To think bitten nails on an adult looks grubby

[greensleeves1]

I am a nail biter - always have been. I have to make such an effort every day not to bite them and keep them looking reasonable!

I very rarely see adults with bitten nails - makes me so jealous when I see someone with lovely nails and hands. My hands are dry due to constant hand washing in my workplace (and home)

I so desperately want to stop! It looks so grubby when they are bitten I sit in my hands during meetings at work ????

I don't think it is all anxiety as I have always bitten my nails and had a lovely childhood!! It is a bad habit and one I wish I could break, have actually wondered if hypnosis would help??

Thats weird that you stopped then as well Green maybe its the hormones or something!!

OP - Current research indicates that this is a neurological condition. Don't waste your time trying to stop. My top tips to manage it are:

1. Carry a nail file and hand cream everywhere - In every bag, your bedside table, your car. File your nails whenever you feel a snag. Apply hand cream liberally, multiple times every day. (A happy side effect of this habit has been that my hands now look as if they are half my age.)

2. Learn to do your own manicure - Get a cuticle cutter and watch some YouTube tutorials. This is great because it scratches the same itch as picking at your nails & cuticles AND the end result is lovely looking hands rather than ugly ones.

3. Always have dark coloured nail polish - You will be much less inclined to pick at your manicured hands and nails if they have dark nail polish.

use a crystal nail file and use a smoother/nail shiner thing to make your nails look nice even without polish. i am a bit of a picker but i actually enjoy it.

I have bitten my nails since I had teeth. I had a very anxious childhood. I think it is impossible to stop. Despite having shellac, gell, acrylic nails on for years, once they are off, I bite.
All treatments damage your nails underneath. But as my teeth damage them more .. What the heck.,
I have had false nails on for months and then think I have kicked the habit as my hands look so lovely, but once the stuff is off, as it is now, I pick and bite.
It is impossible for anyone, except a biter to understand how anyone could do it to them selves, as it can be painful.

I derive great comfort from biting and then once it is done I suffer from disgust and annoyance with my self.

I would just like to say to any partner of a nail biter who tuts and slaps...... Don't you think we would stop, if we could?
My husband tuts and eye rolls , it makes me more anxious.

My husband probably doesn't even realise I do it! No matter how long the White bit on the nail grows the main nail doesn't get longer? Must have damaged that beyond repair! It does look horrid though wish I could stop :)

It looks unkempt yes.

My sister has this issue and she gets fake nails to stop her

I stopped biting my nails when I was twenty. Then I took up picking my skin. Round my nails, between my fingers, it's repulsive. My thumbs are stripped. It's a serious problem that my husband implores me to stop but it's a compulsion. I find it calming. Horrible.

I have quite nice nails thanks to OPI Nail Strengthener however, the mess I make of the skin around my nails spoils the look completely. I bite and pick at them, sometimes until they bleed, that's when I realise I'm doing it.
It looks awful as the scabs go black once the blood dries. Yuk.
I wish I could stop.

Bitten nails are not glamorous but they are not nearly as bad as really long, pointy nails... Especially when they are all different lengths, i,e, people don't cut them, just let them grow until they break. Creepy!

I have bitten and picked my nails since I was two. Stopped for a year in my twenties, but have since begun again. When I have had periods of working in dirty conditions, I'd be less likely to bite my nails, but always return to it, as it is comforting. I also find long nails make me feel like I can't do anything properly, as the nails get in the way. Clackety clack.

I've bitten my nails for over 50 years. I stopped biting them 5 months ago. I look after them daily because it stops me biting although the urge is still there and I sometimes bite the polish off!

I used to bite the nail, the skin, and the cuticles but after 12 weeks they look like this

I bit my nails for 40 years. I had fakes put on at a cost of £25 every six weeks.

My husband suggested I grow my own. I scoffed at him, saying my nail bed was too damaged, they would never grow, BUT I would prove to him they wouldn't grow. So I stopped biting (used nobite on my nails, applied nail cream daily, massaged my nails and sodding hell they bloody well grew.

They now grow so quickly I have to cut them every 3 days. I also ate a cube of jelly daily just in case that old wives tale was true.

You can do it. Even if you take up tapestry or crochet so your hands are busy.