Do You Chew Your Nails?

[anthony]

I wonder how many chew their nails because of stress / anxiety.

[batgirl]

I'm really bad for this. I often bite my nails until they bleed, I rip my toenails off and pick at my skin until it bleeds too. A lot of the time I do it unaware, and then realize it later. I'm starting to see the connection, in that I do it more when I'm stressed out.

[becvan]

I don't actually chew them, I rip them apart! I catch myself doing it all the time and it's a horrible habit. Blah.

bec

[batgirl]

Yeah I do that with my toenails, tear them off, rip them apart! It's really gross. A lot of times I bleed from it. You're right it's a disgusting habit.

[Marlene]

I keep my nails trimmed extremely short so there's nothing for me to pick and peel apart. Otherwise I end up with infections from tearing at my nails.

[hodge]

Yeah, I do all of this, too. It's really awful and disgusting. The last time I was able to keep my fingers looking nice was before my wedding to my husband. My mother-in-law told me a couple weeks beforehand that she wanted to give me a manicure for our wedding. I thought that was so sweet, and I was able to leave my hands alone for those days so that I could go to the manicurist and not be embarressed about my nails, which are really naturally strong and nice, by the way. But I went back to it again after the wedding. I hate it. I do it unawares usually, too. I can see it's a form of self-destructiveness. I figure that it will abate as I continue in healing.

[kers]

No nail-chewing, although I have long had the habit of biting my fingers or arm. It crosses the line into self-harm, in my opinion, so now I try to just wring my hands. Not much relief, though!

[veiled]

I wonder why you posted but did not answer! I pick the hell out of my nails. Always fidgeting with my hands. I bit my nails as a kid but seemed to outgrow it.

[She Cat]

Well actually I used too chew them, pick them, and eventually they would bleed. But now I pay $60 a month for acrylic nails so I won't do that. LOL!!!!! The minute one falls off though.....Oh crap it's bleeding in less than an hour.

[Shinigami_Shimai]

Very much so. I gnaw at them until the edges bleed at times. I also chew on my hands and arms. I try not to do this infront of others and I remember the strange way Kim stared at me when I started biting my arm. I've tried to stop biting myself for her sake, but I've turned to scratching and now my doctor wants me to go back to biting my nails because it is less destructive.... *sighs*

Kat

[kkoehler]

Weird thing is I used to bite my nails but since the PTSD, I've stopped only to begin other bad habits. Its like I'm different person now, habits, dress and all.

[skyward_falls]

I will chew and bite my nails down so low on the nail bed it my fingers will throb and bleed and just plain hurt for a few days. I dig into the sides of the nail and at the cuticle with my teeth. Its a nervous habit of mine. I get so carried away with it I don't realize that the whole room could be staring at me in disgust - nor would I care because I am busy. :-P

[goingonhope]

Yes, I most certainly chew my nails from stress. A disgusting habit I know given the possibility of what bacteria may be underneath them, and even after hands have been washed.

I remember once reading news coverage of a number of newborns that were getting deathly ill, and if I recall correctly I do believe some of them died from the bacteria that was later found underneath the fingernails of the nurses working with them, in the newborn facility of a hospital. Eversince, when I wash my hands I do make sure I wash thouroughly underneath the nails too and nearly each time.

I use to rip both my nails and toenails off, and just as was said, until they bled, but this was always accidental (tearing to far) and always quite painful. I now discipline myself to use clippers, but I haven't thus far ever gotten over the nail biting. Well, once I had acryllic nails and that worked perfectly to stop the nail biting, for a time.

Still a nail biter.

[Marlene]

I now discipline myself to use clippers, but I haven't thus far ever gotten over the nail biting.

I've done the same thing. If I keep them trimmed down with the clippers, I don't bite them. Plus I had a MRSA infection earlier this year and I was told that under my fingernails is one of the biggest places for that bacteria to hide. So keeping them trimmed has an extra added incentive

[cookie]

i keep mine short for school, it is too easy to scratch someone by accident. plus, they break frequently. don't chew them.
cathy

[Grama-Herc]

I use to bite them untill the would bleed. My family even tried bribery when I was a kid to get me to quit.

I have no idea when or why I quit

[Nam]

I still chew them. It's an early sign of anxiety for me. I know that if my nails are gone...well, I'm having a rough day. I need to work on quitting that bad habit since I hate the way they look and feel when I've bitten them off. As of right now, I've got a bloody nail (bit too much) on my right pointer finger. Dang holidays!!

[pandora]

Nope...thank goodness this is one of the things...I do not do.

[empowered]

No...very germ conscious being a nurse. I keep my hands away from my eyes or mouth when in a public place expecially shopping centres...and wash my hands frequently....told constantly at work to wash your hands, that they are the worst carriers of bacteria.

[sunnydaze]

I rip my nails apart teating off the layers most of the time they bleed. Sometimes the entire nail comes off. It drives my husband nuts, this is his only complaint of me even with the PTSD, he deals with that much better. I have been doing this for almost 50 years. I tried leaving them short so I wouldn't bite them and using nail polish but I would chew or rip off the polish.
sunnydaze

[TaraJ]

It's a bad habit of mine.
I used to bite my nails, but now I pick at them.
I think I began doing it, when I began slipping into a frozen state at work. When I'd 'come-to' I'd find that I was picking at my fingernails.
After I realized what I was doing,

[simonelise29]

ok, that's it, i'm in! can't keep my hands out my mouth! and i am a charter member of pimple poppers anonymous. my therapist says it's a habitual response to stress, so yes anthony you're right. but i yearn for long, ok well just over my fingertips, beautiful nails. i hate ptsd. i hate it. it's like the sun and the moon, always there. and cyclical. i would consider myself cured if i could just stop biting my nails.

[Lisa]

....kinda? I dont bite down the nails far or anything, just nibble... LOL

[indigo~in~0z]

i dont chew/pick nails...

i chew/pick/cut/pull/tear skin off my fingers & now have moved to my feet excessively as its more hidden?

i do remember i did pick my nails when i was a child, but i was always more a skin picker... its very embarrassing having red raw swollen fingers in public... and its very embarrassing cleaning up the mess i make at home.. the obviously it doesnt stop me...

i have gotten alot since i gave up smoking a couple of years ago.. but the sad thing is my 5 yr old does it... and he was doing it early even when i was very conscious of him not seeing my do it, he has that internal anxiety thing... he picks his fingers /anything and regularly has no toe-nails to cut...

its so sad and embarrassing admitting all this here.. but enlightening to feel at home with others.. thanku for sharing everyone ;)