Biting Cuticles- No, Not Nails

Making the habit inconvenient is part of the solution.

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Hm. Hurting myself is not fun.

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I just did a test -- 27 seconds from start to finish (and now I'm typing again, nothing yucky happening with the keyboard.)

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I use a cuticle creme when I think about it that has an awful taste but a wonderful scent (a reminder when the fingers are too close to the mouth). As someone said earlier, replacing a bad habit with a good one makes sense but it's difficult for a new habit to take ahold. And if that creme isn't nearby at all times...
Bandages around the fingers aren't cute at all.

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Add me to the cuticle-biting club!

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should i start mailing rubberbands now ? hbg

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I've heard of that rubber-band trick. I tried it once for something... can't remember what. I didn't remember to snap the band often enough.

My neice is good for this type of thing, but not 100% reliable. She often doesn't remind me to stop and she is only in my proximity for 40-45 hours per week.

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Sorry to go back to a doggie solution, but this might work: There is a product called "Bitter Apple" and you can get it at pet stores. We had a dog that had what is called a "hot spot", which means he would compulsively lick the area until it was raw. The Bitter Apple is applied and taste keeps the animal from licking the spot. I put a tiny dab on my tongue once and I can assure you that it is nasty. I assume if it safe for putting on the wounds of animals it could be OK for humans.

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I'm still amazed that "cuticles" apparently is an actual word! Razz

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This may seem like a weird question, but did you used to smoke or are you a smoker now?

My friend had this problem. Her fingers were literally bleeding, and then she got going on sucking the blood as a habit. It was getting a bit obscene.

Try wearing gloves. Yes, it will look silly, but it worked for her. I bought her a box of rubber medical gloves. People would see her with the gloves on, make a lame joke, and it would remind her of what she was trying to accomplish.

Other than that, yeah , the gross tasting stuff might work. If you are truly persistent though, like my friend, you may eat your way through it.

Laughing

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Interesting...I did quit smoking four years ago.

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flushd wrote:

This may seem like a weird question, but did you used to smoke or are you a smoker now?

I was, quit, started again and am now a part time smoker.

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How can you be a part-time smoker? It sounds like being a little bit pregnant, to me.

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I smoke on the weekends if we go out. I will smoke with my hubby sometimes if I feel like it. But I don't smoke on a regular schedule anymore.

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Re: Biting Cuticles- No, Not Nails

Bella Dea wrote:

I have a long running, nasty little habit of chewing on my cuticles. WHen they get ragged, as they often do in the winter, I try and chew them off. Gross? Yes. Painful? Sometimes. I want to stop so badly but nothing has ever worked for me. I've been trying to stop this habit now since I was 12.

Any suggestions on ways to stop? Sometimes, I don't even realize I am doing it. But my fingers sometimes get bad enough that they bleed and let's be honest here....eventually scar tissues has got to show up. Not to mention putting fingers in mouth.... GROSS

Are you kidding me? I have been doing this for years. to the point of bleeding. I always have some kind of freshly opened wound on at least one of my fingers. It's crazy.

The best is when you get a little piece of skin with your teeth and you pull away, and it peels away almost all the way up to your knuckle...oh what sweet agony...

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Oh Kicky, every post brings me closer to believing that we are indeed soul mates.....

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I think you are probably right, Bella.

So you've done the long-peel thing too? This habit is the one thing I can't beat. I can't believe I could actually quit smoking, but I can't give this up. It sickens me. The problem is that I do it without even thinking about it sometimes. And then sometimes I'll catch myself chomping away, and I'll think, "stop, stop chewing your finger, you dope!" but I can't!

I think I may need professional help.

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Me too.

Why is that?

Why is it that we feel the need to chew our fingers?

Must be that oral fixation. Hm...I wonder if there is a correlation between people who do this and a high sex drive....

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Perhaps cuticle-biting/gnawing/tearing combines the joys of smoking and cutting?

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perhaps try putting somethign nasty tasting on your hands? pepper or.. uhm.. ... .. something. Amusignly all I can think of are things like lemon juice and salt.. lol.. >_<;

Maybe you should keep a spray bottle of water near you and ask to be sprayed when someone sees you doing it? Wink

Koiryu
(who, yes, is new here. Hi!)

(edit: To note that I only read the first page because I didn't see the other 3 until AFTER I posted. Edit also to fix typos, and create new ones. Edit also to go OMG, OWWW at the 'long strip' thing. *cry*)

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Biting Cuticles- No, Not Nails

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