All of my nails are just a strip and barely reach a a quarter of a centimetre apart from my thumbs. My earliest memory of biting them was from the age of about 5 and I have just turned 29 (although I look about 18 ). I think if I was to enter the world's shortest nails competition I would win 'fingers' down!

I hide them by sticking false nails on them and painting them pretty colours but can't keep doing this as it's been years now and I have heard the continual use of the glue isn't good for your fingers/nails. The falsies do grow my nails though but then I just bite off the regrowth.

I tried 'Stop 'n' Grow' many times but after 2 minutes you get used to the bitter taste and I continue to bite away. My nails are soft and weak that sometimes 'no teeth are required'

I have no willpower but know it can be done. A girl at work had nails as bad as mine but she grew hers and now they are so long they don't even look real.

I am just sick of painting plastic and would like to paint my own for a change - any ideas how? x

my cousin used to do this loads so my aunty put some lemon stuff on his fingers,but it turned out he liked lemo So he put plasters on each of his fingers for a week & he stopped biting them.Its a bit random but it worked.Sorry for being no help

I've recently stopped biting my nails after many years, though the temptation is still there when they break.

Having tried everything in the past - stop n grow, no pocket-money (OK that was about 30 years ago), the only way to stop - will-power!

Get braces. Makes it impossible to bite them

I agree - will powers the only way. As a kid I had a really bad nail biting habit, but I somehow managed to make myself stop and grew them really long.

Now days though, I usually pull them off because it's difficult to play the guitar with long nails never mind.

grow them a tiny bit and get a proffesional to put clear gel on them , they go so thick its impossible to bite, i'm an avid nail biter and it works for me every time i have an event i want nice nails for...after a couple of weeks they will be long enough for coloured gel or french manicure gel

The only way I've managed is acrylic nails - they're so tough you can't bite them but like catloverrjules says, you will need to grow them. I've had the nails on for a about a year and my own nails seem okay underneath (do make sure you go somewhere reliable - I've had lot of people admire mine and I've always passed on the details but I've had some horrors in the past).

OMG! I had braces and after snapping the wire a few time I got nail biting looking like Metal Minnie down to a fine art

Thanks for the replies in general though - will try to grow them a bit (to a 'bigger strip' at least ) and get the gel thing that has been mentioned x

some people get acrylics on their nails to stop biting them

Get some Stop n Grow.

Go for a manicure without getting falsies. You won't want to bite them because they'll look good and you won't want to waste them when you've spent money on them.

Just think of all the germs that are on your hands:

If that doesn't make you want to stop biting nails then I don't know what else does.

Stick your finger up the dog's bum!!!!

Rub a green chilli on them.

My friend used plasters around the fingernails that she chewed - It doesn't look fantastic but it did get her out of the habit of chewing them.

I managed to finally grow my nails in my late twenties , the first time i'd ever had long nails. Well, long for me...ie, with white bits just over the tops of my fingers!!!

(And i started wearing rings and not being horribly embarrassed every time i wrote cheques or signed the switch/maestro transaction in shops! )

The technique i was recommended was to put a coat of clear varnish on every day for a week , dont remove the old stuff just paint on top.

then after that first week, take it all off and start the process again.


And i still do this now - i find that if i dont put the varnish on over a few weeks, then I relapse and start biting ... So its an ongoing routine.

good luck, its really worth it to be able to admire your first ever nice nails! And know that youve finally done it

Wish I could stop biting mine, the only way seems to be willpower which I don't have.

I do paint them, but i've also got a habit of peeling off all the varnish, and then munching on my nails again.

I might try some falsies sometime, that might help me grow out of it.

I used to bite all the time, then I decided to grow them for a wedding, realised how gorgeous they looked and never bit them again, now I can't bear it if my nails aren't immaculate. I don't like them long, I like not much growth at all, I find it looks quite dirty and unhygienic, but pushing the cuticles until you can see a half moon gives a nice illusion of longer nails.