Author Topic: fingernail biting  (Read 8267 times)

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Offline franksolich

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fingernail biting
« on: January 26, 2010, 05:54:30 PM »
Last night, I had to take the clippers to the fingernails, as I had let things go during the current no-end-in-sight siege of snow and rain.

I suddenly remembered something.

As a child and teenager, I was chronic nail-biter.

As my mother and an older brother had been, disfiguring their fingernails.

It would get really bad.

But somewhere along the line, the habit evaporated, without my even noticing it had gone away. 

I plumbed my memory, but still have no idea exactly, or about, when it was that I quit; only that it happened some time before I took off for the socialist paradises of the workers and peasants with free medical care for all in the early 1990s.

Anyone else here use to chew, but now doesn't?
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Offline The Village Idiot

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #1 on: January 26, 2010, 06:01:11 PM »
Nope. Sorry, I still chew.

 :p

Offline thundley4

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #2 on: January 26, 2010, 08:14:01 PM »
I did, alos, but don't remember when I stopped. I even keep a pair of clippers and a nail file in my tool box at work, just in case.

Offline IassaFTots

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2010, 08:29:42 PM »
Was it when you started smoking?
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Offline Ralph Wiggum

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2010, 09:28:50 PM »
I chewed mine into my mid-20's.  And just stopped "cold turkey".
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Offline franksolich

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2010, 09:41:58 PM »
Was it when you started smoking?

Aha.

That's it.

Thank you, madam.

And the mother and older brother were non-smokers.

It looks as if I stopped about the same time I started smoking.

Damn, the things one doesn't know about oneself.
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Offline debk

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2010, 10:42:23 PM »
Yep....chewed mine until 4 days after my 13th birthday.

Having my jaw broken in 3 places and wired together for 8 weeks....broke the habit.

I switched to tearing apart my cuticles.

Quit that about 7 years ago when I started having acrylic topcoats put on my nails. I go every two weeks to get my nails done and they sand down the cuticles. It's enough for me to leave them alone.

However, over the holidays, I took them off for about 4 weeks.....went right back to shredding the cuticles.  :thatsright: Had my nails done two weeks ago....and quit again.  :whatever:
Just hand over the chocolate...back away slowly...far away....and you won't get hurt....

Save the Earth... it's the only planet with chocolate.

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Offline IassaFTots

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #7 on: January 27, 2010, 08:41:52 AM »
Aha.

That's it.

Thank you, madam.

And the mother and older brother were non-smokers.

It looks as if I stopped about the same time I started smoking.

Damn, the things one doesn't know about oneself.

When/if you quit, you might start again.  I bite mine when I can't smoke, or when I quit, before I start back. 
R.I.P. LC and Crockspot.  Miss you guys.

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Offline Chris_

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #8 on: January 27, 2010, 09:57:12 AM »
My biology teacher had us take scrapings from under our fingernails, (after we'd washed our hands, no less) and put them under our microscopes.

DisGUSting!  The thought that those little wiggling microbes were going into my mouth completely shut down my on-off-again nailbiting habit.
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Offline BEG

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2010, 08:34:51 AM »
Yep....chewed mine until 4 days after my 13th birthday.

Having my jaw broken in 3 places and wired together for 8 weeks....broke the habit.

I switched to tearing apart my cuticles.

Quit that about 7 years ago when I started having acrylic topcoats put on my nails. I go every two weeks to get my nails done and they sand down the cuticles. It's enough for me to leave them alone.

However, over the holidays, I took them off for about 4 weeks.....went right back to shredding the cuticles.  :thatsright: Had my nails done two weeks ago....and quit again.  :whatever:

I had acrylic nails for years. When we moved to CA I didn't feel like finding a place to have them done so I took them off. This was back in august when we were still staying in company housing. My nails were ruined, actually at first they looked great then within days they started breaking far down on my fingers.  Two of them even split down the middle.  I also had dents on my nails too, probably from when they would use the dremel each time when they would do the fill.  I have been working on getting them in good shape and they are just starting to look a lot better.  When I had the acrylic nails it seemed like my nails grew too fast and now that i want them to grow so i can grow out all the damage they are taking forever 

I don't think I am ever going to have acrylic nails again.

