was hesitant to post this since I’m fairly superstitious and this is one of those things that could easily be reverted, but last November I stopped biting my fingernails. I know, I know… it’s gross, etc., but it was a habit of mine for 30-something years, and those types of habits are hard to break.
I’ve attempted this many times before; I even used those hot-pepper polishes and tried a bunch of other techniques, but nothing ever worked. Then one day I was driving the kids home and there was Evan with his finger in his mouth and his nail on his teeth and I thought to myself “NO!”. I don’t want him to grow up like that. So I stopped right there and I’ve been free from nail biting ever since.
I find that I still instinctively move my hands to my mouth every now and again, but I always keep from actually biting them. I’m pretty darned proud of myself, actually. Quitting smoking in 1994 was much easier than stopping the nail biting.