I am a really bad nail biter. I long to have gorgeous long French polished nails, but I just chew them off. I go through stages where I will grow them and then something stresses me out and before I know it they are all gone and my fingers look ragged and horrible.
I’ve tried everything. The worst thing is the little bits of skin that you get round them that are sore when you chew them off. I’ve tried hand cream but I always end up getting covered in it when the phone rings unexpectedly, or asked to do something that ruins me soft and silky mitts.
It’s such a disgusting habit. When I think of all the things that could be under my nails it sends me into an OCD style spin and I feel ill, but i compulsively pick at them when I am feeling tense and uneasy.
I would be a rubbish princess!!!
What are your bad habits? I watched a programme once about people’s compulsions, and I can safely say that mine is pretty minor. It was called freak like me, and it had all sort of revolting things like a man who couldn’t help himself from eating out of bins and another guy who saved up all his farts when he was in the bath so he could make a rocket (this is serious guys, it ACTUALLY HAPPENED). Other nuances included the man who felt it far too disgusting to ever wear the same pair of pants on more than one occasion or the girl who loved to chew her toenails. For half an hour once a week I watched in horror on the iplayer at the freaky habits of great Britain. And then I saw a boy I went to school with!!!
Seriously. I think its still available if you like in the UK. Watch it. its horrible!!
(image courtesy of Natalie Dee one of the funniest producers of cartoons I have ever seen!)
Tinkerbelle 
oh my. I do love my nails, I never bite them! My problem is, to put it politely, picking my nasal passages…. yeah. I should stop but can’t.
oh Jules this made me laugh so much! nose picker.
Hi Jules,
I think that as we call it ( digging for gold) is just a common problem. Or should I say a common way of life. Hey I always say, if its itching then scratch it. On top of that there is always the option of taking your thumb up against the nostril that is causing you problems. This would some what keep you from getting your nails dirty. Especially with hopes that no one will notice you picking your nose in the first place.
As of late being sick with a cold in all of this March Madness weather. I’ve come to realize that (digging for gold) actually helps you to breath better. Maybe that’s just me. P.S. I’m sorry if this topic seems to have freaked some people out.
this is brilliant. i didnt realise my blog was going to cause a nose picking self help forum 🙂
Hi Tinkerbelle,
Very nice title for this post. I have no idea why when I read the title of your post I automatically thought about this old song from 1995 by Adina Howard which is entitled Freak Like me. Please don’t feel like the long ranger because I’m also apart of the nail bitting committee as well. I don’t know if its a habit, or just plain nervousness, but what really drives me into nail bitting is that my nails always seem to grow in a square like manner instead of in a round or oval shape and its like for some strange reason each nail seems to take a shape of its own lol.
I used to chew my nails so bad they’d bleed, then I had braces fitted ( the metal micky style ) and I couldn’t actually get my nails past the metal. Now my only problem is remembering to actully keep them short enough to type.
My bad habit? Er.. I’m not sure if it’s a bad habit as such but I hate working in silence, so if I’m cooking or decorating or such I have to have my ipod blaring.. oh and the girls would probably say me needing to have the kitchen spotless 24/7 is my worst habit 🙂
everybody call me freak n i love it ^^
I am a bit OCD myself 🙂
Not a nail biter…but my play with my nose, and bite my lips a lot…not a good thing!
So interesting that you live in the U.K.
whys that? i bite my lips when im stressed, you often dont realise till it hurts, right?!
Tell you what…those little bits of skin that you get round the sides…those are the ones…if I get a good one, one that comes out right from the root, I can worry the pain for a good two days…
I used to be a nail biter…when I get really stressed or worried about some thing I revert to that bad habit. The other time I revert is when my nail breaks off and is all ragged and I am no where near a nail file….then I keep biting to make it even-ish.
I think we have a similar series in the U.S. called “My Strange Addiction.” The people on that program do things like eat toilet paper or laundry detergent. I’ve never seen it because even the promo spots make me gag a little haha. As for my bad habit…I pop my back/neck/knuckles a lot. That’s probably the worst.
oh no, seriously??!! that really freaks me out. its such a horrible noise!!!
I know! I try to give it up, but I never last. =(
I rub my eyebrows when I’m stressed. It’s a really bad habit because it will produce CURLY eyebrows. In order to throw this habit out to the curb, I began chewing massive amounts of gum. Yeah. We’ll see how THAT goes.
I bite the skin around my nails….way more disgusting! I can tell how stressed I’ve been by the amount of skin left on my poor thumbs. Ew.
I was a thumb-sucker when I was a kid & my mom bought me this stuff called “thumbs”. It was hot pepper flavored nail polish. It was supposed to make me stop, except, I loooved it! LOL! A jalepeno flavored thumb! LOL!
xo
Mindy
my mum did everything to stop me sucking my thumb and biting my nails. we had nail varnish and this horrible thing with a wet sponge in which you dipped your fingers in and it made them taste like paint stripper. it didnt stop me though. thankfully i dont suck my thumb any more but this made me think of one of the girls on the programme, who had dummies. she was in her twenties. and she sucked them in public, at home, in the bath… it was so bizarre!!
I have acrilic tips on my nails and get them done every 2 weeks so that saves me, it’s hard work to bite them off, maybe you should try that 🙂
I bite/chew the inside of my lips/cheeks. Ewww…it’s gross just saying it. I’ve read that it’s related to nail biting/picking etc. A symptom of OCD or chronic stress.
The worst is seeing photos of myself with half my face screwed up because I’m chewing on my cheek and not even aware that I was doing it in public.
When I was a kid I chewed my nails until my fingers bled. Now, as an adult my nails are so brittle they crack and split all the time. I finally just started getting acrylic nail tips put on at a salon. It’s not that expensive and you would have to bite really hard to crack one of these nails.
There are so many who bite their nails when they’re stressed or nervous. You are definitely not alone. I think everyone does something when they’re stressed, nervous, or whatever. So you are most definitely not a freak 🙂
There’s nothing like finding out about other people’s insane habits to make you feel better about your own!
Ah nail biters of the world unite. I must confess to the habit myself. But even worse than that is my deplorable (to those around me) habit of chewing in drawstrings, peices of cloth and especially pens and pencils. I cant get enough of the little buggers. I am also a gum addict (not in the valley girl smack chewing sense but I just chew a lot). Lucky my parents raised me in a non-smoking and non-chewing home or I woulda been spittin chew by the time I was four. Great post!
I guess we all have bad habits.
I chew my fingernails (I can’t reach my toe nails! LoL!!!) but now it’s because they have become soft and weak thanks to the meds I have to take and so break easily while shopping.
I have admit I wash thoroughly beforehand though – the thought of what I have to handle on a daily basis makes sure of that!!! 🙂
Love and hugs!
Prenin.
I totally used to bite my nails. My aunt would tell me it was disgusting and slap my hand when I did, and since she was pretty much my hero, every time I knew she was coming for visit I would refrain from biting to grow them out. Eventually I switched to picking nail polish off and now I just bit the skin. Super gross cause nails look pretty but theres bloody red spots around em. Oh and my habit, I can pock my shoulder socket. I don’t know why or how but I do it over and over again when I get stressed of nervous.
I pick/bite my nails. and perhaps worse, I rip off my toe nails too (no chewing them though…)…putting nail polish on my nails helps sometimes because then I pick that off.
Also having nails that are smooth or well filed helps. I find that when they have bumps in them that’s what I am prone to want to remove regardless, it’s not a good habit. but one I am stuck with!