Who has successfully stopped biting their nails?

I stopped.

But I don't have a particular strategy.

One thing about my nails is they used to chip and flake a lot. That made them get caught in fabrics, and would lead to my nibbling at the little imperfection; which can easily lead to tearing off a too-big chunk of nail. When I started supplementing with Vitamin D, the nails became thicker and stronger for the first time in my life.

I'm a woman, so I used to have fake nails on all the time to avoid that - but since my nails are healthier now, it isn't a factor anymore.

Do you have other compulsive behaviors? You might benefit from some Cognitive Behavior Therapy.

Stopped biting my nails and not sure what happened. Just stopped. I also started taking care of them, painting them and filing them. Keeping them nice and decorated seems to have helped.

Still a lip biter though. Can't seem to kick that habit no matter how much gum I keep on me.

Nail biting is a funny thing. Most people do it when they're stressed, and I can say for a fact that I did sometimes bite during stress. But mostly I bit as a habit (bored, perfectionism, etc). I haven't stopped biting, but I've reduced it a lot! I've started painting them! And as you are a male I don't think that would help you much. Unless you wanted to paint them black, but that's a different kind of look.

I have, cause I have to get my nails done or they look awful:)

I used to bite mine down past the quick they would be so mangled and painful. Oddly enough my husband would smack my hand if he saw me bit them and after that once or twice I stopped. Now I have very pretty nails. I just put some clear polish on them and I get a lot of compliments. You could also try painting them, you dont want to eat the paint.

I have been a non-biter since September and I think what did it for me was that I told myself it was ruining my teeth and I should probably stop. I have bitten a nail since that day.

Good luck.

I just happened to stop. No idea why. I just noticed one day that my nails were long, and I was no longer biting them. Weird. I know.

I do bite the inside of my mouth too...like other posters. That's weird too.

Some kind of mouth fixation? I find it SOOO odd that people just out of the blue stopped biting their nails, but we all bite our lips/inside of our mouths.....

Funny enough I was biting the inside of my mouth when I started reading this thread....

I took on smoking when I was quitting my nail biting habits. It's such a terrible vice to have!

I really need to stop. I'm the worst. And I work in a very high stress place that you don't want to put your hands anywhere near your face. Although I tend to bite at home mostly when I have too much time to worry and no where to channel it. I wish there was a quick fix for this one. But I gotta just do it.

Yes, three out of four of us have stopped.
I was a terrible nail biter up until the age of 11.
One day, I saw my mother's pretty fingernails while she was driving us home from school and we were stopped at a stoplight.
I told her then, I wanted pretty nails like hers.
They weren't all done up or anything - just neat and trim with clear polish on them.
I remember what she said like it was yesterday...."You will have to set your mind to keeping them out of your mouth and you can have pretty nails of your own".
That is what it took - I had to decide to do it.

My husband also was a nail biter. At age 43 he decided he wasn't going to do it anymore. He didn't like the way they looked and he knew what his hands were in every day at work. He chewed them mostly in the PM in front of the tv.
It took him trial and error but within about 3 months he had it done.

My daughter also was a nail biter until the age of 11. She is 14 now and she does a beautiful job with her nails. She would sit on hers when she would want to chew them....lol.
We tried everything with her too - gum, the special bad tasting stuff you put on each nail, reminders, band-aids...everything.
In the end, she had to decide she didn't want to chew them anymore. When she was serious enough about it, then I through her a nail party and got her a kit by Konad. She loved the party and all her friends and moms came and it was a big deal and we had a lot of fun. She still enjoys her Konad kit to this day and likes to do her own nails, mine, and anyone else too.


I am thankful my son never started biting his nails.

Good luck with it.

I had a really bad habit, and still do it from time to time but only if i happen to chip a nail and it snags.

I noticed i tended to do it when i was stressed out, anxious, nervous, and since i've begun working out I find that I don't do it as often and have full confidence that i will stop.

(plus in my line of work you are not allowed to have nails haha so they are always super short nothing to chew!)

I stopped biting them when I started taking care of them. Manicures, painting them - making my cuticles look nice.

I was always afraid to shake someone's hand and have them look down and think gross - taking care of them and not wanting that is what did it for me.

One thing about my nails is they used to chip and flake a lot. That made them get caught in fabrics, and would lead to my nibbling at the little imperfection; which can easily lead to tearing off a too-big chunk of nail. When I started supplementing with Vitamin D, the nails became thicker and stronger for the first time in my life.

^this^

I started carrying a pair of nail clippers (my weapon of choice) and using them instead of my teeth to trim snags and hangnails. Can't say that I *never* bite anymore, but at the moment I have no bloody patches and 9 nails long enough to show white at end (right index fingernail had to be trimmed to the quick after my last round of housework).

I had to get acryllic nails to break the habit. Now getting regular manicures and just keeping them in good shape in general really helps.

I am a recovered nail biter. it takes a LOT of willpower, but every time you go to start biting your nails, stop yourself and do something else, or just simply stop yourself because you're trying to break the habit. Eventually you will not think about or want to do it. It takes time though.