The Reason Why We Can’t Stop Touching Our Faces and How to Break the Habit
By Space Coast Daily // September 7, 2021
The instinct to touch our face on a regular basis is hard-wired in our DNA and you will probably be surprised how many times you do it during the day even when you are consciously trying to avoid doing so.
There are plenty of valid reasons why we habitually touch our faces and a number of tactics you can try in order to break the habit.
Using a good makeup remover to remove any irritants is one example of how you can take steps to reduce the number of times you touch your face. Here are some of the reasons we have this habit and some suggestions on how to reduce the number of times you do this throughout the day.
Some of the main reasons
The habit of touching our faces actually starts in the womb as we are developing and it happens when your sensory nerves are starting to develop in your face.
Touching your face is also an in-built reflex action that your brain activates whenever you sense you have an itch that needs scratching, for instance.
You will probably have noticed how so many of us end up talking with our hands, as it were. Touching parts of your face is a form of communication that can tell someone how you are emotionally reacting to what you are saying or being told.
It also feels calming when you put your hand to your face. You might use the act of touching your face as a coping mechanism if you are feeling a bit stressed. The reason we tend to reach for our face in this situation is mainly because your face is particularly sensitive to touch and the sensation sends a calming sensation to your brain.
How can you break the habit?
As you can see, it is going to be hard to completely stop touching your face as this is a natural response that you have developed even before you were born.
However, you can develop some strategies that go some way to distracting your hands from reaching out to your face so that you reduce the number of times you make contact.
If you are someone who tends to use your hands in an animated way when you are talking it can be a challenge to keep them away from your face. Consider keeping your hands occupied by maybe using a stress ball to keep them away from your face. You could also learn to fold them into your lap when you notice that you are becoming more animated.
Another good way of avoiding such regular contact with your face would be to exfoliate and use a makeup remover. This will reduce the possibility of feeling the urge to scratch or touch your face if it feels irritated.
You might even consider the idea of wearing some disposable gloves. These will keep your hands clean and will serve as a visual reminder when your instinct is to raise your hand to your face.
It might be hard to break such an ingrained habit as touching your face but there are some ways to stop you from doing it so often.
