Cuticle Picking & Biting: I need HELP ASAP!!!

I'm 53 and had a real issue with cuticle biting through my junior and senior high years through my early 40s. For the past almost 10 years I've had acrylic nails and did not have an issue with biting my cuticles with my fake nails. I loved them but wanted to give myself a break from them and save a little money too. I thought that I'd have broken that bad habit since its been so long, but unfortunately, that was not true! I buy bandaids and cover them up and let them heal and then start all over again. I do think that it has a lot to do with living in such a dry climate, like where I live in central Arizona. When I went to New Orleans for a week, I was fine and with the Swine Flu scare I was careful about not putting my hands in my mouth as much as when I'm home and am near soap and water and am less worried about the germs. I'm a professional, but do not feel professional when have ugly bandaids on my fingers or leave them out with sores and gross fingers. I have to be fingerprinted for my job and every time the prints come back rejected, probably due to my cuticle biting issue. I am hoping that by learning from others I can finally get off this bad habit. I have never smoked, done drugs, or had any other addiction issues like this. I've got stress like everyone else in the world. I stuff my stress inside and then vent every once in awhile or laugh about it all. Maybe I should take up a more socially appropriate addiction.... I chew on my cuticles more when I am reading or watching TV or sitting down "relaxing". I have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and find that doing one thing at a time is very hard for me. I did better in the 80s when I was crosstitching or doodling while watching TV or attending a meeting. Now I try to play on the laptop while watching TV. Busy fingers are fingers that stay out of my mouth! Others have said that they know how gross it is and I agree, but why can't I stop? The best I can say is that I "manage" it with lots of lotion, bandaids, and trying to keep my hands busy. I thought I'd have grown out of this by now! Thanks. Feels good just to express it!

i have the same fears and picking that you do. i want to stop. i will try the ring thing as well. whenever i am in humid weather, they heal and feel good and i don't pick. it has gotten really bad in the last year for me and i find i am putting so much energy into hiding my fingers. at times, i will cancel a date just cause i don't want to have to hide them. i want to stop. i hope this site can help cause it is interfering with my life!!!!

I've been picking my cuticle until they bleed since I was about 13. My doctor says its caused by social anxiety disorder /obsessive compulsive disorder and perscribed zoloft. It seems to help alot. If you want to stop doing without any meds try clear bandages (less embarressing ) . I keep them on my thumbs, first and second fingers. My husband reminds me if he sees me picking and I don't have bandages on. Hope that helps.

Wow...am I ever happy to have found this site. I've never met anywone with the same problem as me. Nail bitting maybe...but this seem even worse. I've been picking and bitting my cuticles since I can't even remember. My first memory of it was my mother bringing me to my familly doctor's and asking what could be done. Well, I'm 28 now...and still bitting. It's sooo consuming. Hidding it from everyone. Most people that are close to me have noticed, and it's humiliating. Even some people at work. Well the cuticle cream is what saves me a lot. I'll get weeks where it's really good and I hardly pick or bite. But I'm always scared to book a manicure apt. because of it. I also find the glove thing help too. I work alone a lot in a chemical lab and try to leave my cotton gloves on with some hand cream so I don't distroy my fingers. I also try to use motivation like a date or vacation to not pick and want my cute hands again. The worst part is I really love having nice nail polish on...but on my bad days don't want to attract attention to my poor fingers :( I'm actually thinking of talking to my doctor...I can't keep doing this!

i'm so glad to have found this site. I cannot stop picking my left middle finger. It started as urges to pick at the cuticle about 7 years ago now, there is pretty much no cuticle to pick at as the finger itself has swollen into this ugly callisce like mound around where the cuticle once was. I, however, still manage to pick out any little bit of cuticle that grows back. It's really gross and i wish i could stop. My boyfriend thinks it's disgusting, he calls it my 'retard' finger and I am very conscious of it. When i go out for coffee, or put my hand on a railing, I now, almost subconsciously, tuck my mutilated finger under my hand. It is uncontrollable and i catch myself doing it if i am mindlessly watching TV. Going to sleep the other night i even caught myself mindlessly picking at it. It's so bad i wish i could stop! I fervently agree with everyone on this site that yes, acrylic nails are the only thing that has stopped me from getting to it and picking it out. However, that brings up the other issue of how i dred going to the nail salon. I was there about 3 weeks ago getting my nails done and the girl doing my nails looked at my finger and started laughing then, almost disgusted by it, only painted the top half of the finger as if she didn't want to touch it like it was diseased or something! It was horrifying! I never want to go back. Please help me stop picking at my finger, i'm scared the mound is only going to keep growing where i pick and one day i will have to get it amputated.

