Skin surrounding it feels tight and tender. The cut itself is like a big ball of flesh. It started from me cutting into my skin too much from a picking session and now it’s like it won’t scab over and is leaking clear and is super puffy. My finger feels tingly and itchy and at points it throbs

I have been a habitual nail biter for well over 20 years. I have quit for small periods of time before, but this time I am DETERMINED. I don't have a great "before" picture, because I was embarrassed of my nails and kept them out of most photos. But here is my progress so far! I am trying to keep nail polish on (especially strengthener) and trying not to pick under my nails to allow my nail beds to grow. Post your progress pics to keep me motivated, please!!!

Photo 1 is from late April, 2 & 3 from early August, and 4 & 5 from today.

I just want to share what I’m doing because I’m making progress but I know I could perfect this routine. I work in at an ice cream shop so the 3 compartment sink and exposure to chemicals makes it difficult to keep moisturized hands and nails. I also make a lot of hand painted signage and art projects from the store so tons of chemical exposure. And yes, my managers are fine with polish as long as I wear gloves and the nails aren’t insanely chipped.

A typical week looks like painting my nails for the workweak with Ella + Mila First Aid Kiss as my base coat. I finally kicked my habit tic deformity on my thumbs and ring fingers (thank you fidget toys), but the nails are brittle and pitted so I opted for a base coat that’s going to repair the nail. I use Ella + Mila 100% acetone to remove any polish & dehydrate the nail first, paint the base coat, 2 coats of nail polish, and Olive & June top coat to seal everything in. I cap the edges too, but I get chips on my nails within 2 days!

I wear gloves at work doing anything with food and about 50% of the time when at the sink. I can’t help I have to wash my hands 10-20 times a day, maybe more. I keep the Trader Joe’s hand cream at work for post handwashing and nail oil in my purse so I can keep my cuticles hydrated. I still end up painting my nails with normal lacquer on day 1 of the work week and day 3/4 of the work week. When I get to the weekend I use the acetone again to remove my manicure and focus on oiling the bare nail. I even use kerasal on my days off in hopes of repairing the pitting on my nails recovering from habit tic deformity.

How can I improve this routine? I use to do nothing at all so I’m newer to nail care. Is it my base coat that’s causing me to get little wear time or just the wear and tear of working food service? I’m open to any recommendations but I try to use cruelty free products when possible!

Maybe I should’ve been asking this earlier, but my nail had a hole(?) now it’s nearly ending. It started on 20th of June and I was keeping pictures of how it looks. I was doing gel nails at home, I had since stopped. If someone has any advice on what I should do with this I would def appreciate it!! Putting a spoiler so people that don’t want to see it don’t see it

I have an obsession with cutting my nails extremely short. Everyday I grab my cuticle cutter on my bed stand and mindlessly pick and cut off pieces of my nails till I eventually feel that the pain is unbearable. I think this is some way to relieve stress? But I also do it during my free time like when Im watching TV. Another thing is that i enjoy the feeling after my nails feel after cutting them. Ive been having this crave for the sensation of my short nails pressed against my nail beds to the point I clench my fingers in public and throughout the day in order to feel the sensation. (sorry if that sounds weird) I also am a nail tech and it makes me upset sometimes that I cant do fun sets with extensions because I end up getting overwhelmed in a fee days which results me to ripping my extensions off and filing my real nails super thin to feel the sensation. I also have the need to feel clean. Once I see the white part growing I feel the need to clip every mm of my nail off its so bad.

My nail plate originally covered my whole nail bed, reaching to the tips of my finger tips (being fully attached) until I started cutting it everyday. However I would have periods of time where I would grow my nails out a little more than my fingers tips with hard gel, but i would always relapse and start chopping them down again.

Im not sure if this habit is extremely harmful but Im scared if one day i get to the point where my nails are super super short😓 i hope im not alone

Trying something new, I ordered these so I could stop using bandaids while I avoid picking. Feels better than a bandage and can still use my phone. Hoping this makes a difference.

For background, I’ve been struggling with picking at my thumbnails for most of my life. I believe it started when i got into nail art when i was 7, and when i ran out of acetone, i would pick and peel off the polish. Another precursor was that my mom has had the same habit of picking at her nail bed, with permanent deformities. I would say i got the habit from her , although i give into the temptations 10x worse where every time i have a session of picking, i draw blood with raw areas underneath the nail exposed. Most times are intentional, like scratching an itch, but sometimes i find my index finger picking at my thumb nail on its own.

You might think my mom would be the best person to reach out to, but NOPE - shes wildly insecure about her nails, and she has bad mouthed my nail picking habits (that i adopted from her) multiple times by calling it ugly/disgusting. In the past she compared her own nail deformities to mine to make her feel better, saying “mine dont look like yours”.

