You probably know this BFRB by its common name: nail biting. As many as 30% of people do this -- some aren’t even aware of it. Besides damaging your skin and nails, this also can hurt your teeth and lead to infections. Keeping your nails trimmed short can help. You can also use a special nail pro...

If you have this BFRB, you can’t stop picking or pulling at your fingernails and toenails, as well as the skin around them. (You may also chew or bite them.) Over time, this leads to hangnails and open sores, and you can pass germs from your mouth into your skin. That can lead to infections. Inst...

Some people yank hair from their heads, eyelashes, eyebrows, or other parts of their bodies. Anxiety or boredom can trigger it. In some cases, people don’t know they’re pulling their hair. Trichotillomania often starts between ages 10 and 13, but it can be a problem for life. You can try to repla...

If you have a BFRB, you can try several things to keep your habit from taking over your life. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) may help the most. This type of therapy helps make you aware of your feelings and thoughts and gives you more control over them. Sometimes medicines can help, too. Talk...

Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) are intense urges like biting, picking, and pulling that can cause damage. As many as 1 in 20 people have a BFRB, but they can be dismissed as “bad habits.” While BFRBs share some symptoms with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), they’re not the same. Th...

If you pick your nose so much that it affects your daily life, you may have rhinotillexomania. In some cases, people spend hours each day trying to clean out their noses. People who have this BFRB are also more likely to have another one, like skin picking or biting their nails. Try to notice eac...