Wednesday, 28 January 2009

  • Need Help Kicking the Nail Biting Habit


    For as long as I can remember, I’ve bitten my nails—all throughout elementary, middle and high school. It’s a horrible bad habit that’s slowly taking over my life!

    Every year, I made a promise to myself to bite my very last nail but slowly, my willpower would diminish before my very eyes. I hated my fingernails.

    I hid them in gloves and pockets. I even secretly blamed my short stature on my nail biting habit (I’m 5’ 3” and always believed that if I didn’t bite my nails, my fingers would grow in proportion and then the rest of my body would follow suit—weird theory, I know.) 

    I tried everything-keeping my hands dirty to refrain from indulging in the habit, stinky cuticle creams that promised rapid nail growth, and fake nails that looked like sore thumbs (no pun intended).

    Nothing worked- within days, my nails would return to their dry, brittle, state—gross.

    After getting a manicure my nails look great for a few days, then I go at it again.  It hasn't been as bad as before but I'd  like to kick the habit.

    Have you ever had a serious nail-biting problem? What are some ways you tried to kick the habit?

    healthkicker.com

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Comments (20)

  • abcxunt@xanga

    i paint my nails with glow in the dark nail polish. that shit has, like, wax or something in it because it tastes worse than regular polish.
  • malissa1578@xanga

    This is what I am worried about with my daughter... she a major nail biting thing going on and everything I have tried I cannot get her stop. Besides your nails are nasty underneath the nail and its so gross to bite them. I bit mine when I was little, but I just sort of stopped one day.
  • Mac_Libureet@xanga

    I used to bite my nails but I used a reward system to stop.  I'm back to biting them not but that's because I chose to...
  • GiveMeTheWillpower@xanga

    I used to bite my nails bad. So bad that when I was a little kid I would start biting my toe nails if my fingernails were too short.

    I can't help too much because I don't remember exactly what all I did to stop, but I remember I would chew on drinking straws when I got the urge to bite my nails.

    After about 6 months, give-or-take, I completely lost the urge to bite my nails!
  • KassieintheSkywithDiamonds@xanga

    My friend paints her nails so she doesn't bite them. I used to have a crazy nail-biting habit but I don't know one day I just stopped. But now I pick at them..so I'm not sure if that's any better.
  • rewind_the_numbers@xanga

    I'm working on stopping. I've painted them, gotten a manicure (after worrying how embarrassing it was since I have almost no nail!), filed them down with an emory board.. gum doesn't work either.


    my latest is to paint them with 'nail-grow tonic' from Sally Hansen. & rub lotion on my hands that supposedly helps with soft skin/nail growth. it smells pretty nice, but it's not my regular smell so it's a bit off-putting. we'll see how it goes, eh?
  • J4MIE_YUN@xanga

    i used to bite my nails up until i reached middle school. haha i guess it was one of those things i had to do to seem cool from all that peer pressure
  • Ancient_Scribe@xanga

    I used to bite my nails until I discovered how many and what kind of germs live under them.


    Then I stopped!
  • livinforyourname213@xanga

    haha. Nobody likes a quitter. Keep it up.



    Kidding. I bite my nails, too. It's not so much of a problem for me, but it does get annoying when I bite them down too short! I feel your pain! I don't know what to suggest, although glow in the dark nailpolish IS horrible. Try that. (:
  • prettygirlxx23@xanga

    I think it'll stop eventually. I think it's if you have low iron or something then you get the urge to bite your nails (Or maybe it's eating raw rice - I could be totally wrong). But if that is the case, then take iron supplements - it might help.

    And get your nails done - if you can afford it, and you find a cheap salon, its only like 7 dollars to get your finger nails painted and before you bite them you can think about the money you spent first. It gives you an incentive to stop. OR you could just get acrilyics(spl?)...and then it would be impossible to bite your nails. Maybe if you get them for 3 months straight, it'll help you break the habit.

    Or try putting some really bad tasting lotion on your hands. Maybe?

    Hope that helped. Good luck!
  • justinimal@xanga

    @abcxunt@xanga - I've actually heard of people painting their nails with glow-in-the-dark polish!


    I'd also look online for products.  There are products you can buy for children to put on their fingers to stop thumb sucking, so I'm sure products similar to that could be applied to your nails to turn you off from biting them.
  • lapis_lazuli917@xanga

    Well, I bite my nails, but not hard enough to rip/break them. More like nibbling...lol.


    Maybe if you simply tried biting them with less force, you'd at least stop damaging them. Then maybe you'd sort of unconsciously back away from the habit once you've taken that step?
  • NatiMarie@xanga

    My nails were pretty short back in elementary, middle school and high school too. I didn't think it looked great--they were gross! I would put fake nails on and wouldn't remove them after 2 weeks and my nails would grow. Then I would go back to biting them.

    I just kept note on a chart one day when I didn't bite my nails. I have long nails now (they're medium length) and I like how they look.

    :P

    WILL POWER.
  • donatethegiftofLIFE_katie84@xanga

    I need to stop! I can never have long pretty nails!!
  • my_final_username@xanga

    I have never had the need to bite my nails.
  • kmiahali

    i bite my nails whenever i get nervous. 
  • MissVertigo@xanga

    Nail polish. Particularly dark colors. It must be an out of sight, out of mind sort of thing for me because I only bite my nails when I can see them. Weird eh?

  • MissVertigo@xanga

    *Correction: Under extreme stress, I will gnaw through barbed wire to get to those nails.

  • XXVl@xanga

    I have the same problem, in a different form. I don't bite my nails...I bend the corners against pens when I write.  It's sooo annoying!  So bad that I have to bite them off later to stop myself from doing it.
    I guess the best way to stop a bad habit is ... to stop. 

  • anonymous

    Hello (:
    i bite my nails,consently,but i havent bite them since,uh lets see last friday? 2/27.
    i've tryed painting my nails,that sort-of worked,but acrlic nails,owww! they hurt after like 3 days.so i had to rip and pull mine off,it took me atleast,1 week!
    i've painted my nails bright neon orange-it did work for a day or two, but then i just went back to biting!
    i used this ladies teqneqe-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS22GQjP5LM&feature=channel_page
    i used all the products,from Target. i used this on 2/28.i havent really gotten the urge to bite them off,o i think it may work,untill school,this week.
    Pray the world! it will work! (:

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