If you would like to advertise on any of these pages, please contact me by
email
for advertising rates.
*
A few people have asked me if they could add their "ShoutOut" message (about their nail
biting) to this message board. I have decided to allow this. Your "ShoutOut"
message will still be a part of the "ShoutOut" Page but I will add a link to it from this
message board.
* Please remember though that because of bandwidth and spacing concerns only a
limited amount of "ShoutOuts" can be allowed. To find out more about "ShoutOuts", just
click here.
My Nail Biting Message Board
*Well, the last time I checked
this page was five pages long, so I'll be breaking them up into smaller sized
pages. But don't worry - I won't be deleting any of the messages, just making
the pages shorter.
I bite my nails! - all the time! Even when I tried the "fake" nails thing
I bit those off too!
(*from Keel) ~ Any idea
what the medical
term for nailbiting is? ~ Robert has the ANSWER!
No, my fake nails
were purchased at a local store. They lasted a few days because I bit them
off! I really think that this is some kind of anxiety problem. Mayhap I'll
need to see a shrink. (Actually, to tell you the truth I'm biting them now
- in between typing!
What was your most embarrassing
time with your nails ?Well, I feel
kind of embarrassed when a man kisses my hand. That has happened more than
one time to me. That's about the most embarrassing that it has gotten so
far.
I'm
not "applauding" the habit of nailbiting. It's just that while
I was creating my pages I was trying to add some things about myself and
I was probably biting my nails when I was typing anyway so I decided to
add that I bite my nails. I just added it non-chalantly. I never thought
that I would get so much email about others who bite their nails just like
me. Some have it even worse than me - but not by much!
Hey, My name is JT... i was just checking out your nail biting page.... pretty cool.
I have always been attracted to girls with bitten nails. Kind of weird... You ever
heard anything like this. ~ JT
Actually, since I started the pages I have seen a lot of weird, related information!
I have received lots of email messages relating to others' nailbiting. I try to
post as many messages as I can but am limited by webspace. That's why I'm asking
for donations to help with maintaining the pages and webspace. The information
and comments and messages are growing. There is also a growing interest in showing
related pictures of nailbiting. I have received several pictures from people showing
what their nails look like bitten all the way down to the skin (and dare I say beyond
that too!). I can tell from the number of visitors to the pages that there is more
and more interest in this subject besides a lot of the visitors return to the page(s)
more and more just to see what others are saying. A lot are looking for ways to stop
and their are numerous products being offered online to help stop the habit. They
include products like creams, hypnosis tapes and printed information as well.
The people that have posted to my board are looking for products such as this!
I have received numerous requests to post some of the pictures that have been
emailed to me but until the donations pick up I have to use the space that I have.
As for "weird" I have seen much while surfing around. Requests for nailbiting
pictures, people that are doing reports on the subject, newsgroups, mailing lists
(and some information that I won't even mention here - let's just say it's not rated PG!)
Rose
Hi rose;
Can i make a donation just by sending you a check/money order? Please let
me know. I would like to help you keep up the page. I have found it very helpful and
interesting. I wish i could communicate with some of the people who post messages.
We all have something in common and it would be nice to be able to exchange
thoughts/opinions/ideas.
~anubis
Thank you for your email. Yes, you can send a donation by regular mail
(it even helps because you can also send a message to be added to the board with your
donation). At the bottom of each of the Nailbiting Pages is the regular business
address for all correspondence. If you are making a check/MO donation
Attn: The Nailbiting Message Board
And your donation will be acknowledged on the page itself!
I will be adding more information about donations - you just happened to beat me
to it. Communicating with others that post on the board is really up to the
individual people that post. Some have requested that I include their email
address and others don't want their email address added to the page. But I am sure
that there will be a simple way to solve this-just give me a little time to get
my thinking cap working.
The one thing I have tried to keep myself from biting
my nails is nail polish remover. I just dip all of my fingers into a small
bowl of it and then dry them. The nail polsih remover taste stays on for a very
long time and tastes outrageously horrible. Hope this helps. I now take a small
bottle of it with me everywhere.
