First treatment centre for nail biters

Venlo in The Netherlands will soon be home to the first treatment centre in the world for nail biters. Director Alain-Raymond van Abbe of the institute for pathological onychophagy (IPO) announced this on Wednesday. His expertise centre has developed a health aid over the past two years that is fitted to the individual and makes nail biting impossible.

Basic treatment takes a few hours and individuals can expect to be entirely cured in about four weeks. The treatment has been successful for 98 percent of the first trial patients. says Van Abbe. Very few fall back into the habit.



The so-called O-Centre (Onychophagy Centre) will be the first clinic in the world aimed specifically at helping nail biters and will be the first to use the specially designed health aid, according to the centre's founders. The centre starts operation this month but will not be officially open until September. There is a long waiting list of nail biters who hope to get treatment.

Van Abbe says that the Netherlands has about 2 million nail biters. Recent studies show that about 15 percent of adults, 33 percent of young children and 45 percent of adolescents bite their nails.