Nail biting, anyone know any good ways to not do it?

mumof1and1ontheway

Thank you. I have managed the whole day without biting or picking my nails even the ones without plasters on them lol. And I have ordered a cheap stress ball off ebay for the evenings when I am not running around after my son.

JoJo I will def try your tips above though I do need to invest in a better nail file I think to make it easier for myself. I always lose them.

Tomorrow I am going to hope the sun comes out so that I can take my son out on his trike, then I'll have no time to bite lol. I have noticed if he see's me bite them he chews on his finger as he is trying to copy so I need to do this for him aswell.

terra_ferma

Great timing this thread! I've just stopped biting mine!

I've been a nail biter all my life. I managed to stop twice, but then started again, could not resist, particularly when I got really stressed.

I have now stopped again, since last week. It was just timing, I managed to find a small window when my nails where not too bad (unusual for me, must have been in between bites).
What does it for me is to apply nail strengthener, nail polish and an a top coat, so that the nails become really strong and just don't feel the same when trying to bite them.

I also play with them by pushing cuticles. I use a cuticle pen and a pusher from elf (£1.50 the pen, and same price for two pushers): http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/category~catID~8.htm

Personally I would recommend not growing them too long initially. I think that was what did it for me, they were too long and I could not get used to them. If you never had any nails, and what was in their place had very rough edges, having proper nails if very strange, I did not like it.
What I've decided to do now is to keep them very short, but not bite them, and apply base/varnish/top to make them very strong and not easy to nibble...).

I've gone for top end polish though, both as a treat and to make sure the varnish is easy to apply and lasts a long time, anything that can help me stop biting my nails is worth it!

Good luck with yours too!

mumof1and1ontheway

Thank you so much for your replies I am not at the end of day 3 of not biting my nails I am still waiting for my nails products I have bought off ebay but am doing so well so far and it was your replies that gave me the motivation so thank you I'm hoping it lasts lol x

*Vikki*

The thread was great timing for me too as I have stopped biting them. Trouble is they catch a lot of dirt easily under them, does everyone get this or is it because they are not used to be long? They are a bit weak too!

Silaqui

mumof1and1ontheway wrote: »

Thank you so much for your replies I am not at the end of day 3 of not biting my nails I am still waiting for my nails products I have bought off ebay but am doing so well so far and it was your replies that gave me the motivation so thank you I'm hoping it lasts lol x

Well done! Keep it going now, you should start to see an 'edge' on them soon!

*Vikki* wrote: »

The thread was great timing for me too as I have stopped biting them. Trouble is they catch a lot of dirt easily under them, does everyone get this or is it because they are not used to be long? They are a bit weak too!

Yep they do they get filthy - but thats because you don't have them in your mouth all the time, you'd have swallowed it all before! I found it really disgusting how dirty they got until someone told me that and it clicked... I used one of those manicure stick things to try and clean them out. As someone said to me on the thread before, soon they will be long enough to clean underneath one with the nail from the other! Mine were weak for a while and they are still a bit splitty on the ends. You just have to persevere. One thing I found was if one broke, file them all down to the same length so one of them doesn't 'stand out' and cause biting temptation!

xx

terra_ferma

*Vikki* wrote: »

The thread was great timing for me too as I have stopped biting them. Trouble is they catch a lot of dirt easily under them, does everyone get this or is it because they are not used to be long? They are a bit weak too!

I recommend using a nail strengthener, there are different brands out there, I went for top brands for nail products (OPI and Creative) because my poor neglected nails deserved a treat...

dawnie1972

I love this thread - i stopped biting mine nearly two weeks ago - been using that Stop Nail biting solution, i did have a nibble on one but god it was sore so that stopped me - i need to get some nail strengthener etc this weekend - wanna look fab for my holiday (competition win) to south africa! I've found that my fingers have been tingling/irritable and that's the worst bit!

mumof1and1ontheway

Its so nice to see so many who have kicked the habit I still havent bitten them YAY! I am filing them twice a day only lightly just where I feel any roughness or jagged edges. And I am putting nail strenghener on and then e45 on my hands and fingers to make it all less rough

I am going to go and pick a nice colour nail varnish as a treat for when they are long enough. That way its something to look forward to

crackerberry

An appalling serial nail biter of some twenty years standing, I opted for nail extensions a couple of years ago. After a few months with those I went without them, opting for a few months of overlays instead. After that no overlays - just back to my own nails again and by that time I was completely cured of my nail biting habit. And I haven't bitten my nails since either!

Yes nail extensions make a mess of your nails afterwards (as do the overlays) but conscientious use of cuticle oil and frequent trips afterwards still, to somewhere that gives them the necessary TLC to get them back into shape is required....but, or in my case, it was well worth it.

Because my own were so hideous I always used to notice people's nails, and be so envious of those with nice ones. Now people admire mine, and I never ever thought I'd see that day.

I tried all sorts before opting for the extensions idea - none worked. The anti-nail biting foul tasting substances certainly didn't stop me. A few months expense and time spent on the extensions has been the best money I have ever spent.

*Vikki*

Thanks to this thread a month and a bit on I have beautiful nails! Really loving them. hope I can keep it up!