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Expert Q&A
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| By John Dorsey, M.D. Pediatrician | ||
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My daughter bites her nails terribly – until they bleed. We have tried all sorts of gimmicks to break her of this – bad-tasting polish, rewards, punishments. What can we do to help her stop?
Severe nail biting with bleeding is a habit pattern gone awry. This has to produce pain and, as described by you, simple logic on the part of everyone else won't work. The root of this habit pattern may have reasons that are too obscure for a parent to discover. Sometimes these youngsters may have tension that starts the nail biting and ultimately becomes forgotten as the habit increases. In such cases, when a parent asks a "why" question, the youngster has no answer. At any rate, this habit disorder is producing pain, and I feel it's a sign that needs looking into.
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