ok, am 35 this year and would like to know how on earth...

[NanBullen]

do i stop biting my nails? seriously, i'm sat here with blood all over my middle finger because i've bitten it so much [gross].

I've never ever had long nails (except when i got married i tried to grow them, took ages and then bit them all off on honeymoon

i've just been reading the grooming thread and i know my hands would look so much better with lovely manicured nails. not really long talons or anything (how do you do anything with really long nails? don't get it!) just short nails.

have tried the stuff you paint on them etc but i just bite my nails regardless of the taste. also dh says he's seen me bite them in my sleep so not sure what to do about that!

you could have some acrylics put on(short ones, not big horrid claws) and they'd look so pretty you wouldn';t want to bite them off?

And wear mittens in bed, or tape mousetraps to your fingers. just don't try to give your DH a sneaky handjob in the night.

Gloves? Welded on?

I don't bite nails, but I nibble away at the skin around them until i draw blood... eek.

What about if you went and had a set of acrylic nails put on? You don't have to have them long, you can choose the length, and then hopefully you would admire them so much you would resist the urge to bite. Meanwhile, your own nails would grow underneath.

hypnotism?

keep a file with you at all times and when you nibble a bit, file it smooth asap

also paint them as much as you can to start with

Nail varnish worked for me. I'd pick it off rather than bite the nails. Now I have no desire to do either - but a distraction/displacement thing is a good plan.

lol MamaG . Acrylic nails may be the way to go. i've never had them done professionally. I've used ones from boots that you just glue on and they looked nice (honest!) however, i get so sick of poking myself in the eye/face because i forget i've got them on that i end up taking them off after about 2 days. i also find it really annoying to actually do anything with long nails, they just seem to get in the way!

so my real nails will grow under false ones? even with the glue on them? see i really am clueless!

i don't really want to paint them just yet as they are disgustingly short, would just draw attention to them. there is about half a centimetre of finger above each nail

just paint them clear and as hassled said pick that off instead

Yes, your real nails will grow under your false ones. False ones can be a bit of a pain to maintain because you're meant to go back every 2/3 weeks to have them infilled (more acrylic applied at the base of the nail where your own nails have grown). But you don't have to do that once you're happy with the length of your own nails and you can go in and ask to have them soaked off.

oh yeah, you can get clear nail varnish can't you? feeling very dim now...

can you tell i haven't a clue about nail related paraphanalia? I got a lovely make up set for christmas but just gave my sister the nail groomimg "bits". i've never used a nail file in my life!

how much is it to get nails done professionally?

oooh, just thought, changing a pooey nappy with long nails, that can't end well can it?!

I'm 33 and still bite. Acrylics didn't work for me.

I have ivory nail polish on now and still bite, just eat the polish as well.

Ahh, you need my patented nail biters thread, started in 2009. I'll find it, hang on

I'm not sure how much they cost, I think it might depend on where you are, but perhaps something like £20 to £30? And you don't have to have them long, they can be as short as you like.

here

thankyou! (am watching night at the museum on at the mo and have just realised that i've bitten another nail down to the quick )

dont get acrylics put on. They absolutely destroy your real nails, so although they may grown, they will be paper thin.

You can buy stuff from the chemist that you paint onto your nails that tastes vile. Paint it on every night. Hopefully it will break the cycle.

I like biting my nails, but I didn't want to spend my whole life with short ones, so I trained myself just to bite the tops of them, so there was still some white showing. That way I didn't get the whole "I am NEVER allowed to bite" thing but my nails are still of a decent length.

I think acrylics can destroy your nails and a lot depends on where you have them done. If possible, have them done at a nailbar where they don't use electric nail files, cos those are certainly hard on your own nails. However, if you go to an experienced responsible nail technician who does all the filing by hand you should be ok, especially if this is a one off thing to break your biting habit.

Chewing gum, falsies, a little rubber band around your wrist to snap yourself when you nibble, and burts bees lemon cuticle cream for the fingers just below the nail while the falsies are on and for the nail and nailbed area when they come off.

I would try some nail polish remover!!

It has to be the one from Super Drug (not the one from boots), the pads in the little pink pot, wipe it over your nails...

I cleaned my nails with one of them a while ago (I don't bite, just cleaning nail polish off) and afterwards, a long time afterwards, put my finger tip in my mouth - it was vile. It took me a while to work out what it was, but honest to god, if this doesn't stop you, nothing will.

It is much much much more revolting than the stuff you buy to paint on to stop biting!