Look around. Look at the hands of your fellow classmates. Look at their nails. Are they prim and proper? Or are they chewed down to the nail bed and red with irritation?

Biting your nails is a habit that many people just can’t seem to kick. Whether it’s out of habit or occurs only when stressed, biting your nails is disgusting. Nail biting takes all of those outside germs from everything you’ve touched and brings them inside your body.

There are many harmful effects that come with nail biting. The habit can cause infections, inflammation, illness and even tooth problems. The best way to avoid these side effects is obvious: don’t bite your nails.

For some people, stopping a habit is easy and effortless. Others, however, may have a hard time with quitting. Thankfully, there are many ways to go about quitting the addictive obsession.

Taking care of your nails is one of the easiest ways to stop the habit. By keeping them clean, filed and trimmed, you have nothing to bite. Getting manicures and painting your nails is another way to resist munching on your fingernails. When you have a nice smooth finish of nail polish swept across your nails, it’s easy to resist chewing them.

Another method of approach is by purchasing polish specifically designed to combat nail biting. The polish is clear (meaning that it won’t affect your masculinity or femininity) and has helped many people quit.

By keeping distractors around, like silly putty or a stress ball, you’ll be less prone to bring your hands to your mouth. Keeping your hands away from your teeth is a great way to prevent nail biting and keep your teeth in their best shape. Nail biting grinds down your teeth and is harmful to them. Don’t bite your nails: your smile will thank you. You might also want to try chewing gum. It is simple, cheap and a good distraction.

Every time you go for a bite on your nails, remember where your hands have been. Every day, our hands are contaminated by filth from touching things that others have touched. When you bite your nails, you’re allowing all of these germs to directly access and infiltrate your immune system and possibly make you sick.