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Finger nail biting

I used to bite my nails like crazy...for as long as I can remember. My mom yelled at me for years (okay, she didn't "yell" but you know what I mean). When I was little and she was trying to get me stop, we did a whole daily fingernail check/gold stars on the calendar thing...didn't work. She eventually gave up. Finally last year I just all of a sudden stopped biting a couple of them and they started looking good...I have no idea why I stopped. Anyway, they looked good, so I kept adding fingers that I wouldn't bite. About nine months ago, I got down to the last one, and now I am bite-free!

So at the age of 27, I had to learn how to use nail clippers. The hard part is remembering to clip them regularly. Turns out I was just doing regular maintenance by biting them. But they do look much better now.
 
I see most of you folks are opposed to the practice.

Fingers are so much nicer without those silly nails poking out. I can type a sustained 85 wpm with bursts of over 120. Between my middle finger and my fourth finger, a clitoris or two has been pleasantly facilitated with no concerns about sharp edged keratin.

Yeah, OK, so I can't pick up dimes when they fall without lots of additional difficulty. So what. I never have that absolutely horrid snagging sensation when a nail catches on fabric. ::visceral shudder::

Fingers can be quite pretty without nails to speak of. Like newt appendages. Soft and round at the ends. Being able to feel in fingertip-fashion from the backside of your fingers, running them across things. I like having skin there.

Fingernails gick me out. Seeing someone with unbitten fingernails is like seeing someone with an inflamed boil. Gee can't you DO something aobut that? Ewww!

Worse yet are the people who grow their fingernails so long they can't type except flat-fingered.

Worst yet are those whose fingernails are so long they make the fingers almost useless. Fingernails that twist. Nails that prevent use of the fingers as fingers. That's just gross.
 
I bite my nails :rolleyes: Can't stop, been doing it for a while.

It's actually convenient in that it keeps my nails short all the time (i don't bite them THAT much, but enough..). Makes it easier to type and to play the piano.

The only way I stopped biting nails was by putting on nail polish, because the taste was just too icky. Get your friend to wear clear nail polish or something. But, in the end, I would get a bottle of nail polish remover and take it all off, trim the nails with a clipper, and then start biting them a short bit later (like, the next day, or a week later).

Chewing gum constantly also helps.

Long nails == bad, disgusting sounding (yes, flat fingers and not flat fingers do sound different) and sometimes painful piano playing (hit any key with the tip of a long nail real hard, i dare you :p ), slower and louder typing...
 
Back From The Dead!!!

I'm digging up an old thread, no point in starting a new one.....

So I'm a nail biter as well. I want to stop. Really. I just can't. I've been doing it for as long as I can remember, ever since I was a little kid.

Am I a nervous person? No, but I do find that I tend to catch myself doing it when my nerves are up a little. I'm a pretty easy-going, level-headed person. I handle stress and pressure quite well.

I call it my non-chemical addiction. I think it's my OCD. I don't even notice that I'm doing it until I'm in the middle of it. But then it's too late, because I've started (believe it or not, I've actually nibbled a little while typing this post!).

I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I think that is why I continue to bite them once I begin. It's like this: My nail catches on a piece of material (eg. my shirt), or I look at a finger and the nail looks like it needs a little fixing, so I need to bite that piece off. However, it just makes it worse. So I bite more off. Which makes it worse. Etc, etc..... and then it just looks awful.

The funny/ridiculous thing is I know exactly how it will play out, yet I can't stop myself.

Once my nails have been bitten down enough, I won't bite them for a few days. But when they grow back enough to catch on a piece of material again, the cycle of biting begins again.

If there's one thing about myself that I could change, this would be it. So, I decided to write this post to see if any other nail-biters out there have had success quitting.

I've tried the bad tasting stuff, wearing latex gloves around the house, will power, when I was younger my mother tried bribing me, but nothing has worked thus far.

Also, anyone who posted in this thread way back in 2006 that is still around, are you still biting or did you find a way to stop?

Anyone else who has been able to find a way to stop biting, please share your method.

