Children love to chew fingernails is the body lack of what?

When it comes to children chewing fingernails, the mother of the bun has endless worries. She told reporters that her daughter is 6 years old this year, looking at the upcoming elementary school, but all day and night as long as there is nothing, always see the child in chewing nails, if there are barbs on the fingers, will also bite and tear off, so that the hands often have wounds.

My friend said, said more, my daughter will hide secretly bite, which makes her suddenly realize whether it is necessary to go to the hospital to check, is not the body lack of what, or is the psychological reasons? To address this issue, let's listen to what the doctor has to say.

Nail biting is more common in childhood

Cheneven, an attending physician in the Department of Pediatrics at the Yinchuan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, said that there are always some bad habits that occur during a child's growth process, and nail biting is a common one during childhood. There are two most common causes, one is zinc deficiency caused by xenophagia; another is anemia. Of course, you also need to rule out parasitic infections. "You can take your child to the pediatrician for a trace element and blood test." Cheneven said that as for barbs, it is accurately called "perineal barbs" and is the most common problem in babies, mostly caused by nail biting, dry skin or friction from rough objects. "If you often bite your nails, you will be prone to barbs, if not caused by nail biting, then the body is deficient in vitamin B and vitamin C."

However, Cheneven said that the behavior of nail chewing is not the patent of children, but also exists among adults. Some people even go into their 40s and 50s and still bite their nails. "And on the clinic, there are some children who have developed the habit since childhood, while some children suddenly start biting their nails when they are in elementary or middle school."

Harmful to nail and tooth growth

"It's true that there are many hazards when you love to bite your nails." First of all, there are a lot of bacteria and viruses in fingernails, which can easily cause diseases such as bacterial diarrhea, Cheneven said.

"Children who bite their fingers don't wash their hands first, but bite whenever they feel like it." Therefore, unknowingly, a large number of germs are brought into the mouth and body, leading to infection, which can cause serious digestive diseases such as bacterial dysentery, ascariasis and other diseases, said Cheneven.

In addition, and what worries many parents the most, is that long-term nail biting can lead to tooth deformation. Fingernails are hard and will inevitably hurt the teeth, causing problems with the alignment of teeth, such as teeth outgrowth, incisors missing corners, which can affect the child's facial appearance. "In addition, it may also cause incisor cracks, gingivitis and other conditions that affect the child's healthy development."

Cheneven said that after the nails have been bitten, the most obvious thing is that they become jagged and the skin around the nails is damaged because they have been repeatedly torn. The nail edges become very rough, the nail bed is destroyed, the nail is short, sunken, bleeding or infected all around, and the knuckles are short, all of which can happen, and even inflammatory conditions such as periarthritis can occur. Therefore, parents who find that their children have such habits for a long time should give attention to them and address them promptly.

Parents should be patient and look for reasons from their children's psychological point of view

Cheneven said that if physical causes are ruled out, or if the child's teeth are uncomfortable during the teething period, then it is important to look for the causes psychologically again.

"We often say that it is the child's oral appetite is not satisfied at an early age, as soon as the eating hand is stopped, in fact, there is an important reflection behind this is whether the establishment of intimate relationships of the child is missing. When a child feels tension, anxiety, frustration, low self-esteem and other emotions, nail biting can become a way to relieve stress and a channel for venting emotions." Wei Junping, a national second-class counselor, said, "So children eat hands in early childhood, parents had better not intervene, so that after the oral period is satisfied, as long as there are no other intimate relationship problems, the child will not eat hands; but if the child to six or seven years old, or even older still eating hands, it is most likely that there are psychological reasons."

In the interview, Wei Junping told a case: there were two children, to high school, still often have the habit of biting fingers. Investigation of the family situation found that: a student's parents divorced, living with his mother, who is grumpy and often angry; a student by the sister care, management is particularly strict. "It can be seen that the commonality of both children is the lack of intimacy with their parents."

In this regard, Wei Junping reminded young parents that hand-eating is a common form of behavior in infancy, and in doing so, allows the child's mouth and lips to be satisfied, while allowing the tactile sensation of the fingers to be satisfied, thus relieving tension and anxiety and gaining a sense of security. "So infancy children eat hands, or put things into the mouth, as long as to ensure the safety of the situation, try not to stop and interrupt, which will affect the child in the oral period of satisfaction." Wei Junping said that for older children, some parents recognize that nail biting is a bad habit, will be particularly nervous, want to immediately let the child change the behavior. So, loud reprimand, roughly hit the child's hand, these too intense behavior is actually a negative reinforcement, the child will produce a rebellious psychology, but will be more frequent nail biting.

"How about looking at the reasons behind your child's nail biting, using heart-to-heart talks or listening or writing letters to allow your child to express his or her emotions and build a good intimate relationship to improve the child's negative emotions, which may solve the root of the finger biting problem." Wei Junping suggested.