How I Stopped Biting My Nails At 27
Without a doubt, the best decision of my life…
Always embarrassed of my fingers, I would walk around like I had fists for hands. Anyone who caught me in the act of nail-biting or happened to catch a glimpse of my nails would immediately judge me. Some would laugh at my miniature nails, while others would look at them in awe. Watching a thriller/horror movie without popcorn meant that my nails would become non-existent.
My mom occasionally smacked my hands causing the nail to rip off and bleed. It used to hurt like a bitch, but I continued this self-harming habit. It was so deep-rooted that I used to inherently start chomping down on my nails while doing anything which required my full attention.
Any nail-bitter would agree with me when I say that we’re perfectionists. Because the satisfying feeling of touching smooth nails (short nonetheless) is indescribable. The moment we feel a sharp corner or a ragged edge while running a finger above an imperfectly bitten nail, we get this compulsive urge forcing us to even this out to make it perfect. Could be OCD, who knows.
Since when did this become a part of my personality? WHY did this begin? Still a mystery to me.
Sigmund Freud and some of his absurd theories were known to me, but it was at dental school, at 20, that I first studied his psychosexual theory of child development. It is a theory which states that a child derives sexual pleasure from a different body part during each stage. Any failure at these 5 stages can psychologically affect adulthood and cause anxiety. Persistent nail-biting is considered as a failure in the first stage — the oral stage.
Wait, what? How can a child gain sexual pleasure? Are babies secretly horny? Is that why they cry all the time — to fulfill their sexual desires?
I additionally read that nail-biting could lead to imperfect contacts between the upper and lower teeth. This masochistic habit, I believe, was the reason my jaw was like a piranha — lower teeth over upper teeth.
This was my moment of epiphany! I started noticing how pretty my friends’ nails were and realized that I’ve never had my nails done professionally (or at home, LOL!). I became more aware of this habit.
Every conscious effort to put an end to it was in vain because my subconscious brain was not ready to say goodbye yet. Bitter nail paint, band-aids on fingertips and even sitting on my hands. My smartass would constantly find a way around it. Sigh!
Many years went by, of me religiously keeping up my habit, and my parents condemning it. Over time, my nails became shorter and my teeth became more crooked.
Have you ever seen a dentist with bad teeth? Our smile is our biggest advertisement. My flawed smile hurt my self-esteem. Now I was being ridiculed for two things — nails and teeth.
After much thought and debating with myself, I decided to get orthodontic braces at 27. This was undoubtedly the best decision of my life!
Fun Fact: Braces make nail-biting almost impossible.
Which essentially meant that it corrected the alignment of my teeth while restricting me from biting my nails. It killed two birds with one stone!
After a quarter of my life, I held back tears as I witnessed my nails and nail beds finally heal from the atrocity that I had put them through. Monitoring my nail growth and admiring my now ladylike fingers became my new favorite obsession. I even experienced the feeling of clipping my nails using an actual nail clipper. Oh, my! Fantastic!
This may be just another story for some of you, however, for me, it is my success story. My success story of yanking two weeds in one stroke.
Because, if you were to meet me now, I would greet you with the widest smile while flaunting my freshly painted nails.
