Anyone managed to stop biting their nails? How?

[Sharkyfan]

For 2020 I’d like to stop biting my nails.
I don’t always know when I’m doing it.
I hate that my nails look shit and I can’t ever paint them. Sometimes I bite the skin round the nail and it gets sore.

When I was younger I tried that stuff that tastes bad but kept forgetting and putting my fingers in my mouth

I’ve also in the last had acrylic false nails applied with a natural finish think it was called American tip or something - the nails did grow underneath but it damaged the nail bed a bit and was an but time consuming to have done. I could try that again I guess.

Any other ideas?

Or use the horrible tasting stuff and use modern technology to remind you! I have phone reminders. The forgetting and putting your hands in your mouth to get the foul taste is how it works - gives you a strong negative connection to having your hands near your mouth!

I'm getting there. It's taken years to get to the point where I don't have raw skin on my hands, but I do still struggle not to "tidy them up" when there's loose skin etc.

Hi op I was able to stop biting mine when I actually starting caring for them. I would paint clear polish on daily and the following day remove it and then re apply clear polish. I did last 4 weeks.
I’ve been a biter since childhood and I’m now 55.
I’ve done gel ones and they work too but I found maintainace time consuming.
Good luck.

I stopped at 39 a couple of years ago. I had a manicure, getting rid of all the bits you can nibble. It seemed odd to pay for a manicure, when some nails were very short and in a bad way but it helped to get a basic shape. From there I kept them trimmed very short, painted my nails and generally cared about them.

Gel and other false nails didn't work for me as the nails were so weak and weaker due to the false nails.

It took me 6 months to get a nail which was strong enough to have a little length without breaking.

From time to time I still nibble the skin around my nails, the weirdest thing was I had never really trimmed my nails before as I have never needed too, no I have nail clippers everywhere.

I manage not to bite my nails by keeping them very short, but I would love to rid myself of the disgusting habit of biting the skin around the nail and the cuticles. I can't ignore it if they feel rough, and ideally, I don't like to have any cuticle at all. I bite the skin right down to the knuckle on fingers and thumbs. Grateful to hear from anyone who has broken a similar habit.

Getting gel polish at a salon.

Hypnotherapy 😊

Acrylics and get them redone immediately when they come off. (nail glue might be useful)
If you bite them you will probably cause irreparable damage to your teeth.
Keep the acrylic nails going until your nails are long.

I've managed to stop since September which is the longest period since I was aged 11.

Like other posters, I went and got a set of acrylics, then infills, and now get them done every 2 weeks. I also set getting a manicure as an unofficial work objective as my nails looked so awful and unprofessional. I used to bite them and the skin around them until it bled. So by having them done professionally, I leave them alone!

Here's a photo of today's manicure (wish I had slender fingers!!)

Life long nail biter here too . Only stopped briefly when I got engaged almost 20 years ago . Managed to keep them long for about 6 months after the wedding and then I starting biting again . I bite mine until they actually ache . I think it’s an anxiety thing . I’m determined to stop this year . I heard that if you put an elastic band on your wrist and twang it when you feel the urge to bite , it can work ??? Worth a try

I tend to bite mine when I am driving so i make sure i've got a big tub of chewing gum in there now. It's improved it though as it's usually absent minded i don't always realise i'm doing it too

I am both a picker and biter. I remember being made to show my chewed stumps when I was in the Brownies. Our Brown Owl thought the public shame would make me stop. Nah.

Nowadays I allow myself a pinkie nail to batter while the others grow.

I apply Flexitol cuticle and hand cream every night, use a lovely cream for during the day and slather it on when I feel like a nibble or a pick. I like L’Occitane ones, prettily scented but not at all tasty.

When the other 9 nails are beautiful I let the pinkie one grow out. I have to have short nails for work, but I love it when they look nice.

Gel nails do help, but I can only have them when I’m on holiday.

Sometimes the pick and chew devil gets me and I obliterate the lot.

Thanks guys you are really inspiring me.
Still not quite sure whether to ask for gel extensions or acrylics if I go down the salon route...
Also not realistic for me to keep them done professionally continually but I’m really hoping if I can just get some growth under a couple of extensions/infills and then just have normal gel manicure that will be enough to break the habit then maybe keep them painted with clear stuff myself?
Good idea about the hand cream - would taste funny enough to remind me but not as gross as the disgusting tasting stuff which can interfere with cooking/finger food!
Someone suggested a before picture so here it is - no bleeding bits on the side of nails at the moment but it is not uncommon. And yes I do have freakily small fingers and nails!

Told my husband I was leaving him. The nail biting stopped immediately. Drastic but effective.

Another view...

@Purplewithred not sure if you have seen another thread of mine but that’s weirdly relevant....

I have wondered as well as there obviously being an ingrained habit there, if it’s also somehow related to underlying anxiety and unhappiness about my current situation at home with DH.

Gel polish. I have always been a biter. Then3 months ago I decided enough was enough. This is my 3rd application and they have been filed down now. Get them done every 4 weeks for £20. And ask for builder gel on them, strengthens them.

On and off nail bitter all my life. And the skin around as you say. Work stress makes me worse. I need to keep my nails fairly short or I pick at them and keep a nail file in my bag, if I get a raggy bit I can't leave it alone otherwise.

Acrylics all the way!

I'm going against the grain and suggest you don't do acrylics. Buy some savlon or other healing balm. Sit down both morning and again at night and rub it into your cuticles where you've made sores. Rub a lovely oil treatment onto the nail bed. Do these acts consciously as an act of self care. And for the next few weeks wear plasters on all 10 finger nails, not just the ones with sores. In a few weeks you'll have both lovingly pampered your poor nails and curved the unconscious part of the habit. After this use nail trimmers and files and keep your nails very short for the next many months. This act, done regularly will replace the urge to bite, and it's, again, good for your nails.

Ps, I keep a bowl next to my spot in the lounge. It has hand cream, nail file, clippers and varnishes. Every evening I did into this bowl for something!

I stopped as a child using a one by one method.

Started with the thumb of my right hand and went from there. You might have to think about not doing it as a conscious decision for a while but once you've broken the habit not biting becomes the new one.

The 1 finger at a time worked for me 😀

@Bookridden I did that for years. It’s anxiety for me. I have it under control now but if there’s a rough bit I find it hard not to pick or bite it.

Basically I got tired of having this habit that compromised how I am viewed by others- quite vain but there you go. I know (or thought) that when people would see me biting my fingers that they would see that I wasn’t calm and composed. I didn’t want this. I couldn’t just do it in private as the rough bits would annoy me so much I’d end up doing it at work or whatever, so I had to stop completely.

The other thing is that I went though a period of getting a lot of colds and I got quite conscious of how many things I was touching when out and about. This made me want to stop putting my hands near my mouth. So that helped too.

Here are my fingers today. I’ve come a long way, because perilously I would have picked the bejaysus out of those side bits on my ring and little finger nails. I still would if I was worried probably. But I’m definitely much better. The skin around my fingers was red raw and bleeding for years.

Bit from my early teens until late 20s.

I started getting gel polish on my own nails but allowed myself to still have a nibble on the thumbs, but the shock at having lovely nails overtook and I never looked back.

Get them done locally about every two weeks now. On the odd occasion it does peel, I don't bite.