chronic onychophagia

Ugh, I've just understood what a big problem I do have. biting my nails now has become for me as natural thing as breathing- i don't really notice that I do it, just sometimes I catch myself bitting. I do it since I was 5 or so, and now I'm a sixteen-year old girl, it may seem that it is the time I took care of my appearance, but well, I'm not from the dressy ones:)

But all considered- I'm determined to try. I quitted it once for a month with no reason, but it all went down in two days. I didn't even imagine, that it leads in such a serious problems. I took a clip in my hands for the beginning, maybe tommorrow I will buy some bright nail polish. oh, don't know. If I'll be successful, I will share my tips:)

god, I peel my nails, layer after layer, eat even skin and nail matrix, just listen, callosities caused by playing the guitar as well! I used to bit my toenails, and neer forget when after doing this in a car(!) went out of it... I idin't even noticed, that my foot is terribly bleeding!!!

But th most interesting is the psychological point, I mean all these manias and phagias.Go figure...

P.S. My mum told me that i used to have pretty nice nails... I don't remember now. These, who succeeded in quitting, how do your nails look now? Or are they damaged enough to look terrible?

i related a lot to all these stories.
when i was very young i saw my mom bitting her nails and thought "i wanna do that!" ..haven't stopped since [17 now]
theres only been a couple rare occassions where i actually had nails to be proud of, but either one chips or something to that extent, and they are all annnihilated. its very frustrating and distracting..id sit biting my nails instead of doing homework, the work being on my lap poised for the attempt. its an addiction, i know. i cant stop. i wish i could. im going to try fake nails i think, however i dont even know if my nails are long enough to put them on those stubbly things. and when i try to grow them long enough- well, i cant even. oy.

Im a 26 yo male ive been biting my nails all my life mainly when im bored sitting still not doing anything they are horrible I think mine are the nastiest on earth i like peel the nail of in thin layers with my teeth so they are all bumpy and bronken and deformed i recently put no bite on them and havent biten in about two weeks im really hoping they grow back fine I have three nails that i quit biting a while ago and they came back normal.

Gosh I'm both exhilirated and disheartened to find this group. It's the first time I've ever "met" people with the same problems as me. I found myself laughing at loud at the posts that hit closest to home, just out of sheer disbelief, I suppose.

I've been biting/peeling my nails for as long as I can remember. I'm now a married 29 year old woman, mom to 3 boys. And it breaks my heart that my oldest who is nearly 6, and the middle who is 4, both pick at their cuticles and hangnails. I tried the hot sauce, the bitter nailpolish, but the drive to bite and peel is just too strong. I truly love the sensation of biting and peeling my fingernails, as well as the calloused skin around the nailbed. I've also picked my toenails since childhood, usually culminating in me eating what I've picked off, the really thick chunks of nail are a total jackpot for me. I try and grow my toenails each summer so I can wear opentoed shoes, usually the only way I can do that is to paint them starting right around now (April). Amazingly if I feel the polish on my toenails then it's a reminder for me not to pick at them. I do love the way my toenails look grown and polished. I've succeeded in stopping biting/peeling my fingernails for a couple months at a time, here and there - but typically when they finally go, it's only a matter of minutes and I go from having nice long nails back down to bleeding nubs. I've had so many infections, and have had to bandage many a fingertip so that it wouldn't be visible to the public. My son's pediatrician even once remarked that I must be a "type A personality" when she caught a glimpse of my hands. My husband is disgusted by this habit, and frankly so am I but it's just SO hard to stop.

I've also always been a head picker, I've been known to keep picking at a pimple on my scalp just so it will bleed and scab, giving me something to pick at. I'm always also scanning my scalp all day long for anything raised and able to be scratched off. I even loved peeling the scales of cradle cap off my kids' heads when they were infants. I've always loved peeling off sunburns as well. I've debated trying to get a medication for this, but honestly I don't only do it when I'm nervous... I pretty much do it all the time. I'm just so glad to know I'm not alone.

I've read 3 pages of stories here, but not much on how to cure it! I highly recommend meditation. Meditation will make you extremely aware of your body, your mind, your emotions...everything. And this heightened awareness WILL help with nail biting, and many other things. I recommend Shambhala, but other types of meditation are good as well. Vipassana is also worth considering. You might try reading the books/audiobooks of Pema Chondron. She's a Buddhist monk who lives at a monastery in Canada.

Gene

Well, I guess I'm in the same boat as all of you 20 somethings who never knew this was classified as a disorder. I am 28, going on 29, and have been a nail biter since I was 8 (right around when my father died). I'm sure that has got to be the main motivator for this, as I became very different since that day. I kept everything bottled up inside, and didnt show much emotion. I think that stress must have been a big player in why this started.

I bite my fingernails right down to the point where they almost bleed sometimes....and my cuticles are always red from trying to push them down. Ugh.....I've tried the clear bad tasting polish, and while it worked one time for almost a month....I just relapsed right back to doing it again.

I've just about lost hope here. I'm not sure where else to turn. I do it when I'm bored, stressed, even when people point it out and say its gross....I find myself sneaking to do it again when they arent looking.

Nice to see other's with similar stories.

Well when I was younger I used to bite my nails too. It was horrible. And i would make my fingers bleed, and they would hurt like hell. This was going on for a year or so. And then one day I just decided to stop. And I really don't know how I did it but I don't bite my nails any more. But from time to time when I get nervous (when I watch sports ) I catch myself eating my nail. But then I just stop and have no problem of doing that.

i too am a huge one for biting my nails. i have bitten my nails for as long as i can remember an i am no 16. i cannot stop no matter how i try. If anyone can help me stop. My parents have tried to help by buying this clear nail varnish that supposed to help people stop, but i just licked it off.
I bite my nails when i am calm or bored. and when i cant eat my nail, i eat the skin surrounding my nail or i eat the skin on the inside of my cheek.
please if somebody can help before its too late. Thank you

Part of my process involved converting others to try this method found at
: quitnailbiting.com

I've been a biter...me and my dad....for as long as I can remember...
I feel tremendous shame...I mean, what do you say to someone who notices? It's a nightmare...it has affected my self conscious deeply, and made me feel like some insane outsider in society....this has led to rebellious, often dangerous behavior.....
I feel your pain everyone....
One thing that has somehow worked for me is to stop biting certain nails.....maybe start with just one.....I have to quit my thumbs and I'll be better.....but the progress is slow and there will always be relapses...

I am encouraged now that I know that there are others like me....thank you for your posts...