For people who can’t stop biting their nails or picking at their skin, a new study suggests that a simple technique could help.
Body-focused repetitive behaviors — compulsively pulling or picking at your hair or skin, unable to stop yourself even if the behavior leads to scabs, scars and bald spots — affects about 5% of people worldwide, according to the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, an advocacy group for people with the conditions. (One common repetitive behavior is nail-biting.)
The research, published Wednesday in JAMA Dermatology, found that an approach called habit replacement may help reduce these behaviors.
While the new technique — which involves gently rubbing the fingertips, palm or back of the arm at least twice a day — didn’t help everyone, about 53% of people in the study said they had at least some improvement compared with about 20% of people in a control group. (A video here shows some of the variations people can try.)
“The rule is just to touch your body lightly,” said lead study author Steffen Moritz, head of the clinical neuropsychology working group at University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, in Hamburg, Germany. “If you’re under stress, you might perform the movements faster, but not with more self-applied pressure.”
The study was considered “proof-of-concept” research—early research that needs further confirmation. Still, experts said the results were encouraging.
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