Nail biting - help!

[MargorieJean]

I’ve been a chronic nail biter my whole life. I’m now 33. The only two things in the past that have allowed me to stop for a while were having braces on my teeth and having gel manicure on my nails. However I had a baby 4 months ago and just haven’t had the time to go and get a manicure done and then the maintenance of going back for soak-offs etc, and that plus the stress of being a new Mum have meant that my nails are now at their worst ever. Like seriously bitten down as far as they can be I’ve decided to go and get another gel manicure now that my lovely Mum looks after DD for an afternoon each week for me, but I can’t even do that yet as there’s barely anything there for the technician to paint! So I’m wondering how can I at least get them to a passable length first? I’ve tried Stop n Grow but can taste it if I’m eating something with my hands and I don’t want the taste to transfer onto DDs dummy or bottles etc. Please share any tips you have

Worry beads! Like the Greeks play with.

Play with worry beads or something similar (buttons on a string circle?) something like that, every time you’re tempted.

@Gaveitall Ooh I’d never heard of worry beads but I do like the idea, will have to give it a try. Thank you 😊

For a long term solution, I had hypnosis. Before I was a compulsive nail biter, I could've literally stuck all my fingers into that old fashioned gross tasting sponge stuff and still would bite my nails. My parents paid for me to have hypnosis and it worked. I can now actually grow my nails if and when I want to e.g. For my recent wedding.

Worry beads are available on Amazon.
Ideal for relaxation. Carry them with you everywhere so you can pull them out whenever your hands stray to mouth.
Tried & tested successfully in my household!

Get acrylic nail extensions and get them refilled so they are on for at least 2 months. You can't bite them off as they are rock solid (and look good if you get them as short and natural as possible). Is the only thing that works to get me out of the habit. When they eventually fall off, paint the long nails underneath with hardener and paint/anything to keep them looking nice... it's so hard. I keep lapsing aged 46 but know it can be done now if I set my mind to it!!

Chew gum?
Sunflower seeds (the kind you have to crack open with your teeth)?
Wear rubber gloves?

nail biting can be a form of ocd. might be worth looking into some cbt therapies

Gel nail overlays is the only thing that stops me from biting and picking.

Iron supplements helped mine. I thought I was a chronic nail/cuticle nibbler, turned out I was anaemic.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Interesting point re the iron supplements actually as during pregnancy I didn’t have the same desire to bite them, wonder if that was due to iron in my pregnancy vitamins 🤔

Although I still bite my nails, I can now grow them if I have a word with myself. After a while, I revert, but ... to grow them, I have to have a gel polish on. I started with acrylics and then moved on to shellac once I'd broken the habit. You can buy a UV nail lamp, dupe Shellac base coat, colour and top coat as a kit. I also bought the alcohol stuff to wipe first, but haven't bothered with remover because I tend to peel the 'shellac' off after a week or so.

Nail tech here - look for a nail tech that does ‘builder in a bottle / BIAB’ usually by the brand gel bottle (best IMO) for when they’re long enough. BIAB strengthens your nails and honestly you won’t look back as they will look so lovely you won’t want to bite them! Had many many success stories with this and chronic nail biters!

I’ve bitten my nails all my life. Last year I went through a very stressful period and ended up taking antidepressants. After about 4 weeks on them I realised that I had stopped biting my nails. It must have been linked to being anxious all along.

Hand cream very often through the day help me.

Stick on false nails also help, but take a while to do and only last 5/6 days before some are coming off abs they need sticking back on. If you could commit to doing them every 5/6 days for a month then you'd have a decent length nail.

Best of all, reduce your stress levels. I have bitten my nails chronically all my life (I am now 43). I recently stopped work for a while, and after a stressful two/three months, I have calmed down a lot and somehow stopped biting my nails (though my thumbs are behind the rest!). Might be hard to make stress-relieving changes with a bee baby though!

This is the only thing that stops me biting my nails

Thanks everyone, going to paint them with a normal polish myself, they’ll look terrible but it’ll deter me from biting too much, then as soon as they’re a bit neater looking I’ll go and get a gel manicure and hopefully that’ll help on a more long term basis.