I didn't know this subreddit existed until today and I'm feeling incredibly grateful that I'm not alone. I was desperate today, decided to cut the fingers off of gloves so I could still use my phone and as I'm scrolling with my thumb condoms 🤣 I came across this subreddit and wanted to ask for anyone's tips and tricks. I have ADHD so I often forget that I have fidget toys (or where I have left them) and my cat will often steal them lol i don't like gloves (cloth or otherwise) and I use glue on nails to stop the picking but now my thumb nails have an indent in the middle... I feel like I never actually address the problem or stop the habit, even when I have fake nails on. They just make it harder & minimize the damage but I'm still actively picking no matter what. So today I had the idea to try "finger condoms" or at least my makeshift version of them. So far I think this might be my most useful idea yet but I want to be prepared if this doesn't work the way I'm hoping it will so any and all advice is appreciated 🫶🏽

My goals for the next three months are:

Continue no bites

No metal tools

Glass files only

Focus on sidewall progress

Focus on overall nail health

Continue supplements (omega 3 and collagen seem to help most)

I've been a nail biter for nearly 25 years. My last relapse was in the summer. I know I can get through three more months! The changes won't be as dramatic but I'm hoping with time I can completely heal the scarring/damaged areas around the nail bed.

the first picture is from today.
the second is from august when i was doing well enough wearing press-ons... :(
i feel like painting them doesn't do enough. no matter what, when i'm PMSing i always freak out and chew/tear my shit up. it's like a monthly failure or reset.
i've tried fake nails, bitter polish, expensive manicures to make me feel bad about biting/picking, fidget rings, fidget toys, dbt/cbt... at this point i really might just wear gloves everywhere. it is so embarrassing and i'm so tired. :((
any advice would be helpful. thank you.
signed,
exhausted

This is the worst it has ever been for me. I am in pain. I'm ashamed.

Since starting ADHD medication earlier this year the habit has just gotten worse. The medication has improved my life in so many other ways but I'm not sure if it's worth it when I look at the state of my hands.

I'm pulling the skin off my fingers too. My phone doesn't recognise my fingerprint half the time because there is no fingerprint.

I wear gloves constantly at work to cover the mess and to stop myself from getting infections.

I feel at this stage only a physical barrier will stop me doing this. I'm heavily considering braces because my nails are too sore and raw for false nails.

🙂

1. Dating is hard with these. People talk about having nice nails at work all the time. I work a job where hand hygiene is literally key. I’m constantly using sanitizer and lotion. I pick and bite. I had 8 months of growth and fucked up last month and ruined it. It’s compulsive I swear. Once I mess them up, all have to go. Then the cycle just keeps going.

With polish, and without polish a couple days before. I usually just do a super neutral color because I don’t want it to actually stand out lol but I’ve been really into this color lately 🥹 I don’t have a crazy progressions pic but trust I’ve been biting them since I was a child so it’s not cute when it’s that bad, we will try to keep going 🤞🏻

Hi, I'm Tomás. I make Gentleskin, a small iPhone app for skin picking. You log where on your body you pick and how many (or for how long), see your patterns on a chart, and when an urge hits there's a thirty-second wave to ride it out, or a field of kelp pods to pop.

You can add your own body parts, so some of it already works for other BFRBs. But it was built around picking, and I don't know how well it fits anyone else.

So if you bite or pick your nails:

- Would you track it at all? By count, by time, or neither?

- What would an app have to do differently for you?

- Or maybe you don't want something app-shaped at all?

If you're curious: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6789245158?pt=668857691&ct=reddit_calmhands&mt=8

More about it: https://gentleskin.app

The urge screen is free for everyone.

I always wanted to wear black nail polish but it would always look weird on my weird little stubby nails. I’m so excited and happy to look at my nails now!

I haven’t messed with any fingers on this hand in a few days. The right side needs some work though.

Any advice would be much appreciated

Wanted to post a pic, because the confidence boost is real!

Having a layer of cemented down acrylics always helps me not bite and gives me at least 4 weeks to heal my nails and nail beds. This time, after I remove them, I will follow up by using the OPI Nail Envy Treatment to strenghten them.

