Nail biting

I have a tendency to bite my nails and mess them up after they grow long. I can go for weeks without any problems but once I start, I can't seem to stop. I learned that having a manicure is about the only thing that will keep me from touching my nails.
 
Here's a fact that may help... nail biters end up losing more teeth to rot and infection than non-nail biters. Forget where I read it, but it makes sense. That and the germ thing was enough to make me at least think about not biting!

I bit my nails for over 40 years, from the time I first HAD teeth. Nothing worked, absolutley nothing. Then nail tips came out... I applied those, made my hands look nice, and although in the beginning I did rip off the fakes, slowly I stopped. Now that I do a lot of typing, my nails are nice and strong... I have to use toenail clippers to cut them back! Carrying a nail file and rounding them nicely helps, as well as doing whatever I can to keep my fingers busy doing something else.

Good luck!
 
I am a nail biter too. I get regular manicures and NEVER EVER let myself have bare nails for longer than an hour or 2 otherwise I will start biting. Even if I just put on some base coat, it really helps. I also carry a nail file with me at all times, because if my nails aren't perfectly smooth, I'll start biting them down. Finally, when I have the urge to bite, I slather my hands in scented moisturizer so that I won't be tempted to put my nails in my mouth. All in all, it works pretty well for me.
 
You can also buy these little finger tip "gloves" called "cots" in the pharmacy section of most large stores. Couple days of wearing those in public and looking silly may help!
 
Lifelong nail biter here. Been wearing acrylics for at least 3 years because of it. About a month ago I decided to take them off and was able to maintain my real nails. Used Nailtiques and it was really really helpful in strengthening my real nails. I was thrown into a stressful situation and just started to bite them compuslively. Since then I wasn't able to recover and had to get the fakes put back on. I bite down really far to the point of pain, but that doesn't seem to be enough to stop me from biting. When I have the fakes on, I still bite the skin around my nails and pick at my toe nails. My brain is too "smart" for me to try to convince myself that having nail polish or manicures will be enough to stop my biting.

Someone before mentioned seeing a doctor. I am seeing a therapist and psychiatrist, but it really is one of the hardest things ever to try to stop, esp when it is something you compulsively do to comfort yourself.
 
Also, when I had braces in high school I initially wasn't able to bite my nails, but of course where there is a will, there is a way, and I managed to figure out how to continue biting. The person who mentioned getting their teeth filed reminded me of this. I wish it was as simple as carrying a file or just convincing myself like everyone else :sad:
 
This also reminds me of when I bit my nails so far down I got an infection in the end of my finger, and it went into the bone. I had to have the finger drained (the injection to numb the finger was HORRIBLE! The technition who worked with the doctor had to hold my free hand down in case I tried to smack the doctor) I then had to have stitches, take antibiotics to kill the infection in the bone, and to this day that finger (a middle finger on my left hand) looks funny. Your mouth is so full of nasty germs, as well as what's on your hands, and biting them opens up a gateway for those germs to settle in your fingers.
 
Ha, my DF is a HUGE nail bitter. So whenever I see him I just say, "stop." He's like, "OMG how can you tell??" Because I'll be driving concentrating on the road and he'll be beside me biting on the other side. Or I'll be in bed, and he'll be on the computer with his back towards me. I just can sense it now!! For us, I say if I don't catch him the whoooole day, I give him a treat in bed. AHAHAHHAAA. (sorry for TMI but it's true!)

Maybe do a thing like that?? Like for everyday you don't bite, put like $20 bucks in a jar and at the end of the month go buy something!!