This is a shocking choice for the NYT. I’m uncomfortable getting my news from an organization that deems this print-worthy.
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I was a life-long nail-biter. I really enjoyed it. I let my nails grow out to a certain length, then trimmed them by biting. Yes, I have an oral fixation. I sucked my thumb as a child. My nail-biting was cured quite suddenly this summer due to having all my digits but two amputated. (An infection that turned septic required vasopressors.) I don't recommend this "cure."
Looking at someone chomp and tear fingernails with teeth is unaesthetic and unseemly. But it hurts more than those engaging in the practice
Afterwards, bacteria, viruses and fungi from saliva and underside of the nails are on the biter's hands. Unless they practice aseptic technique and thoroughly wash their hands afterwards (a dubious proposition among these type of compulsives), there then is the potential to spread contagion to another via manual touching.
Hence, those with a social conscious should stop biting their nails.
LeBron James used to do it on the bench early in his career. As a Cavs fan and microbiologist I am glad he stopped.
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Another possible negative consequence of nail biting: problems with your TMJ!
Disgusting. Equally repugnant as nose picking. Neither behavior is appropriate self grooming.
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Life long nail biter caused by nerves, and an oral fixation. I can go weeks without biting and then bite them all down in a few days. I am careful not to go too low, because it hurts like hell. Benefit I tend to floss my teeth with the bitten nails inside my mouth. I chew them up and spit them out. I have crushed my own jaw from night gritting.
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Ugh. I have been a nail biter all my life. I was punished as a child and felt ridiculous as an adult. I’m compulsive.
I started biting my nails because they were always ragged. Always. Turns out if I take A LOT of biotin for at least 6 months I can grow out stronger nails that I can at least maintain a semblance of normalcy with. Not great, just ok. I still bite my nails because I’ve spent decades doing so, but it’s more controlled.
I guess to me this article is like someone who doesn’t have addiction problems urging people to go ahead and have a little taste of heroin.
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I wish I could bite my nails. I have an open bite from mediocre orthodontia. My teeth don’t come together closely enough to snip off a nail. In general, I think the habit of nail biting is gross, but it sure would be handy to be able to snip off a random hangnail without a nail clipper handy.
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I am not a medical doctor.
Nail biting is a behavior.
Nail biting may have a purely psychological cause or it may have a biochemical cause or it may be due to a combination of psychological and biochemical causes.
I used to be a terrible nail biter often destroying a whole nail.
A quack freudian psychiatrist told me I was really biting my mother's nipples.
Fortunately I read of a biochemical condition in a biochemistry text that had nail biting as a symptom.
I self prescribed certain vitamins which stopped the nail biting.
I make no recommendations that others take any supplements.
I do recommend that nail biters have a full MEDICAL examination and that severe nail biters be evaluated by a MEDICAL doctor experienced in inborn errors of metabolism.
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I just stopped a 40 year habit of nail biting. My neurotic behavior is now looking at my nails and pushing myself not to bite them. DSM is a textbook for psychiatrists to figure out how to get paid by insurance companies or when they don’t know what, if anything, is wrong with you but still want a repeat customer. My long nails prevent me from effectively using my iPhone APPs. In fact I’m going to put a stop to this neurosis and have a bite or two. I never did like the smell of nail polish.
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Something the author failed to mention is the unique odor (neither flowery or cheesy) of a sliver of nail. I usually nip a nail, then continuously break it into smaller and smaller bits. When there are about 10 bits, i remove them with my fingers and smell them- seriously- it’s a totally unique smell that is not foul, nor sweet.
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@Mr. JJ - But that could be only happening with yourself. I bite my nails to he knuckles and have never noticed any odor/smell.
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I'd love to be able to keep my nails trim by biting them. It would be so convenient. I tried it years ago. Either my nails are simply too tough, or perhaps one needs that nail biting instinct--which I lack--to spend the necessary time and effort.
