Can't stop biting your nails? Habit replacement therapy might help

BOSTON - If you tend to bite your nails, there may be a simple and free way to kick the habit.

Millions of people perform repetitive behaviors such as nail biting, hair plucking, or skin picking, habits that can be hard to break.

In a new study published in JAMA Dermatology, researchers recruited 268 people who either bit their nails or the inside of their cheek or plucked their hair in times of stress. 

Half were taught something called "habit replacement," which involves gently rubbing their fingertips, palm, or back of the arm at least twice a day whenever they felt the urge to perform the unwanted habit. Fifty-three percent who performed habit replacement said they experienced some improvement in their unwanted behavior compared to 20 percent in the control group. The nail-biters benefitted the most. 

In:
• Health

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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