How To Stop Nail Biting

Nail biting is a bad habit. For starters, it's just plain gross. With everything we touch throughout a day, hands aren't exactly the cleanest thing around. Imagine all of the germs on the light switches, door handles, and stair railings alone! Don't even get me started on how nasty your mouse, keyboard, and cell phone are. Do you really want those germs in your mouth? Of course not, it's a great way to get sick.

On the flip side, when you bite your nails you're spreading your germs around to the things you touch as well. This is how others may get sick from you. It's just all around gross, and I'm saying this as a nail biter who's been doing it for decades.

But did you also know that nail biting can harm your teeth, messing with their alignment and weakening them? It can! For some, the appearance of bitten nails even leads to anxiety and stress. Yikes!

How To Stop Nail Biting

Over the years I've heard a lot of ways to stop nail biting. Most are ridiculous, downright stupid, or they simply don't work.

For example, putting a rubber band around your wrist and snapping it when you get the urge to bite is just stupid. Besides, if you're like me you often don't realize your biting your nails in the first place. So "after the fact" methods simply don't work.

Instead, here are the best solutions:

Cut Nails Short
This is the easiest one to do. If you cut your nails short and keep them short it's hard to bite them. Even if you bite subconsciously like I do, you'll find that you become aware of the biting because you can't find nail to bite. It works!

Apply Anti-Nail Bite Liquid
I use a product called Mavala Stop and it works. It's works because it tastes like butt, or what I imagine butt to taste like. Bitter butt to be specific. You paint it on your nails once per day in the morning and it dries clear. If you try to bite a nail you'll get a nasty bitter taste in your mouth. It's gag worthy stuff but it works.

It will wash off throughout the day but you'll always have enough on your nails to stop you from biting. The only downside? Don't lick your fingers at a meal!

Fake Nails / Painted Nails
For the ladies, or confused men too I suppose, try fake nails. You won't want to bite them! If that's not an option, and cutting your nails short isn't girly enough for you, then paint your nails. Painted nails are thicker, tougher, and harder to bite and you'll more quickly become aware that you're biting. Easy, cheap, and stylish!

Conclusion

Out of the zillions of zany "stop biting nail" ideas, these methods actually do work. The key is that you have to do these for many, many months. You can't give up because you have to re-train your brain not to bite. If you're like me, you've trained yourself to bite nails for decades so don't expect a cure overnight.

Fortunately, these are all easy and cheap solutions so sticking with them for 6-12 months is pretty easy. In addition to being less gross, you'll probably also be sick far less. In my case, 2014 was the first year in my entire life that I didn't get a cold. Ever. Normally, as my kids go back to school and around the beginning of the year I'd get what floats around the school. But not anymore. 2015 has been just as good. These methods work!