Just cut your nails really short. You can't bite or pick with short nails right? And ring spinners don't work. You need to do something else with your hands in place of the picking and biting. Perhaps a new hobby that could make those "itchy" fingers go away like crocheting, video games :P, or other things. Hope this helps!

Its good to hear Im not alone with such a serious nail problem ! I am a chronic nailbiter, a habit I have always been addicted too, most of my nails are less than 2mm ( 1/8th ) long, they bleed and throb for days on end, Its impossible to have acrylic nails fitted as there's hardly any natural nail for them to adhere to ! I also ( i know its gross ) bite / pick my toenails, which are almost a short of my fingernails ! the picking gets tiny pieces of nail available for my teeth to get too, the obsession is I must get all my tiny nails the same length so they will grow together ! how silly I know, I am constantly biting or pick them to make them all the same. sometime I wish i could have my nails all removed, so my problem wouldn't be there. I wonder if anyone else bites or picks there nails as chronicly as me ? I'd love to buddy up with anyone who does, maybe try and encourage each other ? lucyharris(AT)123mail.org

I'm 58 and can't remember a time when I didn't have a problem with my cuticles. In the past few years I have come to realize that it is self mutilating behavior. When I was very young I would pull individual hairs out of the top of my head. When I stopped that behavior my compulsion to remove my cuticles began. It is a daily activity that my husband hates. My real fingernails are so destroyed by the behavior that I MUST wear plastic artificial nails to keep from looking like my hands are diseased. I glue these nails on myself. And sorry to say they have little to no effect keeping me from destroying my cuticles. I don't bite my nails or cuticles. I use nippers and tweezers. I have completely removed the cuticles on every finger, though my thumbs are the ones I "work" at the most. I have to say that there is something exquisite about the pain involved. At times when I can't rip my cuticles off I find myself fantasizing about doing it. As soon as the cuticle begins to heal I feel compelled to pull off the new dry skin. I will find the slightest cuticle edge, grab it with a tweezer and slowly pull off the new cuticle skin. Being able to remove the cuticle in one slow pulling motion is thrilling to me. I find myself fascinated by the look and feel of the pieced pulled out; especially the wet feel of the connective tissue. (even though i was only about 5 when i used to pull my hair out, i remember that the fascination was the tiny bit of pain pulling a hair out of a follicle, but also examining and feeling the little white bulb of the strand removed from my scalp). I don't like it when my cuticles bleed, and I have learned out to avoid it most of the time. The raw cuticle edge always weeps some clear fluid for a while which I will wipe away. I then will run a fingertip over the newly sore area over and over again, sometimes for a couple of days until the area heals up enough for me to start all over again. I have taken to pouring some peroxide over the fresh torn area to avoid infection. It bubbles up and stings a little...but that low level pain is pleasurable. I know this is whacky. It is humiliating and I can't bring myself to tell my Dr. about it. I'm already on anti-depressives.. Effexor XR, and Wellbutrin. I can't tell you how much time this behavior takes up in my life. I also have an identical twin sister. She and I have talked about this. She has admitted to me that she has an obsessive thing regarding tweezing facial hairs, (which she does every night with a huge magnification mirror). it makes me wonder if this OCD is genetic. Nothing keeps me from doing this..even if I stop for a few days... I eventually am back to it. Whew. Kind of a relief to get that out. Thanks for "listening". I wonder are there any psychologists, psychiatrists or behaviorists reading the posts on this site?

I appreciate the comment about the ridges on the nails, because I have this on my thumb nails, which are the nails where I push back the cuticles and pull the cuticles off and even bite the skin around it, I can't stand to have hangnails or rough skin, so I bite cuticles and skin around my thumbs until the surface is smooth. I hate getting manicures, because I'm embarrassed at how pruned up my thumbs are after being soaked in water. I have been doing this since before I can remember, and I am ready to stop. I hide my hands all the time, my husband said to me the other day, "That's self mutilation." I catch people staring at my hands sometimes too. I wonder if I can ever get my thumb to heal. I feel better knowing that I am not alone! Thx.

