Finger Nail EXPERTS - Advice Required

Savvy_Sue

arkonite_babe wrote:

I have managed to stop biting my nails, quite a while ago infact. But now I nibble the skin round them :eek: can anyone suggest a way to stop me doing this??

I'm an ex-nailbiter, and I still pick at any bits of skin round the sides. So I don't know if it would help you, but what I have to do to stop myself nibbling any bits of skin which work loose is to clip them off with nail clippers - you can get a closer trim with them than with scissors.

Tony_H_3

Eeeeew I never used to touch the loose skin anyway, I once tore a strip off and the pain!! I can't believe someone would willingly inflict such torture upon themselves. :eek:

gabgab

Nail biters.Apply nail varnish,one new coat every day,at least.(many times a day if needed)
Idea is that when you put nail to mouth,you feel varnished nail,so reminds you not to nibble.

As for accelerating growth,that is possible.

There is a half moon shape just below your cuticle.If you stimulate this,it will encourage the nail to grow.

When you apply hand cream ,concentrate the massage to the area between cuticle and first finger joint.
Be quite firm.
There is a product- or was- called Malderderma-for this very purpose,but I believe that it was not the product but the method that brought results.

WelshLamb

Interesting reading through this thread, but if I can bring your attention back there's a few questions I'd like to add-

My nails will not grow!! They grow at an alarming slow rate and are extremley soft and brittle - almost like paper! I take multivits and minerals & vitamin b complex daily as I'm a veggie-although not really because I eat fish - bit that's another debate! I also started taking calcium tablets after I broke my ankle becuase I looked at my diet and only calcium I was getting was a bowlful of semi skimmed with cereal in the morning.

This doesn't seem to be doing much. I've seen the vitamins for nails available etc. Have talked to my Dr and he said take multivits and calcium suppliments (helpful - was doing that already!!)

When I was pregnant with my little girl my nails grew and grew and were soooo solid, my second pregnancy with my son, they didn't do anything!!

My thumbnail also has slight ridges - though not as bad as it used to be as they were quite deep.

Where am I going wrong??- and yes I do nip at my nails as they are so weak and brittle they catch so I nibble them to even them out. They aren't bitten right down, just very short - few mm below fingertip

Savvy_Sue

I would re-emphasise the need to carry an emery board at all times and use it to deal with any jaggy bits.

You may not be doing anything wrong. But is it worth asking for a bone density scan? You might need to pay for it privately, but if you're concerned about your historic calcium intake you could be at risk of osteoporosis. If the ankle break was to be expected then your GP might not think it worthwhile, but if was an unusual break then - well, it might just be worth thinking about. National Osteoporosis Society

WelshLamb

Savvy_Sue wrote:

I would re-emphasise the need to carry an emery board at all times and use it to deal with any jaggy bits.

You may not be doing anything wrong. But is it worth asking for a bone density scan? You might need to pay for it privately, but if you're concerned about your historic calcium intake you could be at risk of osteoporosis. If the ankle break was to be expected then your GP might not think it worthwhile, but if was an unusual break then - well, it might just be worth thinking about. National Osteoporosis Society

I slipped while holding my baby, so my reaction was to hold her tight and make sure she was okay, my feet just went their own way and one snapped in half unfortuantly, broke it in 3 places and smashed the "ball" Got a plate and 6 pins now. This was nearly a year ago now.

Savvy_Sue

WelshLamb wrote:

I slipped while holding my baby, so my reaction was to hold her tight and make sure she was okay, my feet just went their own way and one snapped in half unfortuantly, broke it in 3 places and smashed the "ball" Got a plate and 6 pins now. This was nearly a year ago now.

A natural mother's reaction! Did you get an opinion then about whether that's what they would have expected your ankle to do? One hopes that if it appeared unusual they'd have done more investigations then, but ...

I truly don't know if there's any correlation between your nails and your calcium levels. Do you wear gloves when washing up? Immersing nails in water doesn't seem to do them any good. And I wonder if your nails harden up as they get a bit longer: if you pick at them too much perhaps they don't get the chance and so always feel soft?

shelly

Savvy_Sue wrote:

Do you wear gloves when washing up? Immersing nails in water doesn't seem to do them any good.

Alot of people I know say this too but I must be the exception to the rule. I have a dishwasher but there are some things I don't put in it. If I have a few days where I'm handwashing these things my nails grow quite alarmingly. I've noticed since having my dishwasher and not handwashing so much my nail growth has slowed down alot. Maybe I'm just odd......

flea72

i dont think you have damaged the nail bed, but as an ex-biter, i do find that my nails arent attached as far down my fingers as my non biting friends. if that makes sense? their nails are attached right from cuticle to finger tip, whereas my nails are only attached until about 3mm up from the cuticle (ie length of nail bed).

i find this tends to make them weaker and more prone to breaking, as you have to clean quite a long way down under the nail, to get any dirt out

i also think this is a result of how badly you bit your nails. My nails (lol, what nails) were about 1mm long from the cuticle. i basically had bare nail beds, so yes, i think if the nail isnt attached to anything when it starts to grow, then its not suddenly gonna latch onto the bare nail bed, which gives it the support.

As an ex-biter (currently in a slight relapse lol) i would say keep them as short as possible, because as soon as they start to get long and break, you automatically start to bite them again. I also cant get used to typing with nails, eugh that clicky feeling up your fingers, so the shorter the better for me

Flea