Rose, I am a nail biting freak. My wife is getting ready to
throw me out of the house b/c of my habit. We'll be driving down
the road and I will be gnawing away and SLAP, she will whack me while I am doing it.
It really is a subconscious thing b/c I don't even notice that I am doing it.
My hands looks horrible and I cannot seem to stop it. I have great will power
as I am a fitness freak who loves adventure and extreme endurance competition, but
when it comes to biting my nails I cannot break it. PLEASE HELP!!!!
I am 14 and a friggin' nail biter....
I really want to stop but its so hard!!
I have tried many things....fake nails, cold turkey, but nothing works. I cry myself
to sleep at night because I know how ugly and nasty my fingernails are....on
my right index finger I have chewed the skin below the nail almost to the knuckle!
Thankfully, that is the only finger that is like that. I really want to stop
before my nail biting gets really out of hand....I am still young and I really
really really want to stop. I know that wanting to stop is the first step
but I am so fustrated! I mean, guys look down at me because I bite my nails
and that makes me feel horrible.....I am so sick of my ugly ugly nasty gross
nails....I have resloved that I WILL STOP BITING MY FINGERNAILS!!!!!!!!
Hi Rose, I just came across your board and am very happy that I did. I don't have
any friends that bite their nails, and I've been biting mine my whole life.
Like a lot of the other comments I've read here, I too have had spells of
not biting my nails and loving them. However, one crack, or weakness in the
nail and I go right back at it. On top of that, I have bitten off my right
thumb nail so badly, it looks like it's been slammed in a car door. I
explain it as biting it off from the bottom up. IT IS REALLY GROSS!! Well
in recent years I have added my other thumb and left pointer finger to the
mix in looking that badly. There is virtually no nail at all, and the
cuticles tend to get infected because of it. I was really relating to
Elissa M.'s comments on that. I find myself putting bandaids on those nails
when I go out. I am so ashamed. My biggest dilemma now is that my sister
is getting married in 9 weeks and I am the only one in her wedding. She
really wants me to have nice nails, but at the same time, I am under more
stress than ever before, as my husband is deploying for a year within the
next two weeks. I could really use some help.... Is there anything that a
manicurist could do for me???? ~Danielle-->
Hi Rose. I find that African-American female nailbiters can bite their nails down
way lower than the rest of us. Their pain threshhold is higher and their nails can be
way lower (shorter) than the rest of us. I met this black girl once, her nails were
bitten 3/4 of the way down. Her nailbeds which used to be covered by the nails were
huge and they were already converted to regular skin. Her nails were bitten down
so low that you could actually grab onto the tips of her fingers without touching
any nails. There was no sign of blood, pain or trauma. I asked her how she was
able to get her nails that short, she told me that she never stops biting her nails.
She said she can't! So, the more she bites them, the lower/shorter they got. Is
there anyone on this board who is an african-american female nailbiter who can
relate to this story?
Ok I read most of the website and I am trying to figure
out the best way to change my habit or stop. Thanks, ~ Amber
- PS: Just send me any info on it if you can. Thanks
Actually that's what the Nailbiting Board is for.
Remember I bite my nails too
and the only real way to stop is just that - STOP!
hey! well i am sooooo happy to find this message board.
i thought i was alone in my crazy nail biteing addiction. but i got some great advice
to help me quit. ive been biteing 19 yrs ... well see how effective the advice is.
-kelly
Hi Rose. I think all you nailbiters should post some photos of
your short nails. Who on this board has the shortest nails? This is a fascinating subject
which no one usually wants to discuss. Thank you rose for your wonderful message board.
You bring up a good suggestion.
I currently have some pictures of nail bitten hands that were sent to me by email and
there is a picture that is posted on
page 2 that was sent to me. I have noticed that there seems to be a lot of interest
in showing pictures of nailbiting, however pictures require more web space and while I have
asked for donations to keep this site runningas of November 12th of this year not one person
has sent a donation to help with this site!.
I just tell people that when I stop biting my nails, I start
smacking people - I give them a choice.....Terr
Rose, I'm a 55 year old compulsive nail biter. Started about 5 years ago.
