Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 7: Get ready for a change
• Method 2 of 7: Cover your nails with band-aids
• Method 3 of 7: Do one nail at a time
• Method 4 of 7: Keep your hands and your mouth busy
• Method 5 of 7: Use an anti-biting agent
• Method 6 of 7: Cover your nails
• Method 7 of 7: Keeping healthy nails
• Tips
• Warnings
• Necessities
• Plaster method
• Hands-and-mouth-busy method
• Chemical remedy method
• Cover method

Nail biting is a bad habit that not only makes your hands look ugly, but if you bite long enough, it can permanently damage your nails, teeth, and gums. If you are tired of stubs and broken fingers, try these simple ways to grow normal and healthy nails.

To step

Method 1 of 7: Get ready for a change

1. Face the problem. It's time to admit that your nail-biting habit is getting out of hand, and you can't quit if you want to. Before you try to stop nail-biting, realize that you've been doing this all this time in class, at work, or in other public places, and it's not socially accepted. Tell yourself you want healthy, beautiful nails and you want to get rid of that dirty habit forever.
   • Take pictures of your nails and study them. Do you want your nails to look like this forever?
   • View the nails of people who don't bite their nails for an extra boost.
   • Realize that nail biting can also cause serious health problems. When you bite your nails you are constantly transferring bacteria from your hands to your mouth.
   • Talk to a friend about your problem. You don't have to deal with it on your own.
   • Introduce yourself with strong, healthy nails. Take a picture of healthy nails and hang it on your wall, or take it with you in your bag.
2. Imagine yourself with healthy nails every night when you go to bed.
   • Visualize yourself with healthy nails every time you are tempted to bite your nails.
   • Make a plan. Schedule a day when you plan to stop biting your nails. This does not mean that you should have stopped biting your nails completely on that day, but that day you make a commitment to begin the process of stopping biting.
3. Write that day on your calendar.
   • If you are really motivated, write down the date you really need to stop completely.
   • Know when to call for help. If nail biting is really such a problem, it is you always biting your nails, if your cuticles bleed frequently or if you lose your entire nails, you may not be able to stop nail biting on your own. If so, see your doctor as soon as possible to see if it's not a symptom of a bigger problem like OCD.
4. If you have tried everything to get rid of nail biting, but nothing has helped, it is also better to see the doctor.

Method 2 of 7: Cover your nails with band-aids

1. • Put band-aids on your nails. Cover your nails with the gauze from the plaster.
2. Keep them up every day. You can put on new patches every time after you shower or every few days.
3. You can take them off on special occasions, or you can leave them on so that you look crazy on that occasion so that you are even more motivated to stop biting your nails.
   • If this process starts to hurt your nails, you can take them off at night.
   • Take the patches off after a few weeks.
4. See how much better your nails look. When you start biting again, put the patches back on.

Method 3 of 7: Do one nail at a time

1. Choose at least one nail to work with.
2. Don't bite that nail for a few days.
3. See how much better that nail looks than the other. After a few days, the un-bitten nail will glow and reward you.
4. Don't bite it. If you do have to bite, take one of the unprotected nails. Sometimes it helps if you know you have other nails to bite on, even if you don't nibble on one of the unprotected nails.
   • Now choose another nail that you are not allowed to bite on anymore. If your un-bitten nail has been allowed to grow for a while, you can start protecting another nail. And yet another.
5. Keep it up until you get on Not a single one nail bites more. If you really have a tendency to bite your nails, just pick one that you are allowed to bite on.

Method 4 of 7: Keep your hands and your mouth busy

1. Find a habit that can replace nail biting. Whenever you feel the urge to bite, do it instead. Some people drum their fingers, turn their thumbs, clap their hands, put their hands in their pockets, or just look at their hands. Just make sure it's not a bad habit; choose a useful habit or something that in any case is harmless.
2. Carry a rubber band, coin or something else in your hands. Play with that instead of biting your nails.
   • Distract your hands at times when you would actually bite your nails, such as during car rides, or when you are in class. Find a new way to replace the habit depending on where you are. When in class, focus on taking notes carefully. If you're in the passenger seat of a car, play with your keys.
   • Bring a stress ball or Silly Putty. It is fun to play with and will keep your hands busy during times when you would like to bite.
   • Keep a coin in your pocket and play with it if you feel like biting your nails.
   • These habits have nothing to do with biting or chewing, so it breaks the habit of oral fixation.
   • Distract your hands by taking up a hobby. Not only will you stop biting your nails, you can also discover a new passion.
3. A hobby to divert your hands could be modeling, redecorating your house, knitting or crocheting, running or other outdoor sports or even nail care and decoration.
   • If you are creative, do something with clay or plaster. It will completely settle on your hands, and the flavor will linger on your nails for a long time after you wash off the visible mess. It keeps the taste off (clay tastes salty and can leave a slimy texture, and plaster tastes chalky) and your hands are kept busy by the project.
   • Keep your mouth busy. While you should be careful not to develop another severe oral fixation, there are a few little tricks to keep your mouth busy so that you can bite your nails less. Here are some things you can do:
4. Chew gum or suck on sweets during the day. It will be difficult to bite your nails while chewing gum or sucking on a piece of candy. The feeling of your chewed nails mixed with the taste of fresh gum or an orange-flavored candy can also be just plain nasty.
   • Eat small snacks throughout the day. While you shouldn't end up snacking so much that you gain weight, you should always have some healthy snacks with you like carrots or celery stalks to nibble on.
   • Bring a bottle of water. Take water everywhere so you can take a sip of water every time you have a weak moment.