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I agree
Nailbiting is an obsessive-compulsive problem. If you don't think it is just try to stop, nailbiters. I bit mine for an endless number of years after my adult teeth came in - maybe 40. I didn't stop after I cracked the first front tooth and I didn't stop after I cracked the second. After a third front tooth needed to be capped after all the jackhammering led to the need for a root canal & cap, I finally began to give it up but mostly because the cap didn't give me the same edge needed for the biting. It was nerve racking for a while getting used to not being able to do it. It's quite possible that the habit has the single benefit of improving a biter's immune system but I would have preferred to never have this as an issue in my life. If your children start this as a habit, I recommend getting them some help from a doc who understands the OCD nature of the problem.
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I used to bite my nails, emphasis on USED to. I started to develop a theory that I was getting sick after I bit my nails. I bit them every few weeks or month when I had stress at work or finals, etc. I kept track and didn't try to curtail my nailbiting while I did my experiment. Eight out of nine times that I bit my nails (and I have always scrubbed my nails when I handwashed) I got sick within 3-4 days. Now I wear nail polish 100% of the time, can't remember the last time I bit my nails, and don't get sick as often.
No matter how clean you think your nails are? They aren't as clean as you think. (Besides, bitten nails look unprofessional at work and no one should be biting their nails in public, which I see increasingly more frequently).
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@Smith
Maybe you aren't getting enough vitamin D. If you're not, it means your immune system is running on only two or three out of four cylinders. I find it hard to believe whatever was under your nails was making you sick. I've always played in the dirt, and I don't wash my hands much, on the theory that my microbiome is healthy and protective, and my immune system functions well.
As a kid, I went wading in the swamp, looking for critters, and turning over logs in the forest. We had a dog from when I was born, and as a toddler, I was all over the dog. Heck, one time, when I was two, I actually put something in my mouth that the dog had left on the basement stairs (and it was only when Peter Sagal on Wait Wait mentioned a then new study that said people are not born with disgust, they acquire it that I understood how I was able to do that).
At age four, I discovered that all the empty soda bottles on the beach weren't quite empty, and I drank from every one I could find. (In a couple of cases, the "soda" tasted sour, and it was only years later I realized that had been my first taste of beer.)
None of this made me sick.
For those who don't know about vitamin D and the immune system, here's a good source from NIH
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2290997/
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I wish I could stop
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Cringe worthy. It's dirty and disgusting. No thanks.
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Yes! Yes! Yes! Finally, someone who gets it. I've been shamed by the best of them...would need an extra nail bitten hand to count how many nuns have slapped by hand away from my mouth.
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Bacteria trapped under fingernails doesn't get cleaned out by washing - that means MRSA and or another superbug can get chomped on too.
For anyone trying to STOP biting - one thing that happens from having your hands in your mouth all the time is your fingertips dry out. Once those fingertips feel dried out, they may only feel comfortable when they're wet in your mouth. Slathering on a good hand cream and socks over your hands can stop the urge to bite.
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It is incredibly gross - I sit behind a woman who chews her nails compulsively thorough a two hour lecture twice a week. It would not be an order of magnitude more gross if she picked her nose for the same period.
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A lifelong nail-biter, I finally cracked a front tooth and ended up spending a small fortune, first on repairs, and eventually on veneers. As my mother always said, “DON’T BITE YOUR NAILS!”
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I dated a nail biter. After 10 years of biting he gave in to my attempts to get him to stop. Three weeks later he broke up with me.
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I carry nail files with me. File the rough edges . It helps
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It's tactile. That's the lead dog. No doubt there are other things going on, but it's really a tactile thing. NEXT!
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I read somewhere that nail-biting indicates that the biter does it out of spite towards a parent. I was a biter until vanity took over and I took up nail enamel and/or buffing my nails. I think using teeth to clean nails is okay, too. The teeth are there, and so is saliva. I almost never get a cold. Thanks for the good thoughts. I feel vindicated. A natural woman. Grrrr!
