beginning in childhood and continuing through adulthood, especially in times of anxiety or stress.

Those with the habit are all too aware of the irritating and unsightly nuisance that it can be. Nail biters sometimes bite down to the quick which can cause bleeding, pain and embarrassment.  Many people try to stop by resorting to  methods such as horrible tasting solutions and ointments.  Some people cover the hands with chilli or pepper to try and prevent themselves from putting their fingers or nails in their mouths!

These methods however logical do not work.  Nail biting is an unconscious habit and they often don't even realise that they are doing it.  commonly nail biters bite their nails in completely inappropriate situations!

Nail biting is one of the most commin ‘oral compulsive’ habits, using the same mechanism as used by overeaters and smokers.  ‘Oral satisfaction’ put simply involves putting something in your mouth, whether it is a cigarette, biscuit, or nail, especially when feeling anxious.  Nail biting can therefore either be purely out of habit, or it could be due to an underlying anxiety.  In most cases however, it is due to a combination of both factors.

How Can Hypnotherapy and NLP Help?

Those that have tried to stop biting their nails or fingers soon realise that they are not able to consciously stop doing something that they do unconsciously.

Hypnotherapy offers your subconscious positive new alternatives to nail biting, and helps you cope with anxious situations in a constructive way. A Hypnotherapist can also work with your unconscious mind to stop this unconscious habit.  We can help you change your behaviour and make the choice to stop nail biting a real one.  When you cure nail biting at an unconscious level the urge to bite your nails disappears without struggle.

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) uses anchoring techniques and something called the Swish Pattern, whereas Hypnotherapy uses direct aversion techniques, combined with a range of approaches including indirect metaphor and direct command.

Hypnotherapy and NLP has been proven to be one of the most straightforward and effective ways of getting people to stop simple compulsive behaviours such as Nail and/or Finger Biting.