Finger Nail EXPERTS - Advice Required

shelly

Glad to hear you have resisted temptation Tony.Its quite hard sometimes....I still chew my nails now and then but only when I'm bored..lol...keep up the good work :j


shelly

Savvy_Sue

Well done Tony, glad to hear it's going well!

Tony_H_3

Well apart from a mishap last week were I clean bit off an grown nail I've been good. Ironically the bitten nail has almost entirely grown back. My initial question was one about nail beds. Alas at this time they show no signs of improvement but I keep my fingers crossed.

It's now suprisingly easy not to put my fingers anywhere near me GOB, lol so I think I can now consider myself as a "Ex Nail Biter"........ Next step, to stop smoking....... May'be in a few months time!!

Thanks for all your advice.

shelly

Tony....I have a question...are you thinking about your nail beds or cuticles when you say that they show no signs of improvement?Are you nails growing straight with no grooves or tears in them?Doing a quick bit of research,if your nail beds are damaged your nails won't grow right.I have a feeling you are talking about your cuticles which do take a long time to look nice again after prolonged nail biting.
Your nail bed is the part of your finger that that your nail grows on top of.....the cuticles are the piece of skin that grows kinda from your finger on to your nail a little bit.
Looking again at your OP you say a non expert said they thought your nail beds were damaged....if your nails are growing nicely I would say it is highly unlikely.I bit my nails for 20 odd yrs...often making them bleed and my nails grow lovely now.

I don't mean for this post to sound like you don't know what you are talking about so pls don't read it that way:D

Turning_into_scrooge

You can't damage the nail bed by biting your nails, rest assured but you can damage it through trauma. for example, when i was about 12 yrs old (extreamly long time ago lol) i managd to stubb one of my toes on a stone (pebble? rock?), it hurt too, sticking up on a beach anyway since that day my toe nail has always grown with a crack down the centre of it.

HLK

Hi Tony..

I gave up smoking a year and a half ago and my nails have never looked better ! I think the nicotine makes you edgy and bite your nails more - can't explain why - it's just a gut feel from a long time nail biter and smoker. On previous occassions when I maanaged to kick the ciggies I also found I ddin't bite my nails as much. This time I decided to kick both habits at the same time. So have now broken that mouth / hand thing.. well maybe not when I fancy a bit of chocolate!

So now I have lovely nails - I used oil every day for the first few months and just ocassionally now - but the good news is my nails recovered well. I guess it took two complete nail re-growths to get a good quality strong nail. I also have lots more cash.
Keep up the good work, and when you decide to quit smoking - treat yourself to a manicure and a pedicure, it shouldn't take too long to save up enough.

Penny-Wise_4

I thought nails grow from the nail root not the nail bed. The nail root is at the very base of your nail near the cuticle and the nail bed is the skin underneath your nail from the root to the tip.

Are you worried that you have bitten your nails so far down that the nail won’t re-attach itself to the skin all the way up the nail, and that you will have a small stumpy pink bit of nail and the rest will be white and not attached?

I used to bite my nails in my teens, and did bite a couple of my nails a bit too far down (not leaving little stumpy nails, just a couple of millimetres). I was worried about them not 're-attaching' to my nail bed but they have done - they didn't when I first grew them, but it has gradually reattached up to the tip.

Tony_H_3

Are you worried that you have bitten your nails so far down that the nail won’t re-attach itself to the skin all the way up the nail, and that you will have a small stumpy pink bit of nail and the rest will be white and not attached?

Bingo, that's my concern!! I'm woried incase I have long tips and short pink bit's. I am reassured by your acknowledgement that the nails (pink bit) have grown in length.

Nile

Tony_H wrote:

There doesn't seem to be any development of the nail beds at this stage, but the nails are progressing nicely. I frequently file them, but not more than the grow & I can now rattle them on the desk instead of thuding my finger tips!!

Well done on giving up your finger nail biting habit.

Has someone shown you how to file your nails without damaging them Tony_H?

Don't use a metal file, use an emery board.

Don't use a sawing action going straight across the nail.

Instead, file (with one stroke) from the outer edge right of the finger towards the middle of the nail. Same method from the left outer edge.

A nail brush and a bar of soap will help to keep your nails clean underneath, much better than digging with a metal file and doing damage.;)

Milky_Mocha

Bossyboots wrote:

I have had this happen to me twice when I have had an infection under the nail. The first time I left it so long that the damage done to the nail bed meant my nail grew with a bit missing. The nail following behind was fine. On the second occasion I treated it early enough but as the nail grew it had a ridge in it. I have now had another infection in the same finger so in a few weeks I will see what damage was done this time.

Crikey Bossyboots! What have you been doing to your fingers? :eek: