sorry if this is a lil out of the ordinary, BUT...

i bite my nails. constantly and incessantly. ( i feel like this is my confession to the world ). i bite the nail till it bleeds sometimes. i bite my cuticles so my nails won't grow. i've tried to stop, god knows how many times i've tried to quit, but i can't stop. it's a horrible habit, and i'm tired of all these infections...

eurrrgh... nasty.

help?

That sounds pretty drastic. Often nail-biting is related to stressors, a sort of "I have control of SOMETHING" deep down in your psyche.

Here is a link to a site that sells a product that heals and prevents nail biting. This IS a commercial site and it does have advertising.

Control-It Cream

It is a horrible habit, and bad for your health. Just think about all the awful things those little shreds of nail could be doing to your system!
I used to do it regularly, and the only thing that got me to stop was painting them. Then, if I bit them, I ended up with polish flakes on my teeth, and how embarrassing is that? It might not work for everyone, but it worked for me. -Of course, now my nails have not seen the light of day since tenth grade... Oh well.

A lot of people bite their nails when they are nervous or depressed. It is a really bad habit.

It could be caused by an anxiety disorder. Do you worry constantly? Does your mind race? An antidepressant might help.

Yes it is stress/emotionally related.

What can you do? Well stop it.

Easier Said than done, I know. We need to give you another nail related habit which is a little better than the biting. Try filing.

Seriously, carry a nail file with you. 9 times out of ten you will start biting at a rough spot on the nail, filing it down works better and having a file with you is a gentle reminder that you are not going to bite your nails.

If you suffer from depression/anxiety or other stress related disorders, you should seek out help for those. The nail file will not cure the deeper causes, it will only remind you to not bite and give you a substitute habit.

You might also want to start buying sugar free hard candy, this will give you something to work your mouth on, to worry away at. I suggest sugar free because I pretty much bet that you will find your self popping candy nearly all the time.

If you have had a history of depression/anxiety or other stress related illness and have those under control, nail biting will continue to be a habit which you will turn to when things start getting interesting, or boring.

Which brings me to Boredom. Boredom takes many forms, there are plenty of people who are bored even when they are watching TV or surfing the net or just reading. This is physical boredom caused by being idle while the brain works (or in the case of tv, absorbs), your body takes over and turns to a physical activity, nail biting, bouncing the leg, toe tapping, yawning, anything that is more movement.

Try breaking up the day with more walks and more physical activity. The body is designed to be active, we come from a family of hunter gathers who spend their lives doing. In our intellectual age we tend to spend a lot more time inactive thus our body will develop nervous tics, nail biting, toe tapping anything to take up that need to move.

Your issue can be a combination of all of the above. Only you will know for certain.

Cheers
D

If your nail biting is as bad as you say, and if you've done it for years, it is quite possible that your nails will never grow back normally. After many years of nail mutation, the tips of your fingers tend to push upwards, which prevents your nail from extending from the nail bed. This causes pressure into your skin from the slightest bit of nail growth, which in turn can only be relieved from biting the nail back again. It's a vicious cycle.

If this is the case, the only thing you can do is keep clippers handy and clip your nails instead of biting them. And use Neosporin on your cuticles! Never bite or cut cuticles. Keep them well moisturized at all times.

BTW, it's perfectly acceptable for men to go get manicures. Regular maintenance might give you incentive to take better care of your nails. Plus, cuticles will be pushed back and moisturized when you get a manicure.

Runic

I also bite my nails until they bleed. The only time I've ever stopped is when I replaced it with a worse habit (smoking). I don't really think it requires an antidepressant or anything drastic, but if you are fully set on breaking the habit you have to replace it.

It's a psychological truth that you have to replace habits, not just dispense with them. So the question is, what is a better habit? Perhaps, if you like to play with your hands, you might put a rubber band around your wrist to not only play with but snap when you get the urge to chew. Or you might chew a lot of sugar free gum--maybe having your mouth full will help, and gum chewing is a much less nasty habit. Or tie string around one of your fingers to fiddle with. (I don't recommend picking up smoking though).

Good luck with it. I've never managed to break the habit so if you do, please post and let me know what you did!