r/nailbiting

I got medicated for ADHD and it all stopped! I can now proudly paint my own nails, my nails themselves also feel stronger since im leaving them alone. My hands arent constantly in pain from open sores and i dont feek ashamed to handle things with my hands infront of people or point at things for people to see. I know i have alot of scarring and scar tissue to deal with now but thats gonna be a lot easier to deal with now. I hope others in this sub can get some inspiration from this!

the before photos are from 2017. I’ve been trying on and off to stop for a long time. this last year I made the investment to have builder gel applied so i literally couldn’t bite them. Now, with no polish, my nails are longer than they’ve ever been! the nail beds have a bit to go but still im thrilled. I was inspired by yall so wanted to make my post at last

I keep going through period of biting and not biting my nails, but one finger in particular has really dead skin im not sure what to do about...

My habit is getting worse, I am getting used to biting my toenails, this is nothing, I have started peeling my sole skin as well

I am posting it here just for a reminder, after the recovery I will post progress pics

Have had a few setbacks but I am now over 2 years into my journey and haven't bit a single nail in probably almost a year! So proud of myself as a lifelong biter of over 25 years! You can do it too!

will be heading to urgent care/hospital in a few hours after work. first 2 pics are after 2 days, final pic is from right now, after 5 days. has progressively gotten worse over time. I’ve dealt with similar situations before as I’ve always been a nail biter, but in the past it’s always gotten to the point where it will drain itself after a couple days. I’ve never worried about anything in the past but this situation has lasted much longer than anytime before and been a lot more painful. occasionally I’ll have swelling that makes it way down my entire finger. I’m slightly worried and posting this to (fingers crossed) have people tell me this will be fine as long as I make the trip.

I've been a nail biter for as long as I can remember, but recently, when I've bitten my pointer nail specifically, the top layer(?) peels off all the way to my nail bed. I've done this multiple times to different parts of my nail, which is why the 2nd pic looks the way it does. (And in the 3rd pic you can see how the nail isn't flat and even with my skin like my middle finger.

Whenever the top part grows long enough, I get the urge to bite it or pull it out, so I can never grow it out. Now, when I press on my skin just above my nail bed, it hurts a little. Should I consult a dermatologist or any doctor? Or is this something I can resolve with at home remedies.

(For context, I've tried bitter nail polish, but I just bite straight through them regardless of how vile it tastes. I've also tried jojoba oil and other nail growth things, but never committed enough to make them a habit. It's really bad 🥲)

How do you make them not look so boxy😭🤣

My nail beds might be crooked forever but oh well

NSFW just because it's weird mouth pics lmao.

I've been a chronic nail biter for as long as I can remember. One of my front teeth (right tooth, left in photos) has progressively been getting more pushed back and behind the other and I had no idea why for the longest time. I recently figured out it's likely because I put so much pressure on that specific tooth when I bite my nails.

Again my apologies for the weird pics. If I wanted to correct it I would need to do invisalign/braces...anyway this is just to vent/spread awareness about this because this isn't something I had considered as a consequence of nail biting before. It's just cosmetic for now but just another reason I really need to quit somehow because I really don't want it to get worse...its so hard though 😔

edit to add: Just like the worry you have with a child that sucks their thumb, nail biting can cause front teeth to move.

Ive been really good for the last 5 years took real good care and thought each instance. But Grief sucks and i lost control of the situation

I just finished soaking in warm water…is my pinky infected? Ive been a nail/skin biter since 10yrs old.

I bit a piece of skin near the bottom (my right) side of the nail where its red. After soaking pain is relieved but before i soaked it hurt to touch and seemed elevated. No puss or discharge.

I have a generic topial cream should i start using that to avoid further issues?! What is your #1 trusted and true method that stopped you from biting/picking!!! Needing guidance 🫠

Hi guys I’m 11 weeke free from buying after 20+ do we think my nails are still too short to try biab

While I’ve made progress of trying to quit in the past, I always ended up biting after two weeks or so. Want some things I learned so that it can help others! My tips are not very conventional but it’s what worked for me so maybe it’ll help u out!

1. Finding a positive goal to stop

It seems kind of an obvious step, but in the past my main reason to stop was because I felt shame and embarrassment of having short nails. So when I ended up giving in and biting, it was because i had the mindset of “I don’t care, the satisfaction of biting outweighs the embarrassment/shame I feel.” Changing this mindset and putting a goal helped me a lot more than I thought. I love art, so seeing shorts/pictures of cute gel nails made me want to grow my nails out. This gave me a stronger motivation to commit to not biting.

2. Gel polish

For me gel polish was what worked because I liked the smooth soft feeling of the polish, and it deterred me from biting because the texture didn’t “feel right”. I used colored gel polish but they sell clear ones/nude tones for ppl who want something more plain. I also felt less of an urge to bite after finding out how fun it is to paint my own nails.

3. Filing nails

This is rlly important! Filing my nails into a rounded thin shape helped me while my nails were growing. In the past, when my nails got slightly long, I felt an urge to bite cuz it felt like it was “hanging out” of my finger in a square shape. Filing it instead of using nail clippers also gave me less of an urge because i never had to see a loose nail (which is kinda triggering for me)

4. Replacing the habit

For me I had to find something to replace the satisfaction I got from biting my nails. This ended up being peeling the gel polish from my nails. It’s def not the healthiest advice but for me, it was way better than actually biting my nails, and it was also easier to stop peeling the polish after I got better at nail art.

5. lasting at least one month

I’ve heard that to break a habit, you’ve got to at least last one month, and I feel like it’s true based on my experience. After a month passed, the urge to bite passed. Sometimes I still get it briefly but seeing how pretty my nails look nail helps a lot for me to stop.

6. save every finger

I tried the technique of only biting one or two fingers as a way of quitting slowly, but it only made me want to but the rest even MORE. I would highly reccomend that if u are gonna quit, do not bite any of them. If u rlly have to, bite ur toenails or something 😭🙏

I never thought id actually be able to quit but here I am!! Just want to say it’s definitely possible to start quitting on any random day, and that starting now is better than later! You got this!!