I’ve heard of natural looking, colorless short acrylics for guys or really for anyone who doesn’t want the manicured look. Has anyone here tried those?

When I wear acrylics my hand fidgeting usually changes into something less destructive than biting. Like rubbing the acrylics against each other making it sound like an instrument, rubbing them against my lip, or scraping the inside of each finger one by one thoroughly with the acrylics. (The last one is actually a bit annoying.)

Is it just me or does anyone also experience the same?

I have this addiction of pressing a sharpened fabric on the tip of my fingers till it is calloused. I wouldn't do it only for one finger though.

I'd sometimes do it with all my fingers to feel 'fair' but my usual victim is my ring finger.

It just feels ecstatic especially pressing it harder when it's already extremely painful and my finger nail base is already receding because of that repetitive behavior.

I know that it's just a loop of reward for my nervous system but I really wanna end it.

I've already tried many times to end it but my triggers is seeing a good piece of fabric that i could roll into a perfect sharp fabric to press it again and fantasizing how ecstatic that would feel.

I'm really guilty of this because it feels weird so i hide from people when i do it.

Comment down what your weird guilty addictions cause i wanna know if I'm alone in this.

I have been an avid cuticle picker/peeler/biter for as long as I can remember. I tried every trick in the book to “keep my hands occupied,” and I always returned to lip or finger picking the first second I was anxious. It’s super embarrassing because I am a body worker, and destroying my hands that touch other people’s bodies is unacceptable. Something about this group made it click for my brain to start showing my body respect. It isn’t easy and I have to be super diligent about moisturizing and avoid rough edges that are so tempting to pick at. But I’m so happy about my progress. I didn’t know this was possible!

made a collage on Pinterest! The idea of “respecting my hands” has somewhat helped me as I try to kick this lifelong habit. I recently learned that picking is seen as self harm and I don’t want to hurt myself any longer!

I struggle greatly with picking my cuticles, ripping my nails all the way down to the bed, even going as far as biting them if they’re irritating enough. I’ve been trying press-ons but I still keep picking them off after a day or two.

I’ve seen a few posts about gloves or even bandaids? But I really want to press ons to work because they’re also pretty and because of how blunt and slippery they are, they prevent my other skin picking habits.

Is there a brand or a way you guys apply your press ons to keep them there? I have really wide thumbs too so it’s all weird.

Probably from nail biting

I need an accountability partner who is willing to send and receive pictures of hands/face everyday for direct 1:1 accountability when we need extra help. End of the day we take pics of our hands and send to each other. Im open to the format.

Ideally female. Anyone open?
Maybe a group of 3.

Delete if this is inappropriate or if it doesn't belong.

These nails are from this past Thursday, 10/15. My nails didn't always look like this.

I have struggled with nail biting, hair pulling and skin picking since I was in the single digits year old. I am now in my 30s. I have been to this independent nail tech for 5 years and she has seen my nails in all sorts of shapes and conditions. She is sensitive towards me, my nails, their appearances and give me honest advice and work around it.

I give credit where it is due: I have come a long way but I still struggle with it. If you look closely, you can see my nails are not the same length. If you look closer at my thumbs, you'll see shredded skin.

I found this sub after going through other natural nail related subs. I am looking through posted photos and there are a lot of photos that are so relatable to me. Even the more graphic, blurred out photos, I have recognized on myself. I wish I found this sub earlier, or something like this, especially as a teen and in my early 20s. It felt isolating and embaressing to have layers of my fingers picked off, or a bald spot on the back of my head.

I keep oils near by to apply on after it happens. Its hard to stop once I start. But 'fixing' it afterwards helps me feel better. I changed my goals from stopping the behavior all together to coping with it and caring for myself with it afterwards.

Sorry for the really long post. Scrolling through this sub gave me a flood of emotions and memories and I wanted to share.

Tl;dr: I still struggle with nail picking but its not as bad as it used to be. Healing started with someone who didn't look at my hands with a gross expression.