I laughed when i found this site. mainly because i could relate 100% to what everyone was saying. I have been picking at my cuticles FOREVER!!! so 17 years haha. Im a junior in high school and my hands are the most embarrassing thing ever!! i hate putting them on the desk or writing with them or holding someones hand or anything because i know that people can see them. Even if no one really cares i still find it to be absolutely disgusting!!! AND IT HURTS!!! i havent been diagnosed with any disorder or anything i just cant stop doing it! I do agree with the fake nails thing. I recently got fake nails for junir prom and i couldnt pick at them but what i could do was take clippers and still attack them. My mom has the same problem and we both laugh at eachother because whenever we see eachother picking our fingers we hit our hands to stop eachother. We just think WHY DO WE DO THIS!?!? i have tried a wierd clear liquid band-aid thing but then i would find myslef peeling that off in little pieces. I have also tried wearing gloves but i am an avid texter and the gloves make it impossible to text so i just end up taking them off. I religiously put on lotion and have a giant bottle next to my bed, in every bathroom, and in my back pack but they just seem to always be dry. My friends notice the picking and they always tell me to stop and i know that i really should but nothing works :( ITS GROSS!!!!! but i'm really glad that i found this site because i know that other people share my ebarrassment :) like a big huge pick your cuticles till they bleed family :] <3

Thought I was the only one with this habit. I have been doing it since I have been a child. The past year it has become very bad. I find that being nervous is what sets it off big time. I find myself doing it all day and the first thing when I wake up. I hate it.

I can't believe others do this, I have felt soooooo silly for so long doing this to myself. Funnily enough, after reading the comments a day or so ago, I have been really conscious and quite good with not picking/biting. My husband also helps me by alerting me to the fact I am doing it. I dont know why I do it and I want to stop. I have found some great stuff, Creative Nail Design Cuticle eraser. Its such a good consistency, and so soothing. the only thing that works so far anyway, we are all in it together!

I Rip out my Cuticles Till they bleed Then my fingers are infected help me im scared

I thought I was the only person in the world that did this, I have never seen anyone else do it. It is miserable. I have been doing it for 20+ years. My fingers are disgusting they are scabby & red & they bleed all the time. I do it all the time. Most of the time I don't know I have done it until I am wondering where this blood is coming from. It is so bad at the movies I take napkins in with me cause I already know what is going to happen. I keep these slanted cuticle cutters with everywhere I go and I can do some real damage with those. I need help to stop I already take depression meds & meds for adult ADHD. Lotion doesn't help because I can't handle the greasy feel on my hands. I am lost on what to do, but at least I am not the only one. Even though I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

I am in shock at the number of people just like me. I am 25 years old and I have been biting and picking at my cuticles for as long as I can remember. I had no idea this was considered an obsessive compulsive disorder till I read this forum. I just thought it was a gross habit I have. I work at a hospital which makes it all that much worse, sence I'm always washing my hands and the soap they have there dries your skin out like crazy. Sometimes I pick at them till they bleed, and I know I'm working with so many germs, but I don't stop. My fiance always gets annoyed with me when I do it. Like everyone else here, half the time I don't even realize it. Or I try and justify it by thinking I'll stop after this one time lol. It sounds kind of crazy when I put it down in words. This may help the ladys, the only time I have ever been able to stop is when I have had fake nails that were filed to have soft tips. That way no matter how hard I try I can't break the skin and eventually I will stop. The issue with that is I actually have really nice real nails and I don't like the way the fake ones destroy them. Also I'm not supposed to where fake ones to work. I'm getting married in April and I really want to stop. I thought I was just going online to see if there is a product I could use, and I found all this other stuff about it actually being a disease. If anyone has anymore tips that would be great.

I have also been doing this for many many years. I have been told that like the rest of you have that's its a side effect of obsessive compulsive behavior. I am so embarrased. I am 27 years old, married with 2 children and also a nurse. I'm in a time of my life through situation where I am noticing flaws that I never did before and this is one thing that I cannot stand. It is disgusting for others to see, embarrassing to look like and really strips me of my femininity. Seriously. Behavior therapy did not work for me but I was prescribed a steroid cream that "calms down" the inflammation. It works great, but as soon as my skin dries up again I start picking. What it does is really calm down the inflammation and makes even the worstly chopped up skin very smooth but tender. If u try to still pick it feels sore in a way related to raw but soft. If u can get ur doc to give u some, and use it consistenly throughout the day it will help tremendously. The only problem is that this truley is a chemical inbalance behavior and the only way to treat that is to get therapy. There is no cure for this, it just takes self control and some good creams.