If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll probably know that I was a chronic nail biter. Ever since I’ve had teeth, I’ve been biting my fingernails until they bled. They were so disgustingly short that I would hide my fingers from view, ashamed. After many years of biting, I picked up a second habit – picking at the skin around my fingernails. I would do this underneath the table, where family and friends couldn’t see. This picking led to even more problems, including bleeding, cracked skin and ultimately, unsightly sores – more reasons to be ashamed of my hands.

So why am I sharing this? I mean, it’s disgusting, right?

I am sharing this because when I decided I wanted to quit biting my fingernails, I searched the internet looking for some advice, or a support forum, and to be honest, I didn’t find much, except for dozens of websites advertising QUICK, EASY, FOOL-PROOF WAYS TO STOP BITING YOUR FINGERNAILS – ONLY $49.99!!!!!! which of course, was not what I was looking for. Most of the websites I did find said the same thing – try nasty-tasting polish, wear gloves, get braces (can you believe that?!) – basically everything I’d already heard of, tried and failed at.

So I was on my own, but I eventually succeeded, and now I want this post to be available for anyone who is searching, just like I did, for advice on quitting. Hopefully they can find something in this that helps them. I’ve had quite a few emails from people asking me for advice, so I thought making a post would be a good idea.

After everything I’d tried, this is the one piece of advice that really helped me:

“Care about your fingernails. Pamper them. File them. Paint them. Look at them. Because once you stop ignoring them, you’ll be able to concentrate on mending them.”

This was spoken by a friend, who is a nail therapist. At first, I didn’t understand what she meant. The last thing I wanted to do was look at my disgusting fingernails – they were terrible! I hid them from the world for a reason! But I was desperate, so that night, while I applied the cuticle cream she’d given me, I took the time to actually look at my fingernails. They were stubby, jagged bits of nail surrounded by red, cracked skin. Disgusting. But as I looked at them, I realised that this was a serious problem and I needed to quit before it got any worse.

Whenever I was tempted to bite or pick my fingernails, I would do something constructive, like gently file them or massage some cream in. Days turned into weeks and as I saw the positive results, it encouraged me even more. My little nails began to grow and strengthen until finally, they looked normal and I wasn’t tempted to bite at all. It only took me about 20 years to quit biting my fingernails.

10 Tips to Help You Quit Biting your Fingernails:

1. Decide unequivocally that you want to quit.

This is the most important thing about quitting – if you don’t have will power, then you will fail. It’s not like other addictions where you can separate yourself from your habit – your fingernails are a part of you. They go where you go. They’re always there, always tempting. Be determined, but also be realistic. You’re going to have ups and downs, but don’t give up.

2. Buy clear nail polish strengthener.

There are so many (expensive!) nail treatments out there and it’s easy to end up buying a dozen or so polishes. This is not good for brittle, fragile fingernails like those of a biter’s. Your fingernails need to “breathe”. I recommend you only need one nail polish – a strengthener. I found, out of all the treatments I tried, the strengthener had the best results. I use Sally Hansen’s Nailgrowth Miracle Salon Treatment. No, I don’t get paid for saying that – I honestly recommend it because it works.

3. Buy a nasty-tasting nail polish.

This one isn’t completely necessary – it depends on your will power. Don’t only use it on your nails – if you also pick or chew at the skin surrounding your nails, apply the polish there too. One word of advice – go for cheap. Nasty tasting polish is nasty tasting, no matter the price tag, so don’t fork out big bucks for something that will work just as well from a cheaper bottle. Just don’t apply before dinner…

4. Once a week, leave your fingernails naked.

On Friday night, I used a gentle nail polish remover to remove all polish from my nails, and left my nails naked for all of Saturday. This gave my nails a day to breathe. Too much polish can be bad for your nails, especially biters’ nails. You’ve already damaged them enough – don’t make things worse by suffocating them.

5. Keep cream or nail files close at all times.

Don’t find yourself tempted to bite without anything constructive in reach! Keep mini cream bottles or files handy. Worst case scenario, keep some toothpicks close – I use those to clean under my fingernails (I didn’t realise how much crap gets stuck under there!) and to push down my cuticles. The urge will pass if you distract yourself with something constructive.

6. Don’t cut your fingernails.

This is from personal experience. My fingernails started to grow and I “trimmed” them with nail clippers. Before I knew it, my nails were short and stubby again, as one little snip seemed to take off the entire “baby” nail. This time around, I let them grow quite long until I couldn’t bear it anymore, then I filed them gently. Little by little works best – that way you can control how much you are taking off. Seeing long nails go to short, cut nails can damage your confidence.

7. Have an accountability partner.

Especially for those who struggle with biting subconsciously, it can be a good thing to have someone you trust to tell you when you are biting. This can be a quiet word or signal – something that will jolt you out of it and stop you nibbling. We all have ups and downs so don’t pretend you might not need a little help.

8. Reward yourself.

Every week, do something to reward yourself for a good week of non-biting. Even if you’ve slipped up a little but made progress, reward yourself. It could be something nail related, or not – it’s up to you.  Make it something that’s going to encourage you to continue your hard work, especially at the beginning where results may not be as obvious.

9. Seek out support.

Support is very important to overcome any addiction. Discussing your progress and struggles with someone who is experiencing the same thing is very beneficial, and having a support network can really help. I found someone at my work with short nails and we share out progress each week, which encourages us to keep trying!

10. DON’T GIVE UP!

Remember you’re human! I tried and failed many times but it’s not about how you fail, it’s about how you pick yourself up and keep going that counts! If you catch yourself nibbling – STOP! It’s so hard to stop mid-nibble but it is possible and you will feel stronger afterwards. Acknowledge that you slipped up, but decide there and then that you’re going to keep going strong – don’t let one tiny slip-up ruin everything you’ve done so far.

Those ten tips, together with using constructive distractions like applying nail strengthener or cuticle cream when you are tempted to bite or pick, will give you a good start at quitting. I really hope this helps you if you are trying to quit. I wish I’d found a little more advice when I was searching the internet looking for help, so if this helps one person quit, then it’s served its purpose.

Make today the day you quit!

* No photos of my fingernails yet – waiting on a new battery charger to arrive in the mail.