I like WildCowboy's idea ("I just all of a sudden stopped biting a couple of them and they started looking good...I have no idea why I stopped. Anyway, they looked good, so I kept adding fingers that I wouldn't bite. About nine months ago, I got down to the last one, and now I am bite-free!"), but I question if it will work for me. Are you still not biting?

Anyway, I think that's long enough..... hopefully someone will have a good, helpful idea for me!
 
I bite my nails too. I want to stop, but I bite them without noticing. I tend to bite them mostly at work or when I have nothing to do. My gf slaps my hand every time she catches me biting my nails, even in public. :eek: But I still can't stop.
 
heehee said:
I bite my nails too. I want to stop, but I bite them without noticing. I tend to bite them mostly at work or when I have nothing to do. My gf slaps my hand every time she catches me biting my nails, even in public. :eek: But I still can't stop.
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My wife hates it. She does the same thing to me as well.

I picked up the habit from my father when I was very young. I'm having a kid (we're pregnant), and I would hate for my kid to pick it up from me.
 
I had the unfortunate habit of biting my nails. I force myself to stop by just catching myself and sort of saying, "don't do it, I'll regret it". It actually worked pretty well for me. After about 6 months with little biting, it just so happened that I decided to get dental braces. That really broke the habit for me. Good luck. I really hated that habit. :)

Another tip: Make sure you start using nail clippers if you don't. That helped for me as well.
 
Surely said:
I'm digging up an old thread, no point in starting a new one.....

So I'm a nail biter as well. I want to stop. Really. I just can't. I've been doing it for as long as I can remember, ever since I was a little kid.

Am I a nervous person? No, but I do find that I tend to catch myself doing it when my nerves are up a little. I'm a pretty easy-going, level-headed person. I handle stress and pressure quite well.

I call it my non-chemical addiction. I think it's my OCD. I don't even notice that I'm doing it until I'm in the middle of it. But then it's too late, because I've started (believe it or not, I've actually nibbled a little while typing this post!).

I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I think that is why I continue to bite them once I begin. It's like this: My nail catches on a piece of material (eg. my shirt), or I look at a finger and the nail looks like it needs a little fixing, so I need to bite that piece off. However, it just makes it worse. So I bite more off. Which makes it worse. Etc, etc..... and then it just looks awful.

The funny/ridiculous thing is I know exactly how it will play out, yet I can't stop myself.

Once my nails have been bitten down enough, I won't bite them for a few days. But when they grow back enough to catch on a piece of material again, the cycle of biting begins again.

If there's one thing about myself that I could change, this would be it. So, I decided to write this post to see if any other nail-biters out there have had success quitting.

I've tried the bad tasting stuff, wearing latex gloves around the house, will power, when I was younger my mother tried bribing me, but nothing has worked thus far.

Also, anyone who posted in this thread way back in 2006 that is still around, are you still biting or did you find a way to stop?

Anyone else who has been able to find a way to stop biting, please share your method.

I like WildCowboy's idea ("I just all of a sudden stopped biting a couple of them and they started looking good...I have no idea why I stopped. Anyway, they looked good, so I kept adding fingers that I wouldn't bite. About nine months ago, I got down to the last one, and now I am bite-free!"), but I question if it will work for me. Are you still not biting?

Anyway, I think that's long enough..... hopefully someone will have a good, helpful idea for me!
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+1 on the perfection/OCD component. I can go weeks until I look at them.
 
I can tell you that one of the first things I always look at with a guy is his hands. Bitten down, mutilated fingers are literally a deal-breaker for me. Nice hands are a big turn on. I'm sure there are many ladies who agree with me. Hopefully, that's a good motive.
 
Vile, truly vile habit. Second only to booger eating in my book.
eek.gif
 
leekohler said:
I can tell you that one of the first things I always look at with a guy is his hands. Bitten down, mutilated fingers are literally a deal-breaker for me. Nice hands are a big turn on. I'm sure there are many ladies who agree with me. Hopefully, that's a good motive.
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I thought it was shoes?

