How To Stop Nailbiting

[Guest Quirine]

Hello i wanted to know if anyone has some tips to stop nailbiting i'm doing it since i was 8 and try to stop but sometimes when i dont pay attention and I do it by excident anyone have some tips? I want long and femine nails

[Guest DawnK]

What I did was to trim them so they were smooth. I found that I chewed them whenever I noticed a break or nick in them. By triming them so that they're smooth from end to end, I didn't feel the need to try and smooth them with my teeth.

If you're like I was, you chew them to the nailbed. It may take will power to let them grow enough to the point where you can trim them, so work on them one at a time. And always carry a set of trimers for the unforseen breaks and nicks. Waiting a few hours until you can get home may be hell. It was for me.

And never quit trying to stop. It may take a while to develop the habit pattern. Good Luck

dk

[Guest MelissaC]

I managed to do it by consciously focusing on not biting them for four weeks, with the belief that if you can not do something for four weeks then the habit is broken. It seems to have worked.

Other suggestions I had found when I was working on breaking this habit myself were:

#1: Paint your nails - It discourages you from biting and wrecking it, and nail polish can taste nasty. If you're worried about people noticing then you can use clear polish.

#2: Cover your nails with scotch tape (that's the clear tape) - It feels weird, really weird. Weird enough that it's almost impossible to just lazily start chewing without realizing what you're doing.

#3: Wear gloves as much as possible - If you can get good gloves and make them fit with what you're wearing, this would completely cut off the access your mouth has to your nails. I never got a chance to try this one myself though, what actually worked for me was a combination of willpower and what Dawn suggested.

[Guest Cynthia Of Creation]

I managed to do it by consciously focusing on not biting them for four weeks, with the belief that if you can not do something for four weeks then the habit is broken. It seems to have worked.

Other suggestions I had found when I was working on breaking this habit myself were:

#1: Paint your nails - It discourages you from biting and wrecking it, and nail polish can taste nasty. If you're worried about people noticing then you can use clear polish.

#2: Cover your nails with scotch tape (that's the clear tape) - It feels weird, really weird. Weird enough that it's almost impossible to just lazily start chewing without realizing what you're doing.

#3: Wear gloves as much as possible - If you can get good gloves and make them fit with what you're wearing, this would completely cut off the access your mouth has to your nails. I never got a chance to try this one myself though, what actually worked for me was a combination of willpower and what Dawn suggested.

lol i asked this about few months ago.

well i didnt have this luxury of painting your nails, but i pretended i had painted them and i chewed three nails off first few weeks than 2 for each of the following months and now i chew none! im off that stuff no more nail biting for this girl!

I use to chew on everything pens, pencils, legos, random metal objects, wires! those were my favorite! but now i dont chew on anything.

I think you really though have to make an effort to say nope no. no more. but every time i would go to bite i would try to visualzie the pink paint on my nails, and i would back off.

[Guest Annaemo]

Well I think it depends if its a habit or fear of other people seeing them. I found that when I broke one habit another appeared, its some subconscious stress that your body feels by doing a certain thing will cause relief. Maybe instead of biting nails every time you feel your self going to do it do some thing else instead, like pinch your nose I don't know haha. Search how to break bad habits.

I tried growing mine a little although I don't find long nails practical since my job involves typing a lot very quickly. I'd just buy some false ones and wear them when ever I need to go out some place.

[Guest e319]

If you can't wear colored polish, get one of the clear ones such as sally hansen tough as nails, or sally hansen maximum growth. Yes you do get a bit of gloss but it does not look immediately obvious. There are non-gloss products out there too but I haven't bothered to look.

I use the latter, and it makes my nails taste funny so I am less apt to do it absent-mindedly.

The poster who said to keep them filed is also onto something, I notice when I have a rough edge it drives me nuts.

The other thing that ruins my nails is when I have something caught in my teeth... the extra coat adds some thickness to the nail so for me at least it doesn't quite slip between them anymore... and if I do I get a taste of the varnish. Ewww.

[Guest DawnK]

...Maybe instead of biting nails every time you feel your self going to do it do some thing else instead, like pinch your nose I don't know haha. ...

Reading this reminded me of the time my Girlfriend started laughing at me. I said "What?" She replied, "Everytime you take a drag, you push you glasses up with your finger." I'd never noticed it, but she was right. It was every time.

dk