I've always had my hand up on my face somewhere, rubbing, scratching,
picking. I'm told I do that because I'm compulsively protecting myself from
others like a boxer does with his left hand. Your site has inspired me to do
something about this obsession. Thank you! Larry
3 weeks with out a single nibble. Pretty good after 39 years of nail biting.
Only they look like they will be difficult to grow without breaking down and
biting off a rough patch. Has anyone successfully stopped and grown healthy
looking nails? I have ridges, and because the nails were so bitten down as
they grow they become unsupported along the edges. They are also thin and
"rubbery." I really want to succeed at this, but I'm going to need help.
HI Rose, my name is Paula and I too have the nailbiting habit. I started at about 5 yrs.
old and have been at it ever since. I have heard all the horror stories and seen all
the grotesque pictures, but I still bite. I have stopped temporarily, just long enough to
have decent looking hands, but then I wash too many dishes, use too many chemicals for
house cleaning, or restore furniture, paint pottery, or something else requiring
turpentine, acetone, lacquer thinner, or another caustic agent and I'm back biting my
nails. I actually hate the way my nails feel when they get dry, so I bite at them. I
annoy everyone close to me with this habit and my fiance will even grab my hands and
hold them while we watch TV or a movie. I find that applying fake nails ( glueing them
on) keeps me from biting until they fall off, which always seems to happen when I'm not able to glue the nail back so I bite it! Also I have a good deal of pain right after I initialy glue the nails on and have to resort to Tylenol or Advil to ease
the pain for the first day or so. There seems to be a certain length my nail gets that
bugs me too, so off it goes. I am now almost 50 years old and I really want to stop. If
anyone can help please let me in on your secret!!!
The true cause of nearly all "habitual" nail biting will eventually be proven to be a
slowly progressing infection. An infection that often begins in the first months of
childhood. An infection that produces none of the usual symptoms (redness, swelling,
pain, pus, etc.). An infection that gives the victim a sensation of having something
like dirt under the nail. The only "symptom is a feeling of pressure. Early after
onset this pressure may be so slight that it is difficult to even pinpoint
its source - especially for children. This results in anxiety. As the infection
progresses - still without pain or other visible sign - the anxiety grows and
along with it all the factors that eventually lead the "professionals" to start looking
for behavioral roots to the problem.
As time goes by the victim zeroes in on the fingernails and the biting and tearing
begins. This ultimately worsens the problem, exacerbates the anxiety, irritability,
attention, and concentration problems, etc..
Yours truly, Oak Phiilips
Rose, thank you for this message board.
I am 61 years old and a lifelong nailbiter. In searching
for stories of other nailbiters, I did run across hypnosis as a solution based
on the opinion it is a deep, subconscious habit. What do you think? ~ Peg
Rose, I forgot to add I mostly bite my nails in the evening when I am tired, when
I read, and notice that I want to bite some time after eating sweets (like it's sugar
caused). Once in awhile I have caught myself biting my nails at work (I type a lot),
but rarely. My sister has beautiful nails and my older brother quit biting his nails.
Also, thanks to the gentleman who worked at NASA for emphasizing that nail biting
isn't the worse thing in the world
It is one of those habits where you do it without enven realising it. I get told by all
my friends and family to stop biting them but no matter how hard I try I cannot stop
biting my nails. I have even tried the nail varnish that you put on your nails that
tastes distingusting, but that does not work for me.
My hands are always on show so it does make me very conscious of them. It is very
reassuring to know that there are other people that bit their nails also and cannot stop.
I am still trying to stop and am determined to stop this dreadful habit,
Sara.
Hi, I have been biting my nails since I can remember. Both my parents and my sister
bite their although my mother has stopped now. I am now in my early twenties and I still
bite my nails. I have tried putting plasters around all of my fingers and I actually
stopped for two weeks. However, I found that this made my fingers sore so I took the
plasters off and I continued to bite them.
I'm 58 and still biting. I've stopped for several months at a time, but paying lots of
attention to my nails each day - strengtheners, filing, shaping and painting. Then in
a frenzy I bite them all off. I think I bite a lot while watching TV. I don't know if
it's the sitting still that gets me, or the programming. But I have thought too like
another person says on your message board, that chemicals/hormones must play a
part. Once you start, there's no stopping.
