HairBolus: When I was maybe 6 my mother bought some advertised fluid to paint on my nails to stop nail biting (I don't think I was a bad case but more a victim of advertising).

Anyway it had hot pepper essence in it which was supposed to keep me from sticking my fingers in my mouth. Instead it made me like spicy food.

Ha, the pepper crap. I had a friend down the street when I was growing up who would not stop sucking her thumb... her parents tried the whole spectrum of crap to put on her thumb so she'd stop, nothing worked.

They finally had an orthodontist apply this contraption on the roof of her mouth that had these spikes, like 7-8 of them, downwards from a bar attached right to the top. It was supposed to not be long enough to do damage to her tongue while painful enough to stick her thumb in there.

We were playing one afternoon on her trampoline, she fell face first, the spikes went right into her tongue and a couple of them bent from the pressure from her jaw and so it was stuck in there. I remember hearing my parents a couple days later discussing it saying the mom was pissed because the emergency doctor told her she was a stupid git for putting that contraption in her 6 year old daughter's mouth because of something as silly as thumb sucking.

CapeFearCadaver: HairBolus: When I was maybe 6 my mother bought some advertised fluid to paint on my nails to stop nail biting (I don't think I was a bad case but more a victim of advertising).

Anyway it had hot pepper essence in it which was supposed to keep me from sticking my fingers in my mouth. Instead it made me like spicy food.

Ha, the pepper crap. I had a friend down the street when I was growing up who would not stop sucking her thumb... her parents tried the whole spectrum of crap to put on her thumb so she'd stop, nothing worked.

They finally had an orthodontist apply this contraption on the roof of her mouth that had these spikes, like 7-8 of them, downwards from a bar attached right to the top. It was supposed to not be long enough to do damage to her tongue while painful enough to stick her thumb in there.

We were playing one afternoon on her trampoline, she fell face first, the spikes went right into her tongue and a couple of them bent from the pressure from her jaw and so it was stuck in there. I remember hearing my parents a couple days later discussing it saying the mom was pissed because the emergency doctor told her she was a stupid git for putting that contraption in her 6 year old daughter's mouth because of something as silly as thumb sucking.

Holy crap. Was this orthodontist a former Nazi or something?

chevydeuce: I bit my nails for years, starting as a kid up til about 7 or 8 years ago...and I would chew until they bled...chewed the skin and cuticles too...hated how my hands looked, so I made a New Years resolution to stop and I did....for about 5 years, then started up again...dammit!

/I don't think it's an OCD thing, but yeah, I do have some "issues" that have never been fully resolved, so maybe there's something to it?

Everyone has some sort of 'issue' that the medical professionals would like you to get help with. All for their bottom line.

/nail biter during stressed times
//some truth to the manicure theory, never bite the nails when they are long

karmaceutical: We were playing one afternoon on her trampoline, she fell face first, the spikes went right into her tongue and a couple of them bent from the pressure from her jaw and so it was stuck in there. I remember hearing my parents a couple days later discussing it saying the mom was pissed because the emergency doctor told her she was a stupid git for putting that contraption in her 6 year old daughter's mouth because of something as silly as thumb sucking.

Holy crap. Was this orthodontist a former Nazi or something?

He was my orthodontist, too... come to think of it he was a pasty ginger, so soulless more likely.

I bit my nails from the time I was a toddler until I was in my mid-30s. Finally kicked the habit a couple of years ago - interestingly enough, when I started getting in shape and dropped about 50 pounds.

Now I have a different compulsion - staring at my nails all the time to admire how tidy they are.

Heamer: I bite my nails precisely and trimly, in private, about once every 2-3 weeks because I absolutely cannot stand the feeling of nail clippers on my fingernails. I've been like that ever since I was about 12 or so, and very rarely does anyone ever comment on the appearance of my fingernails. I've got it down to a science.

Try investing in a pair of manicure scissors.

HAMMERTOE: This is only the first step towards curing those infernal pillow-biters.

If you would stop banging me so hard, I wouldn't be biting the pillow. Now would I?

Nogale: Try investing in a pair of manicure scissors.

I've tried. Anything that involves manipulating a small, metal tool to manicure my fingernails is tactilely unsettling to me. Ironically, I have absolutely no issue with clipping my toenails.

I stopped biting my nails when I went away to university. A few years ago the Mrs. invited my mother over for Thanksgiving. I bit 4 fingernails down to the quick that day. She's not coming back this Thanksgiving.

Heamer: Nogale: Try investing in a pair of manicure scissors.

I've tried. Anything that involves manipulating a small, metal tool to manicure my fingernails is tactilely unsettling to me. Ironically, I have absolutely no issue with clipping my toenails.

An emery board?

Thunderpipes: letrole: Nail Biting is a Learned Behaviour.

My 8 year old step-son has a very, very bad nail chewing habit. He cannot go more than a few seconds without chewing his nails/fingers. It is gross. playing soccer? He is out there with his hand in his mouth the whole time. His dad did the same thing, so maybe there really is truth to this.

Tried a nasty nail paint thing, he didn't care. Already had one finger infection because of it. Not sure what to do. Was thinking about making him wear boxing gloves like Strongbad whenever he is at home.

My family tried everything. Everything. The bad-tasting nail stuff, manicures, bribes. Nothing worked. You're expending a lot of energy on something that's ultimately not that important. He'll stop when he stops.

I'm a picker,

I'm a plucker

A midnight thumb-sucker

/all true, sadly

The question is whether the habit in question a) causes the performer distress by doing it, and b) whether contemplating stopping it causes equal or more intense distress. Nail-biting, hand washing, hair-pulling, etc., CAN be signs of OCD if they must be performed to relieve a feeling of severe distress or anxiety if they are not performed. In other words, does the nail-biter HAVE to bite his or her nails, because they don't feel "right" or "finished" unless they do, and if the biter tries to stop, does the anxiety or distress become worse the longer he abstains from biting?

If you just chew your nails because it's a thoughtless habit and you never thought one way or another about it--it's not OCD, any more than smoking is indicative of OCD. Bad habits can be broken by thinking about it and consciously redirecting behavior; OCD can't without lots of therapy and sometimes medication. There's a shading from OCD and habit that probably isn't as clear; everyone does something under stress that is compulsive or obsessional. I never bit my nails, they're hard as wood chisels, but I bite my lips instead.

All stuff like this does is freak out parents who see their darling snowflakes biting their nails or chewing their hair so they think HOLY F*CK MY KID IS MENTAL! and run for medication to prevent it.

GBB: ok, what about biting the skin around the nail?? What's up with that???

It toughens the skin up and aids in the prevention of paper cuts. It's a useful thing to do when you work with thousands of large sheets of paper daily. I also use my teeth to trim the nails because it works better than nail clippers. It also aids in getting my daily dose of crud to give my immune system something to do instead of going after the joints.