Offline debk

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2010, 09:07:36 AM »
I had acrylic nails for years. When we moved to CA I didn't feel like finding a place to have them done so I took them off. This was back in august when we were still staying in company housing. My nails were ruined, actually at first they looked great then within days they started breaking far down on my fingers.  Two of them even split down the middle.  I also had dents on my nails too, probably from when they would use the dremel each time when they would do the fill.  I have been working on getting them in good shape and they are just starting to look a lot better.  When I had the acrylic nails it seemed like my nails grew too fast and now that i want them to grow so i can grow out all the damage they are taking forever 

I don't think I am ever going to have acrylic nails again.


When I took them off....which I picked most of them off instead of soaking  :thatsright:.....they were incredibly sore. That lasted about a week. They were so thin that the least little hit made them break off. Mine are just top-coated with acrylic, I don't have the nails glued on. When I soak them off, the nail is ok just thin. My nails have always been thin and break easily.

I'm keeping them.  :-)
Just hand over the chocolate...back away slowly...far away....and you won't get hurt....

Save the Earth... it's the only planet with chocolate.

"My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far I've finished two bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already." – Dave Barry

A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands.

Offline vesta111

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #11 on: January 29, 2010, 06:58:59 AM »

When I took them off....which I picked most of them off instead of soaking  :thatsright:.....they were incredibly sore. That lasted about a week. They were so thin that the least little hit made them break off. Mine are just top-coated with acrylic, I don't have the nails glued on. When I soak them off, the nail is ok just thin. My nails have always been thin and break easily.

I'm keeping them.  :-)

I cannot imagine how you get them off, the Nail salons here use dentail glue to hold them on.

No one in my family is a nail bitter, even the non smokers. It is strange that for some reason my blood can pick up on a health problem before symptoms arrive because our nails and hair will grow much faster then usual.

OOOOOPS I almost forgot------we do have a nail biter in the family, our eldest dog. Yup, since we rescued him for 14 years he has done his own pedicures.  Roger is half Shelty and half Chachauau by temperament he is a nervous beast, and had Lord knows what kind of treatment before we adopted him.

One really strange tradition up here is mothers with new Born's will not clip their nails, the mothers bite them off.

Funny, I remember my grandma telling me to never trust a grown man that bits their nails.   I wonder where she got that one from.?

Offline Lord Undies

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #12 on: January 29, 2010, 07:35:28 AM »
Frank, I had not thought about it in years.....I too was a nail chewer. 

One sunny day when I was about nineteen, my wife and I were walking around White Rock Lake.  I remember having a finger in my mouth on one hand while holding my wife's hand with the other.  I pulled the finger out of my mouth and asked myself why I was doing that to my nails.  I never bit my nails again.

I've had to trim my nails about every six hours or so since, and my cuticles and nails are very healthy looking.  I don't have hang nails or sore infected red torn bleeding cuticles. 

Offline debk

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #13 on: January 29, 2010, 10:52:24 AM »
I cannot imagine how you get them off, the Nail salons here use dentail glue to hold them on.

One really strange tradition up here is mothers with new Born's will not clip their nails, the mothers bite them off.



I don't have "glue on" nails, I have acrylic overlays over my own nails. It's a powder mixed with a liquid and put on with a artist paint brush. The "proper" way to remove them is to soak my fingertips in acetone for about an hour. Since I was in another time zone when patience was handed out....I either pick them off or do a soak and pick...which is really bad for the nail. If I do it at the shop, I will soak them while I get a pedicure, and then the girl sands off what's left.

I can remember nibbling at my kids' nails too, when they were newborns. It's what they told me to do at the hospital with the first one as she kept scratching her little punkin face....I thought the nurse was crazy but I did it.
This was 30 years ago in Virginia.... :uhsure:
Just hand over the chocolate...back away slowly...far away....and you won't get hurt....

