nail biting

megan_h26
megan_h26 Posts: 325 Member
edited November 3 in Motivation and Support
Nail biters,
Do you like the feeling of biting your nails?
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Replies

  • kodaks
    kodaks Posts: 132 Member
    I don't know if its so much a like, as just something I do when I am stressed or anxious. It is a behavior I've been working to try end, however its really hard because its now such a natural thing to me.
  • FixIngMe13
    FixIngMe13 Posts: 405 Member
    Not really?

    I've done it since I was in middle school... and that was YEARS ago. It's just something I do when I get anxious/worry or feel over-whelmed. Plus... I can't STAND nails.
  • anna0478
    anna0478 Posts: 505 Member
    It is not so much a like to do type thing...I typically don't even know I'm doing it. When I am driving, I zone out and bite them. I bite them when one gets snagged (which makes growing them near impossible). In the past I have grown all of them but one...then the nail breaks, I tear it off then chew it until it's 'even'. I'm slightly OCD about them when I do have nails.
  • jpace00
    jpace00 Posts: 55
    I don't think anyone "likes" to do this. I bite my nails and my cuticles really badly. It's a terrible habit that hurts my work life and my ability to meet women (it's not an attractive or confident habit) It's mostly a nervous thing that becomes completely second nature to you and you end up not even realizing you're doing it. I wish I knew of something to help me stop other then just "don't do it" which is so hard when you don't realize it until you're already doing it.

    @Anna, I completely agree! I do that all the time. I'll be trying to quit, bite one then have to finish the nail. Then before you know it I've done all of them. :(
  • kodaks
    kodaks Posts: 132 Member
    I remember years ago hearing about a product that you would put on your nails that made them taste foul - has anybody had any experience with such a product?
  • JessicaFB
    JessicaFB Posts: 126 Member
    I've heard there is a nasty tasting nail polish that can help with nail biting
  • sami_83
    sami_83 Posts: 161
    No, I hate it. It hurts my jaw and teeth, makes my fingers bleed and sting and yet I can't bring myself to stop. It's hard to break an addiction when that addiction is literally attached to your hands. I hate it and I want to stop but I do it without even noticing :cry:
    The gross-tasting polish stuff doesn't work, I just get used to the taste (quickly too- within hours) and chew anyway.

    The only thing that even semi-works for me is false nails. I DIY them as I am too ashamed to ever go to a 'proper' place. I still bite the fake nails but that's okay. At least my hands look normal in the meantime. The thing is that I must be vigilant and replace them immediately when they fall off/are removed. This is not always at a practical time so if it's even an hour between taking them off and replacing them then they're chewed.

    There's no real solution :cry:
  • slouw10
    slouw10 Posts: 82 Member
    I hate biting my nails - hands looks ugly as well...Not cool, wish I could stop.
  • xombiebite
    xombiebite Posts: 276 Member
    i hate biting my nails but do it when I'm anxious. i go through spurts of anxiety and stop biting my nails because i get nervous about germs. I'm weird don't ask.
  • zorbaru
    zorbaru Posts: 1,077 Member
    i dont like that i do it, but there is a bit of satisfaction when you get it "just right"

    but do you log the calories?
  • ThePlight
    ThePlight Posts: 3,593 Member
    I stopped biting them when I started using the very nasty dip fingernail polish remover and painting my nails daily. That stuff tastes awful :P
  • jlahorn
    jlahorn Posts: 377 Member
    Nail biters,
    Do you like the feeling of biting your nails?

    I bite my nails due to "compulsive overgrooming", which is related to OCD, skin-picking, and trichotillomania. I "like it" in that both my nails and cuticles feel like they don't belong on my body and I basically have to remove them as soon as I notice they are there. If my nails and cuticles get long enough that I notice their existence, it's like an itch in my brain that doesn't go away until I find a way to remove them. It's less about pleasure than it is about ending a nagging irritation.

    I know it's not attractive and I do wish I could stop, but on the other hand, I am 40 and it really hasn't affected my life in any significant way at all.

    I've tried the nail polish, false nails, and hypnosis. The nail polish doesn't work at all. False nails work in the short term, so I'll wear them for special occasions. Hypnosis worked briefly - I actually had my own real nails for close to two months, but I couldn't keep it up.
  • amandajones1978
    amandajones1978 Posts: 140
    I dont bite them, but would obsessively pick at them when bored or nervous. Its been hard but I think I finally beat that habit, anytime I wanted to pick at them I would grab a nail file and gently file until the tick would pass.

    I now have nails that look like french manicures. I think its like anything that requires will power. The more you work at it, the easier it gets.
  • hellsbell
    hellsbell Posts: 33 Member
    As several other posters have pointed out it's not a question of "liking" so much as obsessively doing. I've been a nail biter for as long as I can remember. It was especially bad if I was anxious or stressed. I was only able to stop once I started college and spent so much time taking notes that I didn't have time to bite them all and they grew on their own. But even now I can only avoid biting them by making sure the edges are very even and smooth at all times. I always have a nail file on me for this purpose. Otherwise, if the nail became uneven or ragged I would bite it to the quick, wouldn't be able to stop myself.
  • julieannezen
    julieannezen Posts: 51 Member
    I have bitten my nails since age 4 and find myself doing it when I don't even know I am doing it.
  • elmr34
    elmr34 Posts: 32 Member
    I will bite mine when I am stressed. I don't really think about what I'm doing, I just think 'well, this nail is uneven so I'll gnaw on it a bit" . I will just look at my nails later and see these nasty jagged little nubs and think "Why did I do that!".

