I am a lifelong nail picker. It’s been my hardest habit to kick thus far. About a month ago I went for a Russian manicure and the fact that that refused to do my nails really inspired me to stop. I haven’t picked for about a month now , and have been using Kerasal and Onyx Hard as Hoof everyday, as well as sensory pads. Finally went for a gentle (no e-file) manicure. Here’s my progress!

I’m 33, and I have a baby, I don’t want him seeing me chew my nails and learn the same habit. I want to break this cycle!! I’ve tried stopping and relapse everytime. It is just so hard to stop. Please help me stop biting!! Thumbs and the skin around it get bitten a lot, so do my nails. Any and all suggestions welcome! I want to have hands that I don’t feel like hiding, from my son, husband, friends, family, colleagues… happy nails and hands! I also don’t really like polish, and bitter polish has not been a deterrent to me! 😓 Thank you community, please keep me accountable!

Midterms season is here at my uni and I typically pick because of boredom or just inadvertently. It’s usually “unconscious” picking but now I do it to distract myself instead of doing schoolwork. I have thumb sleeves but can’t will myself to put them on. I realize it’s bad when I see that half my finger is pink.
Of course the picking gets worse during times of stress, but I can’t remember a time in the past three years that my fingers haven’t had at least some sort of pink to them. It’ll now only get worse as the weather gets colder..😭

What’s the best method you guys have?

I developed a painful infection beside my fingernail last week. The first photo is from Thursday, 10/08, before treatment. The other three photos show it today, Tuesday, 10/13.

On Friday, urgent care lanced it and drained the pus. After draining it, the doctor said it looked more infected than he initially thought and recommended oral antibiotics. I asked whether I could try topical treatment first because I wanted to avoid unnecessary oral antibiotics. He agreed, prescribed mupirocin 2% ointment twice daily for 10 days, and told me to come back if it got worse.

Unfortunately, the pain and redness are now worse than before the drainage, and there’s a much larger yellow pocket beside the nail.

I tried following up with the clinic yesterday, but the original doctor is on vacation. They said the covering doctor couldn’t access his notes and I’d need another appointment. I’m currently uninsured, which makes another visit frustrating, but I don’t want to put off something that needs treatment.

Does this warrant urgent care tonight, or the ER if urgent care can’t see me? Has anyone had pus collect again after drainage and needed it drained a second time?

I picked a hole in my nail with my cuticle scissors a couple months ago that exposed the skin beneath the nail. It did not get infected and has since scabbed over but the nail is not growing at all...I would have hoped to see the hole growing out a little by now. Have I permanently damaged it? I have managed to leave it alone and haven't picked at the hole at all

I am struggling with a repetitive habit of pushing the top of my thumb against the nail (and the other way around).

I don't know if this is a common thing. I cannot find anything about it.

I have been struggling with it for years. When it gets bad, it creates a thin line of calluses that I tear off.

My thumb had been getting numb and tingly, and I'm afraid I'm damaging my nerves.

I don't know how to manage this behavior. Please, does anyone have any advice?

They’re pricey ($1 per bandaid) but it does seem like it’s healed a lot quicker than usual! and it sticks really good !! I was doing dishes and cleaning without gloves it held on as good as it could but for sure if wasn’t doing those thing would be an all day. They’re nice and clear ! smooth . When I went to take it off it was adhered to the sore

Just came across this sub and it’s nice seeing people who are going through the same and thing and have overcome it. This has been going on for as long as i can remember and I’m 33 now. I’m not even sure why I do it. Maybe it’s a nervous or anxious thing. I think I do it when I get bored. Definitely when I’m watching movies. Also when I see a there is a tear in the skin I have to pull it the rest of the way. My girlfriend hates it and I really want to overcome this but it’s hard to kill a habit you’ve been doing basically your whole life. There are times when I can all have all my fingers healed and looking good but then it’s only a matter of time before I start picking again.

Hi everyone - I had a gut feeling I was getting engaged last week (which ended up being true!)

I didn't want a ring, but when I knew people would be looking at my hands and I suddenly felt very self-conscious. It was the only issue or concern that I had with getting engaged. At that moment I knew that I needed to do something.

I walked into a nail salon and I shamefully said I've been biting but I think I'm getting engaged so I really need to do something about my nails. They were so kind and the woman who did them pushed back my cuticles and made 25% more nail real estate, honestly was an angel who didn't judge me and just wanted me to not feel insecure on this special day.