Save the Earth... it's the only planet with chocolate.

"My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far I've finished two bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already." – Dave Barry

A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands.

Offline Wineslob

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #14 on: January 29, 2010, 12:25:11 PM »
Still am, but strictly for trimming.
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Offline thundley4

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #15 on: January 29, 2010, 06:34:11 PM »
Frank, I had not thought about it in years.....I too was a nail chewer. 

One sunny day when I was about nineteen, my wife and I were walking around White Rock Lake.  I remember having a finger in my mouth on one hand while holding my wife's hand with the other.  I pulled the finger out of my mouth and asked myself why I was doing that to my nails.  I never bit my nails again.

I've had to trim my nails about every six hours or so since, and my cuticles and nails are very healthy looking.  I don't have hang nails or sore infected red torn bleeding cuticles. 

What are you, a werewolf or something?

Offline The Village Idiot

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #16 on: January 29, 2010, 06:36:31 PM »
What are you, a werewolf or something?

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Offline BEG

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #17 on: January 29, 2010, 06:46:03 PM »

When I took them off....which I picked most of them off instead of soaking  :thatsright:.....they were incredibly sore. That lasted about a week. They were so thin that the least little hit made them break off. Mine are just top-coated with acrylic, I don't have the nails glued on. When I soak them off, the nail is ok just thin. My nails have always been thin and break easily.

I'm keeping them.  :-)

When ever I get a new set they put the tips on but by the time I take them off the tips have long since grown out and are no longer there.  I tell you there were so many times that I wanted to just say screw it and have acrylic put back on but I stuck it out.  I really want to avoid having them again but I bet I will cave and get them at some point.  Right now my nails look fairly good though.  My cousin use to have them because she is a nail biter and had them for years.  She is a radiologist and a few years back the hospital made everyone who had acrylic nails take off.  Her nails are little nubs now because she went right back to biting them.

Offline Lord Undies

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #18 on: January 29, 2010, 06:58:09 PM »
What are you, a werewolf or something?

It's a slight exaggeration, but I do have the fastest growing nail of anyone I have ever known.  I'd be happy to switch with some woman who wants nails but they never seem to grow. 

I trimmed my nails to the quick today.  I will have to trim again on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. 

Offline debk

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #19 on: January 29, 2010, 07:16:45 PM »
It's a slight exaggeration, but I do have the fastest growing nail of anyone I have ever known.  I'd be happy to switch with some woman who wants nails but they never seem to grow. 

I trimmed my nails to the quick today.  I will have to trim again on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. 

Do you drink a lot of milk?

Both M and my son do, and they have the quickest growing nails I have ever seen.
Just hand over the chocolate...back away slowly...far away....and you won't get hurt....

Save the Earth... it's the only planet with chocolate.

"My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far I've finished two bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already." – Dave Barry

A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands.

Offline The Village Idiot

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #20 on: January 29, 2010, 07:19:50 PM »
BEG
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"Mile Marker"??

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Offline Lord Undies

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #21 on: January 29, 2010, 07:23:09 PM »
Do you drink a lot of milk?

Both M and my son do, and they have the quickest growing nails I have ever seen.

I've never drank a glass of milk in my life.  Never. 

It's a mystery.

Offline Chris

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #22 on: January 29, 2010, 07:24:17 PM »
"Mile Marker"??

What is that about?

Use the Search feature. :-)
This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

Offline debk

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #23 on: January 29, 2010, 07:27:21 PM »
I've never drank a glass of milk in my life.  Never. 

It's a mystery.


You must have some really strong bones too!  :bow:
Just hand over the chocolate...back away slowly...far away....and you won't get hurt....

Save the Earth... it's the only planet with chocolate.

"My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far I've finished two bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already." – Dave Barry

A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands.

Offline The Village Idiot

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Re: fingernail biting
« Reply #24 on: January 29, 2010, 07:29:16 PM »
Use the Search feature. :-)

I found nothing. I always miss everything.