I did have a period where i managed to get better ! One day during 2020 (quarantine) i completely lost my nail after absent-mindedly picking for what was probably 4 hours. I took that as a wake up call to get better. It took maybe half a year to heal from that, and i regrew my thumbnail. However, during my last few years of college, the habit came back.. first started with picking at the cuticle, then at the nail bed, then progressed into reaching for the tools like tweezers, cuticle nippers, etc.. ugh. So im back to square one.

I cant seem to find a specific trigger. I pick it when im bored, anxious, or just when i happen to look at my thumb. I have a history of OCD and depression , and my self image has absolutely been affected, where i find myself insecure about going out with friends, being with my partner, and i have been less and less hopeful on getting better.

What seems to work a lil for me is wrapping my thumbnail with a bandaid. But this has been an annoyance considering how many times i have to change the bandaid everytime it gets wet,, i use about 3 bandaids per day and this method works , but having to put a bandaid on for the rest of my life to prevent further injury is not very appealing :•[
I have a therapy appointment in 2 weeks, but if anyone had similar picking habits to my degree, i would really love to know your story and things that helped you !

TLDR - predisposed nail picking is ruining my life, i have a therapy appointment soon but i want to know what helps you ^^

Really hoping having cute fake nails makes it harder for me to chew and pick at my skin :,) Nothing else has really worked long-term for me, but I’ve been told this can help. Band aids and my partner’s constant reminders not to chew got me at least to a point where open wounds are minimal, now it’s all about reinforcing the habit of stopping myself and thinking before I chew

F28 I have been a chronic cuticle biter and picker for as long as I can remember. I just experimented and found that if I use my nail buffer file, one of the medium grit ones, it completely erases all the dry white dead skin that I would pick at! I should've been able to figure that out earlier but I just never thought about trying it. I'm going to continue to buff them and use cuticle oil but I'm hoping this is a new habit I can uphold!

Hoping a few more months allows that middle finger to grow out better along with that thumb.

Decided to start moisturing my hands every time I feel the urge to pick at my fingers. They're not too bad right now, except for my thumbs. Before this, I didn't bother about my fingers. But I'm becoming more and more conscious lately so I guess it's time to start :")

So i have been picking my skin my entire life as im sure most of you have. I am now 36 and I just started nursing school this past week. I have also been working as a chef the past 13 years. So getting my nails done unfortunately isnt an option since its not allowed in school or the kitchen.

My concern is, I have my first clinical lab this week and we're getting tested on handwashing and hand hygiene. I really want my fingers to not look disgusting and ripped open. I feel like its totally a bad look for them to be staring at me cleaning my fingers and nails while theyre all bitten and unkempt.

So anyways I'm trying to see if anyone has an totally unhinged ways they would get them self to stop picking even just for a few days. My one finger is really bad so ill probably wear a bandaid over that one the next few days but otherwise I dont know what to do. Please help 😭😭😭😭

I just got out of a 10+ year relationship, was very nervous so I picked the skin around my nails...

I have always picked at the side wall of most notably my middle and index fingers and now my natural nail grows crooked. I have always had tiny nail beds which does not help because I could easily push the side wall on all of my nails like I have on my middle fingers. I usually pick at my middle fingers with my pointer fingernail or foreign objects like the edges of blankets or pencils. Having my nails done definitely helped me stop biting at my nails but I’m more of a picker anyways so it doesn’t really help because I can still pick at the side walls and definitely do. I even tell my nail girl to leave extra glue and polymer that I can pick at later 😭 At this point I feel like I’ve genuinely done irreversible damage to my nail bed since I have been doing it for a very long time and I really get in there. I am kind of a perfectionist about how it looks, and try to conceal my handiwork as much as possible by picking until the skin is completely smooth and by growing out my nails but they just look awful haha. I truly do not know how to stop this habit and how to get my nails looking healthy. Thank you so much in advance <33

I still have to keep them short. I have free edge I will want to nibble.

I was getting BIAB builder gel manicures to keep up the strength of my nails and to make it difficult for me to bite them. I got them filled on Saturday but two nails chipped on Wednesday. I tried filing them down but i kept on picking at them. I ended up pulling the gel off one nail and then just couldn't stop myself from pulling off all the rest. My nails are sore and I am bummed.

I have no idea how people kick this. I thought I was doing well but I kind of knew that I was screwed as soon as I saw the chips. On the bright side I think my nail beds are a bit longer than they were before i started doing the manicures.

I am too nervous to shape them at all and they are a bit wobbly on the side. Formula 2 didn't help too much wirh that but O+J nail strengthener has. Also, having one of those apps that tracks when you quit something was alright. I've been a biter and picker since I was a kid. Honorary mention: starting remeron at the beginning of August. I have press ons but I need to shape my nails so they wouldn't stick out.