Method 5 of 7: Use an anti-biting agent

1. • Apply some remedy to your nails to discourage yourself from biting them. Byte-x is a chemical stuff that you have to put on your nails so that they taste bad, you can buy it at the drugstore.
2. Apply the liquid to your nails a few times a day.
3. Always take the bottle with you when you go somewhere.
4. If you are used to the taste, try another brand.
5. Continue to apply even if you are no longer biting your nails. Even if you have already stopped completely, you can still keep the bottle as a trophy.
6. In the future, if you have a tendency to nail biting again, you can smell the bottle to remind you how unpleasant that experience was.

Method 6 of 7: Cover your nails

1. • Cover your nails with nail polish. If you're a woman, paint them a bold color, such as red or black, so it looks weird if it's peeling off because you bit it. Men can smear them with clear coat or with nail hardener or some petroleum jelly. It is more difficult to start biting nails that look nicer.
2. If you're a man and getting a manicure, and someone acts disdainful because you wouldn't be manly enough, just say you're making a radical effort to stop biting your nails. That should be manly enough for everyone.
3. Wear artificial nails. That's another great way to keep your nails covered. Have them professionally applied by a nail salon. They last for a long time and if you take them off, your real nails have become more beautiful.
   • If you are really determined to quit, you can take an expensive manicure treatment with artificial nails. This makes it feel even worse if you started biting them on your pricey nails again.
4. Cover your nails by wearing gloves. Put the gloves in your pockets and wear them whenever you want to bite. That's even more motivating when it's the middle of summer and you look ridiculous with your gloves on.
   • If you have to write or do something else that is really difficult with gloves on, you will also be even more motivated to stop biting. Remind yourself that if you didn't have a nail biting problem, you wouldn't have to wear the gloves either.

Method 7 of 7: Keeping healthy nails

1. Treat yourself to a manicure as often as you can. You earned it because you stopped biting your nails. Once your nails are in good shape, you should try to keep them that way, and the best way to show off your radiant new nails is to get a manicure.
   • Chat with the beautician about how beautiful your nails are. You have reason to brag!
2. Keep your nails relatively short. A simple manicure can help keep your nails healthy, and keeping them relatively short will keep yourself from biting again.
   • If they get too long, you will need to trim your nails. Always take nail scissors and a file with you. You cannot bite if there is nothing to bite.
3. Every now and then, push back your cuticles. Many nail biters do not have "moons" at the base of their nails because the cuticles are not pushed back. To do this, gently push your cuticle towards your finger to expose more nail. This is easier if you just got out of the shower when your hands and nails are wet.
   • This makes the nail appear longer and has a nicer shape, which can also be a motivation to stop biting.
4. Eat healthy. A healthy diet will help you feel better in general, and it will help your nails repair and grow properly. Eat foods rich in calcium and magnesium for beautiful nails. That's not all, because the main reason people want to bite their nails is because they lack calcium and magnesium. The body then wants that material back.
   • Eggs, soy, whole grains and liver are very helpful for your nails. Sulfur-containing minerals contained in apples, cucumbers, grapes, garlic, asparagus and onions ensure good growth.
   • Essential fatty acids are found in salmon, nuts, seeds and tuna. These ensure that your nails remain shiny and elastic.
5. Celebrate your nail success. Don't be afraid to show your new nails to your friends or even people you don't know very well. Show them your hands and say, "Can you believe I used to bite my nails?"
   • Take pictures of your hands and enjoy how beautiful they are. You can even hang them or hang them next to a picture of your chapped nails to show that you are capable of making big changes in your life.
6. Keep your nails healthy. Wash your hands regularly, use cuticle oil, and apply shiny nail polish or nail strengthener.

Tips

• Clean your nails. Part of the reason you bite them is because they are dirty. File them, scrub them, wash them. This will make you appreciate them more.
• Clean manicured nails will boost your confidence.
• See if you can tell why and when you started biting your nails. This could be underlying stress, nerves or boredom. If you tackle the underlying cause, you can stop biting your nails more easily.
• To stay motivated or to remind you of how bad your nails looked, keep a photo book of the process. Take "before and after" pictures of all your nails and put them in a booklet to motivate you. If you consider that your nails will grow about half an inch in three weeks, you can record in your booklet how long your nails will be on a certain date.
• Don't think there is a short-term solution. To stop nail biting you need patience and attention.
• When your nails and skin grow back, it can look swollen and itchy. This is normal and will disappear after a while.
• Think about how you appear to others. People usually find chapped or bleeding nails dirty. It is often a sign of bad grooming.

Warnings

• Don't be stupid by replacing nail-biting with a bad habit. While nail stumps are unhealthy and painful, other habits can be much worse.
• You can get infections if you chew your nails.
• Cleaning products, bad food, too much sun, using nail hardeners and chemicals for too long can cause brittle nails. Avoid using nail hardeners that contain formaldehyde as they will dry out your nails.

Necessities

Plaster method

• Band aids

Hands-and-mouth-busy method

• A rubber band
• Silly putty or stress ball
• Chewing gum
• Sweets

Chemical remedy method

• Drugstore remedies such as Byte-X

Cover method

• Nail polish or artificial nails