Monday, August 24, 2009

My horrible disgusting habit....

For those of you who have known me for years will know about my filthy habit...one that I have tried to shake over the years..with no luck..until now maybe?

Nail Biting

I know it's gross. BUT I CANNOT STOP.

Flashbacks to my many many issues related to nail biting....here are only a few.

When I was young I would bite them down so far they would bleed. My mom would put that awful tasting nail polish on them in hopes of putting an end to the terrible chomping sound she had to endure. Guess what? That stuff, although it tasted awful, was no match against the urge to bite....

Years passed of constant hand smacking from my parents every time a nail would go into my mouth. In private or public, they tried to shame me into quitting....stubborn teenager that I was could care less... smack away, I will just bite them while you are asleep!!!

Fast forward to my twenties. We move to Calgary, I transfer to a new office. Stress and endless hours sitting at my computer lead to fingers hitting my mouth mindlessly at all hours. The result? A trip at 10:30pm to my dentist friend to deal with an infection related to some bacteria I must have picked up on my fingers and then shoved into my mouth.

Gross...I know...

Jump ahead another few years and I am 7 months pregnant with Cole. In my crazy pregnancy mind I decided to get some gel nails put on (not the first time...) but this time I was determined to KEEP them on. Gel nails would last all of one week with me and then I would chomp them down too....It's as though I would pay $100 for the thrill of the bite...sick, I know!

Gels were too much work - I couldn't do up my buttons fast enough, they were IN THE WAY OF LIFE.

One night I am putting away the laundry (in a rush as usual..) and I shoved my clothes into the dresser and caught my nail on the little edge inside the drawer. The result? The gel nail tore right back with my own nail...I pushed it down, got a bandaid and headed out for dinner with my folks. 3 hours later my arm was red and tingling....I was in a panic and off we went to emergency at 11pm. 5 hours later I was on antibiotics and a week later I was at the nail salon getting the poor girl to drill away the gel nail ever so carefully.

So today, as I am doing some squats at the gym, I notice my pinky nail.....there is some growth to the nail, an actual white nail emerging...trying to say "give me a bloody chance!". I started to think....I have been so busy these days with packing and moving that my hands have been nowhere near my mouth....could this be a turnaround point in breaking my habit after all these years?

I would love to have little nails, get a manicure now and then and finally ditch the site of me gnawing on a part of the body that lately we are sanitizing by the hour!!

Tools ladies...have you broken the nail biting habit or any other bad habit? How? What works, what doesn't? By the time these babies come, maybe I could have some nicely manicured hands to admire during labor!

7 comments:

  1. I have never been a nail biter but I twist my hair incessantly when I am stressed. Then it knots and I have to rip it out or cut it. Equally gross.

    I have no answers! I cannot stop.

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  2. I am not much of a nail biter unless I'm really stressed. However, my bad habit is biting my skin around the nails! This habit usually rears it's ugly head in the winter when my skin is extra dry and crispy. Sounds yummy doesn't it?!?

    I can't seem to stop this habit. I try to put lots of lotion on my hands to make my skin moist but I always revert back to biting.

    Have you tried wearing nice nail polish? I find if I put on nail polish I don't want to mess it up so I bite a little less, but I still don't STOP.

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  3. Sorry Cheryl, I don't have any helpful hints. I have never been a nail biter or anything like that. I agree with Jen, maybe if you treat yourself to a manicure every week you will be less inclined to bite.

    The only thing I can think of that I do is I count things, anything, just ask my husband. That and I outline things in my head, like handwriting, objects, eyebrows... (you can actually catch me moving my head around) oh, I guess that really isn't a habit it is probably more like ODC(obsessive compulsive disorder)or something?! My husband is always catching me and telling me to stop, but I can't.

    I feel like I am playing truth or dare and we are all divulging some of our dirty little secrets!

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  4. I'm sure your taking prenatal vitamins, right? I'm a biter too, off and on (have been since I was a little girl) but whenever I'm pregnant they grow faster and are stronger and I tend to not bite them as much. So, since my first pregnancy I've been A LOT better about it. I still "mess" with my nails a lot though and if there's a hang nail, all bets are off.

    Anyway, if you can let them grow out a little and see how strong and pretty they are from the vitamins, that may help...

    I know what a struggle it can be, trust me!!

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  5. your story the smacks and shaming omg sounded like it was coming from me. Min are so bad the skin around is sore and broken alot. I havent been able to stop either. That yucky nail stuff is nothing for a tried and true nailbiter.

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  6. okay, i was hoping to read brilliant ways to make it stop! my daughter, my husband, my sister, and my mom are ALL nail biters! i find it very nasty and have always had nice nails. anyway, i would love to "cure" those around me. if for no other reason than because i cant stand the sound of them gnawing on their nails!

    good luck breaking that habit. if you find a cure all, i have plenty more habits of my own that are bad that i could use a "cure" for!

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  7. I'm glad to have visited your blog and good to know you! I find it interesting and informative.

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