Nail biting is not socially accepted. People think that a nail biter is insecure or nervous. Nail biting is unpleasant; it’s illogical and difficult to understand why you would bite yourself. Why do you take off parts of your nails and bite off the skin around the tips of your fingers? Cannibalism? Self-hatred? Self-destruction? Because it feels so good or it’s comforting? Maybe your nail biting is caused by something else. I distinguish between 3 different types of nail biters. Which are you?

1. Manicure nail biter

Candles are smooth and perfect on the outside. Our fingertips should feel as smooth. We need to take care of our nails and fingers with a clipper and possibly a file, but if we don’t have that with us, we often use our teeth as a tool. The irregularities on your fingers are usually the most common reason for putting your fingers in your mouth. You then bite off the pieces of nail that bother you and possibly you take a piece of skin or cuticle along with them, but it stops there. Solution for you: use more discipline in taking care of your nails; clip on time and possibly, use hand cream. Going to a real manicurist can help you with this.

2. Emotional nail biter

If you can’t express your emotions, nail biting can be the result. This involves emotions of helplessness and despair. The feeling that you can’t do anything about a situation, that you aren’t being heard, that you can’t have your say, that you are standing with your back up against a wall. Every time you feel this way, your fingers go to your mouth.

Redirecting your emotions through nail biting
But why bite your nails? That has a positive cause: biting provides a happy feeling that you can compare to biting on a ring when you were teething. By biting, you soften the emotional pain and create endorphins (happy hormones).

Another effect of nail biting is the activating of the meridians. In your fingertips and the tips of your toes, many meridians begin and end. If you bite on the side of your fingers, you activate these meridians, which helps you to heal yourself from old emotions.

A few examples:

– if you bite your pinky, you stimulate the heart meridian, which helps with disappointment and heartbreak.

– if you bite your middle finger, you stimulate the circulation meridian, which helps with apathy or an inability to enjoy.

– if you bite your index finger, you stimulate the large intestine, which helps with letting go and with feelings of guilt.

– if you bite the side of your thumb, you activate the lung meridian, which helps with grief.

These are just a few examples of the emotions that play a role with the meridians. Feel free to search the Internet for more explanations because meridians are especially interesting!

3. Habitual nail biter

One of the biggest causes of nail biting is observation! Your father, your mother, brother or sister, girl friend, or someone in your surroundings was a nail biter. You very often saw how he/she put his/her fingers in the mouth, chewed on the nails and turned the fingers to go to bite on the sides as well. This is behavior that you acquired by example. There’s no other reason that you bite except just being used to it. Every day, your fingers find their way to your mouth about 20 times, especially when you are in the car, have to wait somewhere or watch television.

Although it seems innocent, the habitual biter’s nail biting is the most stubborn. It just happens and most habitual biters enjoy the habit. It’s fine, comforting, puts a nice feeling in the mouth. The bad thing about it is that the nail biting can go very far. Habitual biters almost always pierce their skin because they don’t realize it and stop only when they bite too deep and hurt themselves.

Nail biting is an addiction

It is important that you realize that nail biting is just as persistent as an addiction! It’s not something you quickly get out of your system. It takes time. Don’t be too severe on yourself when you find yourself biting your nails again but give yourself time and space to slowly “grow out of it”.

To break through an addiction, you can use the MIR-Method. You then add before the 9 steps the command, “Let go of nail biting”. Watch this video before starting: “Overcome your addiction with the MIR-Method”. The video is in English with subtitles in English, Dutch, German and Spanish.

The MIR-Method can help with nail biting

The MIR-Method has many effects and one is that it causes people to forget to bite themselves. Sometimes people notice new growth on their nails after a few weeks and that the nail biting has lessened. The reason is that the MIR-Method helps to calm your inner emotions as well as with the expression of them.

Your nails remain loyal to you

Lastly, a loving thought: no matter how you bite your nails, they always remain loyal to you! They continue to grow each day and never give up on you! Try to bite them less often, then they will grow back. As far as that is concerned, you have a new chance every day to let go of biting your nails!

I wish you much internal peace and that nail biting disappears by itself with the MIR-Method!

Wishing you much happiness!
Mireille Mettes

What type of nail biter are you? Have you already noticed that you bite your nails less with the MIR-Method? Write about it below!

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