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Fewer allergies: A possible upside of thumb sucking and nail biting - Harvard Health Blog
Fewer allergies: A possible upside of thumb sucking and nail biting - Harvard Health Blog
Follow me on Twitter @drClaire As a pediatrician, I get a lot of questions about thumb sucking and nail biting. Both worry parents a lot: they worry about damage to teeth, about infections, and about teasing from other children.
harvard.edu




I'm a lifelong nailbiter and have godawful allergies... I shudder to think how bad they'd be if this is how my immune system is with a little help!
I just read an interesting article about adult thumb sucking recently! It doesn't seem to cause many actual problems--many a few dental complications, but that's only really a problem with adult teeth (instead of baby teeth). I hadn't realized there could also be benefits besides relieving anxiety.