The downside of kicking a bad habit
By inked4life
@inked4life (4224)
United States
May 29, 2007 1:45pm CST
For as long as I can remember I've been a chronic nailbiter. I can only imagine that it was a habit that I picked up from watching my Dad as he is even worse than I am...he does the nails and surrounding skin causing himself to bleed all over the place (I apologize for the visual). Last week I decided it was time to try and quit and so far I have been able to do it , albeit with an incredible force of will as the whites of my nails are really showing now and are prime for chomping. The downside is that I have started nicking myself with my long nails...I now look like a stand-in for Edward Scissorhands, my face covered in little cuts...I don't want to have to go the Avon Bahemini Bliss Lavender face cream route, so does anyone have any ideas on how to keep my nails long but blunt?
2 people like this
10 responses
@juliefaye (1214)
• Philippines
20 Jun 07
Well.. congrats to you for kicking that habit, is it your finger nails or toe nails? just asking.
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
15 Aug 07
Cute, My sister in law had the habit of chewing on her toenails. She still does it on occasion and so do her kids. I think that is a nasty habit to have and can cause lots of mouth fungus's if not careful. I would never chew on a toe nail.
@freak369 (5113)
• United States
29 May 07
As strange as it sounds, I rub them on bricks when I am out walking. I started doing it years ago. As you may have gathered, I'm not one of those "let me paint my nails" kinda chicks. I guess t started when I was out running and kept feeling a sharp edge on a nail. I didn't have a nail file with me so when I was sitting on a wall taking a break I noticed the texture of the brick and the lightbulb flickered.
@inked4life (4224)
• United States
29 May 07
with my luck I'd probably snag it and tear the entire nail off my finger...LOL
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
15 Aug 07
I am a nailbiter have been al my life. I have stopped biting as much and I do deal with the nails which take getting used to when they start growing. I use a nail file to file down all the rough edges so that it doesn't scratch me as bad but on occasion I still will bite my nails to the quick especially if I am mad,sad,worried,or nervous. And as some have stated before me painting the nails works well ifyou don't go in for the colors they also have clears. I use one that is clear and also is a nail strenghener too. by sally henson. Well good luck on taming those nails.
@dragontester (570)
• Switzerland
29 May 07
You can try using finger covers, made of plastic or other materials, which cover the top part of your fingers. You can even try to smoothen the nails by polishing off the sharp edges. Better thing would be to cut your nails regularly.
@inked4life (4224)
• United States
29 May 07
thanks for the info...I might just try to find those covers.
@filmbuff (2909)
• United States
19 Jun 07
I used to bite my nails also, which I started doing as a child. In my late teens I started to play classical guitar and realized that I needed long nails (like girly long) to get good tone so I forced myself to quit biting them.
What I would recommend is investing in a nail file. File your nails from underneath until they are shaped right. This will put an edge on them. To blunt the edge. File from the top down a few time moving around the nail.
After a while you'll be used to having nails and won't apply the extra pressure to scratch etc.
Hope that helps.
Minnie Mouse is HOT!
filmbuff
@3lilangels (4639)
• United States
15 Aug 07
i would suggest to put clear nail polish on and apply it every day,this might prevent you from bitting since it doesnt taste good,but also it will make them stronger.then keep a nail file to file them down so they are not sharp to the point where you scratch yourself.also what about wearing like a sock or somthing over your hands,like we do with our babies when young.we use gloves so they dont scratch their eyes out.hope this helps out.
@beccacoward (525)
•
3 Jun 07
It sounds girly, I know, but you might want to invest in a nail-file. That way you can file off the spiky bits without having to trim them. Keeps your nails looking good, too. I'm a really bad nail-biter. I do it when I feel nervous, and I feel nervous a lot at the moment. x
@lifeoriley (262)
• United States
29 May 07
My husbands entire family are all chronic nail biters and it makes me crazy if l am around them all at one time, its like I'm sitting in a room with a bunch of squirrels. That's great you decided to stop biting your mails. Its a dirty habit and l know its hard to stop. To keep them blunt just get a emery board and file them when they get sharp edges on them.The emery board would be a good tool to use when you feel the need to chew on your nails,file them instead of chew on them. Good luck!
@scarywhitegirl (2766)
• United States
19 Jun 07
I was also a nailbiter for many years, till I decided that I wanted to have pretty nails for a specific event, and just stopped biting them. I had a problem afterwards where I couldn't type unless my nails were fairly short.
I don't know how long you are hoping to keep yours, but I find that if I keep mine below the tips of my fingers, I'm less likely to damage myself, and I can type just fine. Also, rounding off the corners helps to make your nails less likely to tear flesh.
You aren't the only one with nail inflicted injuries, though. I scraped the backside of my knee with my thumbnail one night when changing clothes. It STUNG bad, and still has a little bit of a scab on it!
