r/nailbiting

What are some tips and resources that you use that helped you stop nail biting? I find myself nail biting whenever I'm bored, stressed/thinking, nervous, and when I'm tense. The 1st photo is my left hand and the 2nd photo is my right hand. Thank you!

Seems like there's too much damage done to ever get a normal nail again.

The worst part is I've now moved onto my big toe.

I’m sure there’s plenty of advice on here I won’t ask for any (but if you got any I won’t say no). Been nail biting and peeling since I was 12 and I’m 21 now. Tried band aids, nail biting polish, strong will, etc. nothing really works for me. Had one 3 month period where I didn’t bit or peel and they were great, then relapsed.

my middle finger is still the worst any of my fingers has ever been. my ring finger and little finger are also coming close to that. heres my last post abt it 17 days ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/nailbiting/s/h4HvcOQjnK

they do look a bit more healthy though because i also put cream with the band aids

my jaw muscles have been incredibly sore and painful the last few days, i had trouble eating and they hurt when i open my mouth - any tips on relaxing jaw muscles so i can eat with less pain today ?

I have picked at/bit my nails for as long as I can remember. This is officially one month of growth with zero picking, and I got builder gel as a treat! I can't wait to continue on my nail journey :')

i’m so proud of myself. this took more or less 10ish months. while they were growing, i used gel x to stop myself from picking underneath. i keep them strong now with a hard gel overlay.

2 months growth

I was looking back at photos just now and yall. My nails have come SO FAR in the past ten months, it’s crazy. I’m genuinely so proud of myself. I think if my old self could see what my hands are like now, she wouldn’t believe they were really mine.

The first photo was in October, the second photo was taken right now. I don’t even have the words. Nail polish helped more than I can describe.

New set! Now to when I started!

This is all i could rescue

I am desperately seeking advice on what to do. I have bitten my nails since before I can remember (I am 32 now) it got worse when I was about 13/14 when I bit one nail all the way down to the cuticle and slowly did it to four other nails and since then it’s stayed this way. It’s a subconscious thing that I just do, I’ll do it when I’m sad, happy, anxious etc. I also do this weird thing where I rub them over the stitching of my clothes and the broken sticking out bits of nail catch on. I bite and pick until they bleed, I’ve had numerous excruciating infections and even then I can’t stop.

I have tried EVERYTHING. The gross nail polish, false nails (not really an option now), I’ve gone to the doctors and was put on bupropion (didn’t work). Literally anything and everything, I have tried. When I’m in situations where I can’t bite or pick, like around other people etc I replace it with splitting my split ends and biting the skin off my lips.

I was diagnosed AuDHD 8 months ago, I don’t know if it’s related. But it’s got to the point where I can’t see a way out of it and it’s hindering me in a lot of ways. I’m so embarrassed so please be kind to me. My therapist suggested those picking fidget toys which I am going to try, although I have a sneaking suspicion it won’t help. So I come here asking if anyone has any advice or suggestions.

TYIA

Been biting my whole life and had never had it get this bad before.

Actively working on better nail health. It's been a few months trying not to bite and pick. Cuticles are cracking and trying hard not to pick.

Like most of you, I started biting my nails as a young kid. Some of my earliest memories are biting my nails, or getting in trouble from my family saying "don't chew" like I'm a dog.... My parents tried everything from Band-Aids covering my nails to cloth mittens tied on my hands. Obviously nothing worked.

I struggled for roughly 30 years with horrible nail biting. It progressed to using nail clippers, files, knives, etc. to trim away more and more. It got pretty bad.

I was extremely self-conscious of my nails and I developed a way to hold my hands so that nobody could see them. Eventually after many years of trial and error, I was able to quit and begin rehabilitation.

This is just over a year of progress.