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Biting your fingernails, what's a gentleman to do?

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  • 14-10-2009 3:21pm
    #1
    united stars
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10 ✭


    I have a dirty embarassing nail biting habit. Can not stop. I have practically chewed 2 nails off on my rigt hand. Was with my GP last week and mentioned this , said there was no cure,that it is a nervious habit. This is a cry for help. Thanks.


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    #2
    OldGoat
    Registered Users Posts: 12,633 ✭✭✭✭OldGoat


    Going through this with one of my kidlets at the moment. We are using that icky tasting stuff that you get in the chemist to paint her nails. She says it tasts like vomit. :eek:
    Habits form over a period of time, 21 being the number that gets bandied about by most. So if you do something 20ish times it becomes a habit. The trick is to make that work the other way around for you. You need to make a habit of NOT biting your nails for 3 weeks. After that it's plain sailing...hopefully.
    Good luck.

    I'm older than Minecraft goats.



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    #3
    L31mr0d
    Registered Users Posts: 8,067 ✭✭✭L31mr0d


    Do you have a girlfriend or friend that you spend a lot of time with? Tell them to pinch you on your arm every time they see you biting your nails. It's a form of mild negative reinforcement.

    My OH used to bite her nails out of habit and this worked. On top of this I made a point of using positive reinforcement while she wasn't biting them by commenting on how nice her hands looked without puffy fingers and hangnails.

    Of course this was consensual and agreed upon between the two of us, she wanted to stop biting her nails, I personally had no issues with it. Under no circumstances should anyone engage in pavlovian conditioning (even mildly) without the other persons consent.


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    #4
    itsallaboutheL
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,333 ✭✭✭✭itsallaboutheL


    Stop and Grow nail polish stuff is the shizzle


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    #5
    mikom
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,391 ✭✭✭✭mikom


    Google "stink palm"


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    #6
    Will
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,183 ✭✭✭✭Will


    i've been biting mine most of my life >.< i hate the way they look, usually do it when stressed. tried the stop n grow but bite through it despite the mingin taste. gonna make an effort again to stop, see if this 3 week thing can last :D


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    #7
    Khannie
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 37,485 Mod ✭✭✭✭Khannie


    Also a biter. I hate it. Maybe we should have a group challenge?


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    #8
    Will
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,183 ✭✭✭✭Will


    the nba (nail biters association) challenge :pac:


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    #9
    kenon
    Registered Users Posts: 2,261 ✭✭✭kenon


    I used to be a biter too. I made a conscious effort to try and realise when I was doing it and stop. I never really associated it with being a nervous thing either, I think people do it for different reasons. None of that chemist stuff worked either, you just became immune to it and kept on bitin'!

    Keeping them cut short also helps until you have broken the habit.

    5/6 a side football

    Coolmine Sports Centre - Wednesdays - 8pm

    PM me for a game

    Thread



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    #10
    itsallaboutheL
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,333 ✭✭✭✭itsallaboutheL


    Khannie wrote: »
    Also a biter. I hate it. Maybe we should have a group challenge?

    bet it got worse after you kicked the smokes?


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    #11
    Arnold Layne
    Registered Users Posts: 975 ✭✭✭Arnold Layne


    Will wrote: »
    i've been biting mine most of my life >.< i hate the way they look, usually do it when stressed. tried the stop n grow but bite through it despite the mingin taste. gonna make an effort again to stop, see if this 3 week thing can last :D


    Likewise, Stop 'n' Grow never worked, I got to like the taste :confused:. I stopped for nearly 2 weeks recently, until I was bored, saw my nails, felt like a nibble, back to stumps again:(


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    #12
    OldGoat
    Registered Users Posts: 12,633 ✭✭✭✭OldGoat


    Will wrote: »
    i've been biting mine most of my life >.< i hate the way they look, usually do it when stressed. tried the stop n grow but bite through it despite the mingin taste. gonna make an effort again to stop, see if this 3 week thing can last :D
    Wot? No WillPower? :rolleyes:

    I'm older than Minecraft goats.