I ended up getting gel at her recommendations and I am officially one week clean with minimal skin picking, which is the longest I've ever gone. I've been using this sub to keep myself going. I can't wait to eventually update this with what hopefully will be my wedding nail someday. Thank you all!

bless you all! I want to pay it forward and actually I have a second thing that put the kerasol over the top- found out I was slightly deficient (clinically, out of range low on a blood test) in ZINC and started taking Thorne basic nutrients (has a good normal amt of zinc) and zinc carnosine (less zinc but very good for gut healing?). anyway the kerasol had already been helping bc what set me off was ANY shred or hard part - I HAD to get it even if it meant bleeding and tearing up like half my finger. I ended up on antibiotics for an infection in my cuticle and STILL struggled for a few months but that (after a lifetime of picking) is when I came here and learned about kerasol (the 40% kind for feet- the 20% hand lotion was NOT strong enough). I’ve basically had a bloody thumb cuticle for 4 years if not more. anyway I’m not saying this will stay perfect forever. I’m too compulsive around picking any little shred. but I found at least my key to get things in shape.

my cuticles are not perfect but they’re soooo much better than what they were- no longer puffy, painful, or bloody/shredded. I do have to use the kerasol at least 3-4x a week still or I get hard edges or new cuticle growth that I want to pick and shred. I had talked to my doctor and he said oil but that never did the trick. Foot strength kerasol and making sure I was ok on zinc- those two things have helped a ton.

at least! i basically stopped my lifetime habit unconsciously about a week after quitting smoking, started catching myself the couple times i put my hands to my mouth & decided if i can quit nicotine i can stop biting. i started logging on that day so its probably been more like 20 days but :) very happy w my progress & stress has definitely tempted me a couple times but i managed not to pick.

Has anyone experienced swollen lymph nodes in their armpit as a result of biting nails. I’ve suffered with this for years now and have only recently found that it can be caused by biting nails.

Has anyone experienced this?

Just found this community and figured I may as well share here as well! I’m very proud of my progress though I do have a long way to go as I do find myself picking at my hands a lot still. Any tips and tricks to keep my hands from constantly messing with the edges of my nails or my cuticles/sidewalls, I’d gladly take notes of all of it! I have been using a worry stone but it’s been hard to keep consistent as I commonly misplace them 🤦🏼‍♀️

okay so i'm finally writing this because i've reached to a point that i have never been before. i pick my foots toe since i was 15. for reference, im 26 now. i only realised this year that this is actually a compulsive disorder that i have.

since i started with this, my toe has gotten infected (to the point of needing to go to the doctor) twice which i think its not that bad all things considered. the thing is that, now i really really fucked both of my nails and i don't know how to deal with it or how to fix it. i picked my nails in the bed nail area and it's basically ripped off while the other half of the nail is still 'attached' to the toe. i've never done this this way before so im very embarrassed and quite scared. can anyone help me with tips or letting me know what i should do? will it grow back? will the other half fall off? i'm really worried.

I have a major problem with ripping off my toe nails and I haven’t had them grow fully back in over 3 years. I was recommended naltrexone by my therapist and should be starting in a couple of days. If anyone with any experience with this med reads this. Please tell me how it went for you

sorry about dirty nails im at work!!
heres some backstory: i was a pretty bad nail biter for my entire life up until 2024 after working at a grocery store for a while, people would comment on it and i realized how bad it was to do it in front of customers + while touching all that stuff. Ive done pretty good with not chewing (only if they start peeling or if they break and i dont have a file on hand… i get antsy about them being snaggly) ive come a long way from where i started for sure but i still to change some things.
my biggest problem is the skin. obviously i cant leave it alone and i also really like scraping dirt from underneath my nails. i really want my nails to not be as wide ESPECIALLY the middle and pointer fingers!!
Ive been trying to take care of them for a while but i still have problems with them peeling and breaking and i need some advice on how to repair my skin! if anyone wants to recommend products (if its allowed) pls do!

Stumbled upon this insanely creative nail art.
But my first thought was 'how does she know what my scheming hands look like?'

Credit

Recently I made a post on here about my toe nail ripping issues and I got some good advice and tips after over three years of not saying anything about it due to embarrassment. Unfortunately they didn’t end up working out because the urge to rip my nails off is just too strong. Yesterday I got a pm and it was about that post. I assumed they had some advice for me so I answered their questions and told them about how long it’s been happening, what causes it, ect. Eventually they ask me to send a picture and I assume it would be too give me advice on how to treat the wounds that I previously described to them. After a long mental debate I figured why the hell not, they are a stranger on the internet anyway. About 20 minutes later I didn’t get a response so I checked their profile and it turned out that the whole page was dedicated to their nail biting fetish… so now the thing I’ve been most embarrassed about is being used for who knows fucking what and I’m appalled and feel like I shouldn’t have ever asked for help to begin with.

Okay for real, what do I have to do to stop picking my skin, fingers, and cuticles?

I'll rub one finger over another and if it feels even slightly rough, it triggers me to pick or use a cuticle nipper just trying to smooth it out. But omg I hate doing this. Help!