Calling all reformed nail biters

[Jemster]

I just can't seem to break this awful habit. I have tried so many times and as soon as they try and grow I nibble them off again!
I'm desperate to stop as I don't want my dd to grow up thinking it's normal.
I am quite an anxious person and think my nibbling is part of this. I They look terrible and it really affects my self confidence.
I have thought about having extensions done but they are so bad I am too embarrassed to show the person who would do them.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and managed to stop this for good?

[OatcakeCravings]

Yeah. Paint them with a gel based nail polish. They will feel and taste horrible in your mouth, you won't bite them.

[VegasIsBest]

Nail extensions. Best thing ever. And it doesn't matter if your own nails are in a poor state.

[Purplewithred]

Stopped overnight when I LTB.

[Purplehonesty]

I painted mine a dark colour and left it on for a week. I didn't want to bite them with bits of that getting in my mouth!
After a week they had grown and looked quite nice so I did it again and within a few weeks my nails looked lovely and I found myself not wanting to spoil them.
I do it occasionally now if I am really nervous but I tend to nibble them to a shorter length, not completely off like before!
I used to bite the skin too until it bled! Eech it looked awful and I can't imagine doing that now.

[Shop]

Always keep them painted. I have hundreds of colours and change every few days but even now if they are unpainted for more than a few hours I start picking then biting.

[monopoly123]

I've not bitten my nails for 2weeks, I had a gel manicure a fortnight ago (explaining I was a biter), went back yesterday and my nails are longer & unbitten.
Like the previous poster said as soon as you put your nail in your mouth the gel makes it feel horrible.

[dogrilla]

Nail extensions are the only way for me and honestly, the people who work in the nail salon have seen seen some dreadful sights at the end of fingertips. I was a hardcore nail biter but have found that if I get extensions and then infills lasting, say, six weeks it gets me out of the biting habit cos they look nice and are too tough to chomp through. By the time they come off my real nails are quite long underneath, so I keep them polished and looking nice.

I start nibbling eventually so the cycle starts again. Reckon I get falsies once or twice a year now depending on stress levels.

So nice to have proper lady nails as opposed to ragged bleeding nail nubs!

[GretchenWiener]

Agree. Painting. A lady never has chipped nails.

[BillStickersIsInnocent]

Yep keep them painted and short. I hate having long nails as they clack on the keyboard and I'm more tempted to bite them off when long.

A good nail strengthener like Sally Hansons hard as nails is good as makes nails harder and less easy to chew.

[LumpySpacedPrincess]

Nail strengthener, keep them painted and keep them filed short.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

I kept mine painted,I used to be a terrible biter but haven't done for years and years now.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Oh and rub Vaseline into your nails twice a day, it'll improve them no end.

[Jemster]

Thank you all. Unfortunately I think mine are too short to even have a manicure and I can't paint them as that would just draw more attention to them. I'm wondering if it's some kind of medical issue, like an obsessive compulsion to bite them. I know it's down to willpower at the end of the day but I just can't seem to stop myself doing it.

[leadrightfoot]

Manicure and pedicure then you can focus on the toes being better and they will sort out the skin around your nails too.
Tell them you bite and want to stop they will understand and respect you making such a decision.
Strengthening stuff on nails every evening I used to spend 15 mins taking off top coat, rubbing on cuticle cream, reapplying hardening top coat with tea or whilst watching tv so investing in me and that helped with making me think about biting again
Gel nails (having done acrylics and bitten those off!)
Ultimately I decided there was lots going on in my life I could not control at the time, and I was stressed and everyone said I was a stress biter. but actually THIS I could control and really I wanted the control aspect over something in my life, everything else was not possible so I made this my mission.
I replaced the nail biting with obsessive cleaning for a while but if it is stress about control or lack thereof you can give yourself permission to let the rest go and get control of this thing ....

Good luck!

[CarolBornAMan]

hypnotherapy cured me of a 45 year habit just this month - am now 21 days in and have nails I can see over the edge of my finger tips - never ever had that before. Am using hard as nails to keep them tough and then hoping in another 3 weeks to go for a manicure .... never thought would be here so worth a go!

[Thecircle]

Vaseline!

Smother your nails and cuticles in Vaseline every night and in 2-3 days they will look shiny and strong and you won't want to bite them.

Can you treat yourself to some polishes or a buffer to give you reason to stop?

[HappyAsASandboy]

I have nails that the nail bar people said are too short to attach extensions to

I have stopped several times, for a year or more each time, by putting on false nails at home. I buy them in tesco, and they last about 5/6 days before I have to do them again, with a £7.99 box probably doing three or four sets.

If I can keep up the false ones for a month, then my nails have grown enough underneath to shape them nicely and then paint. Then I don't bite them as long as I keep them shaped and painted (natural colours work fine, just can be bare!).

Eventually I get a snaggy bit because I've not filed, or I get very stressed, and the whole set of 10 are down to bleeding stubs within half an hour :( It then takes me a while to get round to doing the false nails for a month again.

This is the only system that's ever worked for me. The foul tasting stuff you can get annoys me because I then can't eat with my fingers, and like you I couldn't paint the Stubbs a dark colour cos they'd look awful.

[PurplePidjin]

I stopped when pregnant, did a bit after ds was born, and have finally stopped properly.

I think most of it is that I'm too busy with a toddler to worry about the stuff that made me bite them, so dealing with whatever your particular anxieties are will be a big part of stopping properly.

Another thing that helps is keeping them neat and short. I hate the feel of uneven nails, so keeping them smart with an emery board has been a good way to stop me trying to even them up with my teeth iyswim. I also hate having any dirt under them but have yet to find a way to stop that happening, if anyone has any suggestions!

[dogrilla]

Ha! HappyAsASandboy - you do the same as me. I either get acrylics or, if I've really gone for it and there's nothing to stick the tips on, stick-on nails are brilliant these days. Use the sticky pads OP rather than the glue as that ruins your nails and makes them peel. Nothing more satisfying than peeling a massive strip of nail off, and nothing more depressing than a ragged stump after weeks of nail-biting abstinence.

When I'm stressed my fingertips actually start tingling and all I want to do is bite. Is gradually getting easier, though have started picking my toenails instead, which is a whole world of wrong (and a totally different thread!). Really need to sort it out.