learn to stop avoiding and denying issues that they face, accept them and then move forward and commit to change for the better. As above, it could involve first identifying and accepting that you pick your nails for insert-name-of-trigger-here and then work towards methods to do instead of picking your nails.

So while nail picking (and nail biting) used to be tackled strictly by using bitter nail polish or hand gloves, newer methods are more medically-focused on your triggers, understanding why you pick your nails in the first place and working to correct and change your behavior.

Having said that, some severe cases of onychotillomania have been treated by applying a type of glue to fingernails to prohibit them from being picked. So depending on the severity of the habit, different strategies might be used.

Onychotillomania

Onychotillomania is the medical term for nail picking and is separate from onychophagia which refers to nail biting:

Onychotillomania is characterized by the compulsive or irresistible urge in patients to pick at, pull off, or harmfully bite or chew their nails, not to be confused with onychophagia which is self-induced damage to nails caused by nail biting. 

Indian Journal of Psychiatry

One of the interesting things about onychotillomania is that multiple articles on the subject refer to how it is an under-reported and under-recognized disorder that tends to be lumped in with nail biting.

Why Nail Picking?

As mentioned above nail picking tends to be different from nail biting in that it may actually be more difficult to stop. Many of us who pick our nails might do so because we consciously think about not putting dirty or somewhat unclean fingers in our mouth. Especially in these days of COVID, many of us are more aware of not touching our face, putting our hands in our mouth and things of that nature.

Plus, picking our nails tends to be something we can do to keep both hands busy at the same time which I can certainly attest to. It took me awhile to figure out that my main trigger for nail picking was actually that: It’s just something to keep my hands busy. This is as opposed to other common reasons for nail biting and picking such as stress, anxiety and boredom.

Quitting Nail Picking

In order to learn more about habit reversal, ACT and strategies like that, your best bet would be to visit your doctor and discuss who you should speak with regarding those tools. It’s something you’d need professional help with to learn the strategies and do them properly.

But you can also do things on your own to get started. As with nail biting, figure out your triggers – your reasons for picking your nails in the first place. You may then also want to look at nail biting alternatives to look for ways to keep your hands busy and get your mind off nail picking and biting and onto something else to satisfy your need to do something with your hands.

For me, the more I read about nail biting and picking and the possible side effects – some gross, some dangerous – I think it helped me quickly and finally realize the truth about the habit as it pertained to me: I don’t want to do this anymore and have no reason to keep doing it. It might work for you, too.