Thread: Habit of biting nails...

I have the same bad habit except that when I try to stop biting my nails then I start clenching my jaw together and don't notice until my teeth hurt. So it's either bite my nails or hurt my teeth. Teeth cost more to fix so I chose to bite my nails. I really don't like it and find it embarassing (so think I spelled that wrong oh well)and want to stop. It's said to be a form of anxiety so therefore it's psychological. If it's really psychological then that means if you program your brain by giving it a negative physical response when you do the habit you should be able to stop. So for example put a rubberband around your wrist and everytime you bite your nails, pop the rubber band against your wrist it will send a negative signal to your brain and reinfore you to stop. Haven't tried it yet but I'm going to. It's been proven to work with other things so why not nail biting. I know I'm rambling but I'm studying to be a psychologist so I find this stuff very interesting.

Originally Posted by Irish

I have a terrible habit of biting my nails and have done since a child. I have wore false nails to let's them grow underneath but they are very brittle and break easily. I have tried to kick the habit to no avail. My nails have also been damaged from wearing false ones. I'm desperate to grow them. Any tips?

Hi!

I used to bite my nails until they bled when I was younger & nothing could stop me from chewing on them... until one science class. I discovered how much dirt & bacteria there are on hands, especially under nails! That stopped me right there!

Once you stop biting them, they will recover.

Good luck!

i used to bite my nails consistently. then one day someone told me that guys rarely wash their hands after going to the bathroom. i stopped almost immediately. i still catch myself biting them every once in awhile, but with 2 boys in the house i am quickly reminded about the not washing their hands thing

i have the same habit as well!

I had false nails for a long time. I got some nail polish called " Green Tea" and that worked to build the nail strength.. It taste really bad too!!

You can note down the situations in which you normally bite nails and make a conscious effort to stop this habit when you face these situations. Therefore nail biting is difficult to stop, but certainly not impossible. One needs to show a very strong commitment to get rid of a bad addiction or a behavioral compulsive action.

I used to bite my nails and tried every method I could think of to try and stop! Then I got braces and physically couldn't bite them, but that's a rather expensive way of kicking the habit!

As others have said, the nasty-tasting nail varnish can help (I think 'Stop n Grow' was the one I tried), I also used to find really looking after my hands and nails helped. When my nails were painted nicely I never used to bite them, but I would bite them once it started to chip. So I used to always have freshly painted nails, that certainly helped