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    #13
    CDfm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,649 ✭✭✭✭CDfm


    It will pass when you grow up:rolleyes:

    I have toenails you could make glue from


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    #14
    Stheno
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 51,687 Mod ✭✭✭✭Stheno


    I bit mine all my life until about ten ago when I just decided to stop, and have managed not to bite them since.

    I'm 36 and was a chronic nail biter, I chewed through stop and grow, and several times when I got false nails in an effort to stop, I chewed off the false nails including the glue.

    For some reason those weeks ago I just decided to stop.

    now after about two weeks I had the beginning of nails that didn't look torn and nasty so that helped too, as I could see that they would look much better if I kept on not biting them.

    With me it was partly habitual and partly a stress relief thing, I won't say I found it easy to stop, but making up my mind definitively to stop was probably the big difference between now and all the hundreds of times in the past I tried to quit.

    Best of luck!


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    #15
    Will
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,183 ✭✭✭✭Will


    i've gotten to the stage where they're re-growing but i bite mine so bad they get sore when i let em grow, fingers aren't used to having short nails >.<


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    #16
    Stheno
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 51,687 Mod ✭✭✭✭Stheno


    Will wrote: »
    i've gotten to the stage where they're re-growing but i bite mine so bad they get sore when i let em grow, fingers aren't used to having short nails >.<

    I got that, the sides of the nails kind of bite into the skin and almost rip it??

    I learned to file my nails so that they were kind of a semi circle shape, so that the outside that dug into my skin didn't and I got into the habit of not biting them and they grew. Plus filing strengthens your nails, no bad thing after 36 years of biting.


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    #17
    Will
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,183 ✭✭✭✭Will


    yeah that's it exactly. will have to figure it out, fingers are killing me today, even hurts to type. was late for work (relying on dublinbus :rolleyes: is never good) and had a go at my fingers >.<


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    #18
    Stheno
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 51,687 Mod ✭✭✭✭Stheno


    Will wrote: »
    yeah that's it exactly. will have to figure it out, fingers are killing me today, even hurts to type. was late for work (relying on dublinbus :rolleyes: is never good) and had a go at my fingers >.<

    I know you might feel a bit unsure about it as a bloke, but I had no clue how to file/manicure my nails when I stopped biting them so I went for a couple of manicures and watched what they did to learn.

    A. I learned it, and B. shelling out €20 a pop to do so certainly motivated me not to eat my €20 in the form of my nails :D

    A mens beauty salon might be a place to get a manicure? Most of them do it, and it's usually €15 - €20. They do the filing in such a way that it lasts 10-14 days ime.

    When they grow nicely and are nearly at the tip of your fingers, they will look great, and you'll be chuffed. BUT!!!! You'll have to learn to type with them!


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    #19
    Will
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,183 ✭✭✭✭Will


    I'm fairly insecure about my fingers, don't like anyone looking at em, and the idea of someone else filing away at em doesn't make me feel oh so awesome. Will think about it and see how I do, they've to get long enough first too :)


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    #20
    Stheno
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 51,687 Mod ✭✭✭✭Stheno


    Good luck :) I got mine done when they were nearly stumps and felt a bit stupid alright, the person trying to file shape into nothingness :)

    Worked though :)


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    #21
    Khannie
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 37,485 Mod ✭✭✭✭Khannie


    itsallaboutheL wrote: »
    bet it got worse after you kicked the smokes?

    Eh. Had to think about it, but I don't think so. When I finally quit smoking, I actually didn't miss it at all. I had been totally convinced by the allan carr method. :)


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    #22
    mikemac
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,986 ✭✭✭✭mikemac


    Eh, no need for me to go unreg I'd say but all the same..... :o

    For as long as I can remember I bite my fingernails.
    Mainly in the morning on my 40 minute sloooooooow bus route. If the commuters around me were not happy then I didn't notice.

