Hey guys,

So basically I'm a professional nail biter. It's a terrible terrible habit, but I just can't bring myself to stop. I've done it for as long as I can remember, right back into my childhood.

I've tried a few things to try and kick it. I bought a nail polish that's supposed to help. It's clear and tastes like crap, but my busy schedule keeps my mind away from putting it on. I tried gum to keep my mouth busy, but it was far to easy to keep doing it even with gum in my mouth. Believe it or not, sunflower seeds works wonders, however, unless you work outside, which I don't, then it's rather unsanitary to keep a cup full of saliva coated seed shells with me so it's only something I can do outside of work.

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has any formal reason as to why one bites their nails. Is it boredom, stress or does it go deeper than that? I wonder, if I could find an explanation, that I could ail myself of the habit.

Thanks for your time!


If someone feels as if this post is in the wrong category, please feel free to move it. I was not specifically sure as to where the best place to put it would be. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by C0bra_M3nace

Hey guys,

So basically I'm a professional nail biter. It's a terrible terrible habit, but I just can't bring myself to stop. I've done it for as long as I can remember, right back into my childhood.

I've tried a few things to try and kick it. I bought a nail polish that's supposed to help. It's clear and tastes like crap, but my busy schedule keeps my mind away from putting it on. I tried gum to keep my mouth busy, but it was far to easy to keep doing it even with gum in my mouth. Believe it or not, sunflower seeds works wonders, however, unless you work outside, which I don't, then it's rather unsanitary to keep a cup full of saliva coated seed shells with me so it's only something I can do outside of work.

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has any formal reason as to why one bites their nails. Is it boredom, stress or does it go deeper than that? I wonder, if I could find an explanation, that I could ail myself of the habit.

Thanks for your time!


If someone feels as if this post is in the wrong category, please feel free to move it. I was not specifically sure as to where the best place to put it would be. Thanks.

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One of those lifetime stories - I was a terrible nailbiter and went to a hypnosis program. Stopped biting my nails but I began to pull out my hair - in my sleep.

It has got to be a stress reliever - but I've never been formally told that.

I have also tried nail polish which helps somewhat. Also, if I'm the passenger in a car I take something to keep my hands busy, even something as simple as a squishy ball.

I watch very little TV so that isn't a problem.

Wondergirl posted today about a rubber band on a person's wrist - every time you think about biting, snap the rubber band.

Never thought of the rubber band trick. I always knew it was a good alternative to cutting but I'm going to give it a try.

It's weird because I know I look so stupid when I do it, and sometimes it hurts like crazy, but I still do it. I get really motivated sometimes to stop, but then, just like a movie, I flash to 15 minutes later and I'm chomping away.

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Originally Posted by C0bra_M3nace

Never thought of the rubber band trick. I always knew it was a good alternative to cutting but I'm going to give it a try.

It's weird because I know I look so stupid when I do it, and sometimes it hurts like crazy, but I still do it. I get really motivated sometimes to stop, but then, just like a movie, I flash to 15 minutes later and I'm chomping away.

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Believe me - I know. And was always SO embarrassed to show my hands. Ten minutes later - chomp.

So the rubber band trick didn't work, again it did for the first maybe 10-15 minutes then I just forgot the rubber band was there and well what do you know fingers in my mouth again.

I really want to kick this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by C0bra_M3nace

So the rubber band trick didn't work, again it did for the first maybe 10-15 minutes then I just forgot the rubber band was there and well what do you know fingers in my mouth again.

I really want to kick this.

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Call me - I'll drive up/down/over and slap you every time I see you chewing.

Have you tried the stuff you put on a child's thumb to stop thumb sucking? A taste of that could cure you for life.

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

Call me - I'll drive up/down/over and slap you every time I see you chewing.

Have you tried the stuff you put on a child's thumb to stop thumb sucking? A taste of that could cure you for life.

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I do have a nail polish that's clear and tastes like crap. It works, but I always forget to put it on. I can get in the habit of doing in for a few days, then oops I forgot to put it on today. Munch munch munch.

Yeah I am fairly forgetful.

Oh, I feel your pain. I was a thumb sucker as a kid and then became a nail biter when I quit the thumb sucking. A few things worked for me. One is that I recognized this as an anxiety behavior and I got some counseling to manage my anxiety. At first I took a prescription for anxiety and as I learned better ways to manage it, I was able to go off the medication.

It's also just a bad habit that I often didn't even realize I was doing. So, I started having my nails done professionally every other week. It's expensive, but when we have a serious problem - and this is one if it causes you embarrassment and is painful - sometimes things that might be "luxuries" to other people are actually a sensible investment. I wear gel nails, so instead of looking terrible like they used to, I now always have perfect nails.

A cheaper option would be to do the no-chip manicure. And until I developed an allergy to them, I used to do my own nails using the glue-on kind from the drug store. It took some practice to make them look right but I got so good at it, nobody could tell they weren't my real nails. I kept them on the short side - it looks more natural.

Good luck to you!

I used my thumb pads to rub overs all of my fingers, my pointer fingers to rub over my thumbs looking for a bump or any inconsistancy to bite off. Cuticle, hang nail, or a jagged edge of nail. If I couldn't find one with my fingers, I used my teeth and tongue to search. I mention this only because I don't know how you bite yours. A nail file and a cuticle blade (? Looks like a v on the edge and it cuts off the extra cuticle) helped me a lot. A profession manicure would have done these thing but my nails were down to the quik and pride kept me from going. I bit only my thumbs until my other 8 nails grew long enough to file and my hangnails healed. Have you tried anything like this at all before?

My mom did it and so did 2 of my kids.(one of them stopped with fake nails) I have stress but I started way before I had anything to be stressed about. So I have no idea why.

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Originally Posted by MelanieRay

I used my thumb pads to rub overs all of my fingers, my pointer fingers to rub over my thumbs looking for a bump or any inconsistancy to bite off. Cuticle, hang nail, or a jagged edge of nail. If I couldnt find one with my fingers, i used my teeth and tounge to search. I mention this only because i dont know how you bite yours. A nail file and a cuticle blade (? looks like a v on the edge and it cuts off the extra cuticle) helped me alot. A profession manicure would have done these thing but my nails were down to the quik and pride kept me from going. I bit only my thumbs until my other 8 nails grew long enough to file and my hangnails healed. Have you tried anything like this at all before?

My mom did it and so did 2 of my kids.(one of them stopped with fake nails) I have stress but i started way before i had anything to be stressed about. So i have no idea why.

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Exactly what I do. I also started long before I had anything to really be stressed about, or at least not like the kind of stress I have today.

I'm really unsure as to why I do it, or why I started. It was long before I can remember. I don't know if having been outrageously bullied had anything to do with it or not. At this point it's just a pesky addiction that I can't seem to stop.