    The one thing that helps for me is keeping my nails perfectly, neatly filed and painted. Then I also try to drink water or chew gum when I feel like biting my nails (I really like to take a walk or listen to music when I'm stressed but that isn't always possible). I do a lot of outdoorsy stuff, crafting, and yard work so I am really hard on my nails and when they start to get messed up I just give up and bite them, but painting them regularly has helped a LOT.

    I know I do it because of stress because when I go on vacation I come back with nice, long nails. I don't even feel that stressed but I guess I take it all out on my poor nails!
  • AndyRogan
    AndyRogan Posts: 195 Member
    I've heard there is a nasty tasting nail polish that can help with nail biting

    My mum tried one on me when I was little, and liked the flavour lol.

    For me, nail biting is more of a boredom thing
  • Gkfrkv
    Gkfrkv Posts: 120
    I like the sound of biting nails, that clack you get.
  • MysteriousMerlin
    MysteriousMerlin Posts: 2,270 Member
    No, I can't stand it. It took about 10 years to break the habit, and I like how my nails look now.
  • EmilyJackCO
    EmilyJackCO Posts: 621 Member
    I chewed on my fingers and nails until a year ago. I even went so far as to wear gel artificials (I did them myself as well) for close to a decade straight. Even still, I would bite hangnails til things went really bad.

    Something just snapped last year under some really bad stress, and I haven't bitten them since. Now I get grumpy when one breaks like my right thumb did thanks to an awkward grab of the curl bar. >.<

    I know mine was a form of self-harm and was greatly related to stress and anxiety. It's a miracle that I haven't started up again with the way this year has been. I think it's that I'm too proud of having overcome it after an entire lifetime of a baaaaad habit.
  • numejak
    numejak Posts: 43 Member
    I used to bit my nails down until they bled. I hated it but it was compulsive habitual behavior. Then several years ago I read somewhere there was a study done that showed nail-biters were also very bad decision-makers. That's all it took and I have not bitten my nails since!
  • chelseascounter
    chelseascounter Posts: 1,283 Member
    I used to bit my nails down until they bled. I hated it but it was compulsive habitual behavior. Then several years ago I read somewhere there was a study done that showed nail-biters were also very bad decision-makers. That's all it took and I have not bitten my nails since!

    Saving that for later.

    No I hated the feeling. I stopped a month ago and now I'm taking biotin :-/
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    please see ---
    http://www.science20.com/small_world/onychphagia_and_the_neurology_of_nail_biting
  • suzyfj8
    suzyfj8 Posts: 257 Member
    Nope not anymore I try not to bite my nails and instead cut them :)
  • russellbrand69
    russellbrand69 Posts: 132 Member
    I bit my nails from birth to early 30s. I hated my hands, and I had lots of novel ways of holding my hands in such a position so no-one could see my nails.
    This product was the one that helped break the habit for me - Flexitol Cuticle & Nail Cream: http://www.flexitol.com/il/products/nail-care/cuticle-nail-cream
    It moisturises your cuticles and all that jazz - BUT when you stick your hand in your mouth it takes HORRIBLE and the oily taste won't go away for hours. Honestly, it was the only thing that worked for me.
    I haven't bitten in a few years (except a couple of minor lapses).
    I love to show my hands now - they look great!
  • DMZ_1
    DMZ_1 Posts: 2,889 Member
    Nail clippers are better.
  • youdontknowwhatyousaw
    youdontknowwhatyousaw Posts: 221 Member
    Absolutely not. When I bit my nails, I often bit them so far down my fingers would bleed and then get infected. My fingers hurt so much. I didn't usually realize I was biting my nails. When I actively tried to stop biting them I couldn't, but, about 6 months ago I just stopped. I don't know why, I wasn't trying to, one day I just noticed I had nails. I occasionally bite them when they aren't smooth, but, nothing like I used to.
  • megan_h26
    megan_h26 Posts: 325 Member
    Oh well, There is something missing in all the comments I see here. Can you guess what it is?
  • Livingdeadgirl44
    Livingdeadgirl44 Posts: 264 Member
    I remember years ago hearing about a product that you would put on your nails that made them taste foul - has anybody had any experience with such a product?

    Yes I have some, unfortunately it also makes anything you touch taste foul too so I had to stop eating sandwiches and only eat knife and fork based lunches :p
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    God I love it. It is so satisfying. Mmm.

    But I hate the feeling afterward. Guilt. Shame. Ugliness. Pain.

    I have struggled for years with trying to stop. I wear the nasty stuff that makes your nails taste super bitter. Some days I will just bitetrough it no matter how bad it tastes. I have been using that stuff for nearly 4 years. I cannot stop. I can keep it under control but I cannot stop. I have to really force myself to just keep it under control. Hopefully someday I will quit.
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