I bit my nails as a boy and gave up after too much nagging. I have recently decided to start
again and am really enjoying have very short bitten nails again . i`m not ashamed of them
I want to get them all about 5mm like when I was a boy I am getting there. It gets sore
for a couple of days then I can bite on them more again. I am now a compulsive nail biter
taking advantage of any moment to bite my nails.
David
I have chewed my nails for as long as I can
remember - and even bite
them down so far, they usually bleed! Can anyone give me any advice?
I bite my nails from the about 8 years to about 24 years of age, and I am 30 now. It
usually started with a torn nail tip and soon I had ripped the nail past the bed. And
because I bite my nails my finger tips were wet and often the saliva caused the cuticles
to dry out so much I would have skin sticking up and I would the proceed to bite that
and pull. More often then not my cuticles were bloody. I remember freshman year in
college and all the girls saying "You look just like a doll. Except for your sad
fingers." They were sad. My fingertips not only had no nails beyond the bed, my
cuticles always hurt and my fingertips were swollen with the abuse. Never mind what my
toe nails looked like! My thumb nails have permanent ridges in them - waves of rising
and falling nails as they grow out - because of the intense damage I did to the cuticle
beds and because the thumbs get the most indirect damage of all the fingers presently.
How did I stop? For one, I haven't really stopped, I changed my habit by metering it out
with a nail clipper. Just a little nail clipper that costs $1. I always carry one!
Although flying is a problem since I tend to bite if I don't have one, I have to muster
a lot of self control when flying to not do damage. Whenever I have an urge to chew I get
it out and instead of an uncontrolled bite that damages my fingers I take a little off.
So I have at least seven different nail clippers, and I don't know how many I have lost.
Because to take care of a small thing with my fingers I take my clippers out it slows me
down and I have to think about what I really want to do, bringing that subconscious
tendency of chewing to my immediate attention. I am grateful I have never had abscesses
from it, just red, swollen, tender, and damn ugly fingers. ~ Cynthia
I am 48 and have bitten my nails since I can remember. I am doing a pysychology
term paper on nail biting and this site is extremely insightful. I am trying to find
some support for my belief that nail biting is genetic and hereditary. My wife does'nt
bite and I made certain that my baby never witnessed me biting my nails, but as soon as
he got teeth he started and now at 21 he still bites, as does my mother, both brothers,
and grandfather. My older brother and gandfather both "bite" to the point of self
mutilation. I am talking beyond biting. My brother has nothing left to bite. His
fingernail bed remnants are terriblly disfigured and virtually gone. He will scrape
away what he can with a razor blade and pull out any remaining shred with clippers or
even a small pair of plieirs. On top of thie he is a mechanic so the deformed finger
tips are permanently filthy and uncleanable. His toenails are just as bad. Of course
there is no doubt that he has a mental disorder to be driven to do this to himself. My
grandfather is dead but did the same thing. I have never personally seen this level
of nailbiting on anyone else. It is almost too grotesque to look at. Does anybody know
of a website that expands on the genetic causes for nail biting, oronychophagia?
~ JJ
Hi, my name is Bertha and i have a major nail biting problem! somtimes i'm doing good
and have it really long and all of a sudden i'm biting off the nail! i can't controll it.
I was wondering if there are any types of nail polish that tastes like somthing spicy so
then i won't want to bite my nails because of the taste? and where i could find it or
order it from. Please help!! Thank you. ~Bertha
I found myself chewing my nails again. Chewing. What an odd word to use for nails.