I know what you're saying, but I'm quite good at hiding it. I never had a problem with women.

macfem said:
Vile, truly vile habit. Second only to booger eating in my book.
eek.gif
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That's a little much, don't you think?



Solutions people! I'd love some solutions:D
 
leekohler said:
Shoes???:confused:
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Sorry for the confusion....:)

I've heard that the first thing that many people look at when they first meet someone is their shoes. They say that the style and state of that person's shoes can tell you a little about that person.



And I thought that little tidbit might give you some motivation, that's all.
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It helps. Thank you. I wasn't trying to come off in a snarky way.

The problem is I already recognize that the appearance of my hands could make for a bad first impression. I know that it could be looked at as a turn-off. My hands are bad, but they're not horribly disfigured, and they're not as bad as the picture that mintlivedotcom posted in this thread back in 2006 (at least, the skin around my nails aren't like that).
 
Surely said:
Sorry for the confusion....:)

I've heard that the first thing that many people look at when they first meet someone is their shoes. They say that the style and state of that person's shoes can tell you a little about that person.





It helps. Thank you. I wasn't trying to come off in a snarky way.

The problem is I already recognize that the appearance of my hands could make for a bad first impression. I know that it could be looked at as a turn-off. My hands are bad, but they're not horribly disfigured, and they're not as bad as the picture that mintlivedotcom posted in this thread back in 2006 (at least, the skin around my nails aren't like that).
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Well, that's good. :) I also don't like guys with totally soft hands either. It's kind of creepy.
 
leekohler said:
Well, that's good. :) I also don't like guys with totally soft hands either. It's kind of creepy.
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B-but, that's why I wear gloves when I lift weights at the gym.

I only have calluses on my finger tips from playing guitar.

Plus, my wife likes my soft hands, so I guess it doesn't matter if you aren't a fan!:p
 
Surely said:
B-but, that's why I wear gloves when I lift weights at the gym.

I only have calluses on my finger tips from playing guitar.

Plus, my wife likes my soft hands, so I guess it doesn't matter if you aren't a fan!:p
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No- I mean soft hands like a woman's-really soft. That is just plain creepy on a guy.
 
I was a nail-biter for years, and tried to quit many times when I was younger (tried the bitter tasting stuff on the nails - didn't work for me).

One day I just stopped. It was difficult, and I had to constantly be thinking about not biting my nails, but soon enough it became more natural for me to not bite my nails than to bite them.

I still have remnants of the habit though. On occasion I will find myself biting the skin around the nails. When I catch myself, I just stop, and make a conscious decision to not bite the skin around my nails. I don't do it enough for it to be noticeable to other people (you wouldn't be able to tell I do it from looking at my hands, unless I said something about it in advance), but I still don't like the habit.
 
I bit my nails for years. Badly. I've lost count of just how many times I ended up with infections as a result of biting down the sides until they bled. It's harder to stop biting your nails than quitting smoking, since you simply cannot separate yourself from your hands.

Took me four attempts in total to stop. Got there in the end though, and never realised just how self-conscious a nail-biter gets about their fingers until that feeling had gone. My nails are short as a result, but at least they don't look like crap these days.

P.S. I miss a lot of the posters on the first page of this thread :(
 
it5five said:
One day I just stopped. It was difficult, and I had to constantly be thinking about not biting my nails, but soon enough it became more natural for me to not bite my nails than to bite them.

I still have remnants of the habit though. On occasion I will find myself biting the skin around the nails. When I catch myself, I just stop, and make a conscious decision to not bite the skin around my nails. I don't do it enough for it to be noticeable to other people (you wouldn't be able to tell I do it from looking at my hands, unless I said something about it in advance), but I still don't like the habit.
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Same exact thing with me. I started in 3rd grade (I was about 9?), and realized that it's really bad around 6th grade (12ish?). I tried to stop many times after that, and finally succeeded one time in 8th grade. I was just like "Okay, I won't do it", and I just stopped. Still, I sometimes do it (Like once a month?) now, but I realize it, and stop.
 
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