    Bite my nails every day. I'd sometimes peel back part of loose skin on my fingers. In fact, I'd chewed my nails/skin sometimes they bleed!

    Some posters will be disgusted, hell I'm pretty disgusted writing this. But I'm not alone.
    Or tell me I'm not alone :(

    Any solutions out there. I do think it's a nervous habit.
    Like I see smokers who gave up and then go around chewing pens in the office. It's an unconscious habit, they're just simulating smoking. I don't smoke btw

    And this is a habit I'd like to kick


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    #23
    Red Hand
    Registered Users Posts: 4,986 ✭✭✭Red Hand


    Any time you find yourself doing it, subsitute nail-biting with something else that will take concentration. Maybe buy bubblegum, chew it and then try and work it into knots in your mouth?


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    #24
    L31mr0d
    Registered Users Posts: 8,067 ✭✭✭L31mr0d


    was a thread on this recently here:

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055710404


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    #25
    I_am_Jebus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 458 ✭✭I_am_Jebus


    used to do it years ago myself... filthy habit. Most of the time ya do it without knowing..

    It's like any habit, you just have to train yourself to stop doing it. It takes time and effort..

    it'll be worth it in the end... ;)


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    #26
    OldGoat
    Registered Users Posts: 12,633 ✭✭✭✭OldGoat


    Merged threads.

    I'm older than Minecraft goats.



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    #27
    kaimera
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,396 ✭✭✭✭kaimera


    26 and I can't help it.

    I've done the 3 weeks but then end up biting them down to nothing again.

    Tried the polish stuff when i was younger but took a nail clip to them instead. fail.


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    #28
    mikemac
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19,986 ✭✭✭✭mikemac


    L31mr0d wrote: »
    was a thread on this recently here:

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055710404

    Sorry, didn't see that
    Not just to having search function back :pac:

    Thanks for merging


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    #29
    miss_feminem
    Registered Users Posts: 85 ✭✭miss_feminem


    united stars wrote: »
    I have a dirty embarassing nail biting habit. Can not stop. I have practically chewed 2 nails off on my rigt hand. Was with my GP last week and mentioned this , said there was no cure,that it is a nervious habit. This is a cry for help. Thanks.

    I was the same and to be honest, the only thing that has stopped me biting my nails, was getting braces. Since my front two teeth are being moved I can't really bite the nails.

    I find replacing a habit with another habit usually works. Try chewing gum instead :D


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    #30
    anplaya
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,455 ✭✭✭anplaya


    I_am_Jebus wrote: »
    used to do it years ago myself... filthy habit. Most of the time ya do it without knowing..

    It's like any habit, you just have to train yourself to stop doing it. It takes time and effort..

    it'll be worth it in the end... ;)

    gotta agree with ya there ,bit them for years as a kid,teenager and adult.bit them down to the roots etc,bleeding ,the whole lot as any serious nail biter knows.tried everything to give it up before i realised it was just in my head and i just needed to see that.decided to give up biting them once and for all.harder than it seems but totally worth it.

    if ya fail dont be disillusioned ,try and try again.i certainly didnt stop with my first 50 attempts id say down the years but i finally got a handle on it.i like to think it was an insecurity thing that i had when i was growing up that i no longer have,so i dont worry as much so i dont tend to need to bite my nails as a result of that.

    best of luck with it.


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    #31
    ash23
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,791 ✭✭✭ash23


    Myself, my 2 sisters and my mum have all managed to break the habit in the last year.
    I did it by stopping biting 3 fingers on one hand. Made a concentrated effort to avoid biting those 3 fingers. Then when I started seeing progress I stopped biting the same 3 fingers on the other hand. Then the last remaining finger so I could still bite my thumbs and then I stopped biting them too.

    I still keep my nails short as I can't type with long nails and they annoy me a bit. I also started getting manicures once they'd grown a bit. Now that they look really well I don't want to bite them.
    Well I do. And I'm tempted when I'm stressed out but not as bad as I used to be.


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