Biting is more appropriate. Chewing sounds like you're gnawing your fingers off. I guess
that may be the case in some instances. I began to search for a 'how to stop chewing your
nails' website, and I found your discussion board. I could really relate to the 21 year
old who said that it is like a drug addiction... that it felt good to chew... I was
chewing them while I was searching for your site, and even while I was reading,
although being aware of it, I was trying to chew less... And when I saw the post by the
person who said it was linked to their childhood and not being allowed to be completely
open emotionally... I think that solved it for me. Although I still chew them, I think
that put it firm in my mind that I should stop. That and the thing about them 'looking
terrible' and 'keeping your true self hidden' and other such comments. When you chew
your nails, you have so much... finger! at the end of your finger, beyond your nails. It
seems only natural to me, but it looks strange when I think about how other people's hands
look!! This isn't natural. Mankind has made better fingernail-care-products than human
teeth. We don't have to use them anymore, eh? Anyhow, thinking of the people on the
board who don't know what to turn to after those 'commercial products'... I can only
imagine what those taste like... What, bitter apple? Yum! Try something fun and
ingenuitive. Something that you've probably tasted or at least smelt before, on
accident, and you KNOW it will taste bad (non-toxic hopefully). If Fingernail polish
doesn't do it for you, and you can't get ahold of model paint (Wait, is that the same
stuff?), then try fingernail polish remover, or HAIRSPRAY! Can you imagine the bad press
those 'nasty-taste fingernail' companies would get if it was actually hairspray? Yeah,
but I bet it would WORK. I have one last question. My toenails, which I don't chew, are
wierd. Most of my toenails are curved right, but some of them, (My index toes, I think)
curl downward as they grow out. Is this natural? I've been keeping them short, but it
bothers me. Don't tell me I should chew 'em. =)
Hi Rose, My name is Shelli Timm and i am a dental hygiene student interested in doing a
table clinic presentation on education other hygienest on how to talk to their patients
about the habit of nailbiting. Since this is a topic you seem to be very familiar with
would you mind giving me some information on what is out there on the market to help
you stop biting your nails, and in your opinion what works and what doesnt.
is intrested in doing a table clinic about nailbiting im not having the best luck though'
finding information on the web about it. I would like to show information on what
bacteria you are picking up as well as how it grinds the teeth down and how when nail
get under the gums it can cause inflammation. Would you have any ideas on books or
places on the web that i may find any such information. I would really appreciate any
information you may lead me too.
Offhand I really don't know about the information that you asked about above.
However if you wish I can put your message on my nailbiting board with contact
information so that people can email you. If you have visited the page I'm sure that
you have seen the various types of replies and comments and their may be someone there
who can help you more with your questions.
Hi, It was very reassuring to read your noticeboard, and realise that so many people have
this habit - I've bitten my nails since I don't know when, but think I've managed to
give up (mostly!). I always got nagged about it, by family, boyfriends, teachers,
and just about everybody else, but my stopping seems to have coincided with my latest
boyfriend, who I find very relaxing company, and changing jobs to somewhere I really
enjoy working. I think my habit developed because I'm quite a nervous person, but now
a lot of the stress of my life has either gone or changed to a sort I don't mind dealing
with, so I don't feel the need to have that outlet for my worries. I also found it
helpful to try stopping before, or during a break in routine, for example a holiday, as
breaking my daily routines also seem to interrupt my nail biting habits, even if only
temporarily. The only trouble is that my new nails are very short and wide, but early
days yet! ~ Gabby
Hello, my name is Annie, I HAVE BEEN MARRIED TO MY HUSBAND FOR 29 YEARS, HIS NAIL BITING
HAS FINALLY DRIVEN ME RIGHT OVER THE FREAKING EDGE WE cannot GO TO A MOVIE, WATCH
TELEVISION, VISIT WITH FRIENDS NOTHING WITHOUT HIM CHEWING, BITING KNOWING HIS NAILS. I
DO NOT THINK I HAVE ENJOYED WATCHING TV WITH HIM FOR AT LEAST 20 YEARS, I LOVE THIS MAN
TO DEATH BUT HE IS MAKING ME A NERVOUS WRECK, I HAVE TALKED WITH OUR FAMILY DOCTOR ABOUT
THIS AND HE HAS SUGGESTED DRUGS FOR HIM STATING IN PLAIN TERMS HE IS A HEAD CASE, PLEASE
HELP DRUGS ARE NOT THE ANSWER. HE ALSO CHEWS HIS FACIAL HAIR AS WELL. HOPE YOU CAN HELP.
If you want your comments added just
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