Can't overcome decades-long severe nail-biting: help

[L0stinCyberspace]

I'm so ashamed of my nails. I began nail-biting as a child but continued into adulthood. The last 3 years have been exceptionally difficult so my nail-biting has become more severe.

I've attended counselling, am on Sertraline, but I feel I'm never going to overcome this. I regularly wear stick on fake nails but the second they are off, I'm straight back to biting again.

I have OCD and I know this level of nail-biting is part of that, but have you any advice or stories of hope? I've tried fake nails, the horrible liquid....this is beyond that. ☹

I broke my habit by getting acrylic nails (short, nothing fancy) for about a year.

@LoveMae can you get acrylics when the nails are as short as mine do u know?

My nails are the same.

Yes - I have SNS - if they were really short like yours then just get false tips.
Yes you will get people saying that will ruin your nails (my mother!) but they will 'perk' you up and give you a lift!
Go for it!

[quote L0stinCyberspace]@LoveMae can you get acrylics when the nails are as short as mine do u know?[/quote]
Yep, they add 'tips' and then acrylic over the top.

Mine were like yours. Get to a nail salon. Ask for a new set. Gel polish. I stopped biting over night.

@CatCup at the moment though my nails are only halfway down the nail bed...if I gel what's there it will look awful?

Absolutely - get them tipped

I had such a bad problem that my nail beds started shrinking - over time they did grow back.

I’ve not bitten my nails in 20 years
They’ll never be beautiful sadly 😂

I was actually tormented by the fact that if anybody attacked me I wouldn’t even be able to scratch them back - that really gave me the push to get them done

You can also experiment by buying those cheap nail sets from Tesco and gluing them on. I think that’s what I did first. Pretty sure I superglued them down as well because my nail beds were so small I couldn’t grip the nail. Urgh.

Another vote for gel nails. It's a long and not cheap process and requires some discipline on your part. I got good results within a year, but it's still a fight, currently regrowing 3 bitten nails.

Other ideas: one nail at a time? Or if you have the budget could you see a hypnotherapist? Be kind to yourself... if you slip up remember they will grow again. Take weekly photos of your progress to motivate yourself. Good luck!

I did habit reversal therapy/training for hair-pulling and it worked really well for me. It's also used for nail-biting. A lot of work and a fair chunk of change, but worth it from my perspective. The principles are fairly simple so you could try working through it yourself, though it's much easier if you've got a therapist to help you with problem-solving and a sort of sense of accountability (and of how much money you'll have wasted if you revert)

Another vote for gel nails. I used to bite my nails and it helped me stop. They were like yours.

I have the same habit @L0stinCyberspace and have bitten my nails since I was little. I briefly stopped for about a month, I don't know how I had the willpower to stop for that long because not much else has worked since. I now use some fake ones from Boots (really short ones cos I can do nothing with really long ones), but the minute they are off I bite my own nails again, so it's a vicious cycle. I have known people who have had hypnotherapy for stuff like smoking or nail biting, so might be worth looking into that if it isn't too expensive

Yeah, ask for acrylics with tips. Boom lovely nails.

Thanks for the replies everyone ❤. I now need to find a sympathetic salon! One near me wasn't good when I got acrylics done 4 years ago- the acrylics pointed up, and when I mentioned it, they said it was because my nails were so short

My nails were worse than that. I used to get whitlows (terribly painful infections). I'd tried false nails, the bitter-tasting stuff to paint on, all sorts. I'd bitten them all my life (40-odd years) but then during lockdown, I decided to leave just one nail of the 10 unbitten. When that grew, I then left another one unbitten, and so on, until eventually I was only "allowing myself" to bite the nails on the 2 smallest fingers.

Now, my nails are lovely, I actually have to trim them. I've got a nice manicure set, lots of different nail polishes, etc., for the first time in my life.

@MyGlassKeepsLeaking well done, that takes a LOT of willpower.

Another nail biter here.
So frustrated with myself.

Putting a plaster on everyday helped me to grow one nail at a time.

I want to grow them again it gives me
So much more confidence when I grow them,but it doesn't last.
Habits are so difficult to break.

How's the nail growing ?

I'm 64, and until 3 years ago, I bit my nails to the point of having whitlows quite often. My engagement and wedding photos showed my bitten-down stumps of nails. My nails were worse than yours. 3 years ago, I got a new job in an office, and was so embarrassed about my nails. I stopped biting ONE on each hand, still bit the others. Then I increased it to 2, then 3, that I didn't bite. Eventually, they were decent enough for me to have a manicure (a gift from my son). I keep them looking good now.

Acrylics will not lay flat until they have something to lay on (natural nail!)
Speak from experience ☺️

A true story. My mentor, Tim Box, was a plumber before he began training as a hypnotist. One day a friend of his was bemoaning the state of her nails because she was due to be married in a few weeks. He practised his fledgling hypnosis on her and told her subconscious to stop the nail biting because it was making her unhappy. Neither thought it had worked but, to his great surprise, when he went to the wedding she flashed her perfect nails at him as she walked down the aisle...