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In me, it's a sure sign of too much caffeine.
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I've, after years of biting, stopped. I've stopped before. Then just as with a reformed smoker, I think " I can bite just one", two hands later my nails look as good as if I used a clipper. As the writer of this essay points out, its an art, it calms you down, it helps you focus. I have been on the no-biting wagon for five years, with small occasional lapses. For those of you that bite, you'll love this article, for those that have never bitten a body part, no need to start, but like many things, perhaps you should just try a small taste.
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Finally, someone understands me and my mostly benign habit.
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Never imagined I'd read an article of a like-minded adult about nail biting. I methodically bite to shorten at least once a week with a tiny dish at hand where the nipped pieces go. An avid gardener needs short nails.
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I’m a subscriber from the UK.
In a strange coincidence a story about about a Grandfather who nearly died from sepsis caused by chewing fingernails featured in a few papers and on TV today.
Googling for “sepsis nails” brings up a number of similar stories here.
You have been warned!
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Aside from the fact that nails are filthy, it doesn't look nice to bite nails in public. I was a serious nail biter all through elementary school. In fourth grade, our principal sat in on our class. At the end of it, he came over and whispered in my ear that it did not look like a nice to see me biting my nails. I ignored his comment. When I was in the eighth grade, during the first exam period in the autumn, I noticed I stopped biting my nails. I haven't done it since. I occasionally will nibble a corner to smooth it out, but an emery board is much better.
I can't think of one plus to nail biting. You can analyze it all you want. The bottom line is like removing something from your nose, scratching a private area, nail biting should be done in private. Unlike the other two, the evidence is on your hands for all to see. I wouldn't be bragging.
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After having bitten my fingernails for over 50 years I stopped just like that. My jaw was hurting something awful so no more biting for me.
Funny thing, I don’t miss it a bit. Nail clippers are wonderful!
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I am a longtime nail chewer and I don't agree. First of all, as a mother and grandmother of many kids, no matter how much you wash your hands, you are risking picking up their colds or whatever.
Also, several years ago I started having a horizontal crevice appear at the top of my nail bed separating the growth of the nail. It took forever for the nail to grow out and there was no continuous nail on that finger for a long time. This happened with multiple nails. Since this was obviously not okay with me, I decided to curtail nail biting becauseI wondered if the gentle pulling of the nail with biting caused the separation. Since I don't seem to have the problem anymore, I think I may have been right.
Although even though I try hard not to bite my nails and have decreased doing so a great deal, I inevitably do bite them when nervous. Therefore, it is rare that I need to cut them.
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I have been a life long biter. People always told my mom that I was experiencing some trouble in my mind. My mom would sew little bags and put my hands in them when I was tiny. I was terrified of them, but it never stopped me from chewing. I never thought it was a problem in my head, but did it primarily when I was thinking deeply, or when I was engrossed in reading. I have worn my teeth to stumps in my old age, as I am now almost 73. But my biggest concern now, after chewing and swallowing for a lifetime, does swallowing all those nails cause cancer?
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As a former nail biter, I finally stopped at age 36 (some 30 years ago) when this following combo became the perfect motivation: 1) my loving husband, knowing how much I reveled in a challenge, bet me I couldn't stop chomping; 2) I began to read several newspapers a day for my work and ultimately realized how disgusting (and toxic) news-print can be to one's mouth and stomach; and 3) when the rest of me began to assume the elegance and pride of a businesswoman in her late 30s and learned that the CEO of the ad agency where I worked stopped his nail biting habit this way: One. Nail. At. A. Time. As I began to see a beautiful nail - and two and four - emerge from all that previous carnage, it wasn't long before I stopped entirely, saw both my hands clean and groomed and treated myself to my first manicure. That did it for me. Now I can't even bear to HEAR the sound of a nail biter.
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Finally an article about my one and only habit. I started when my beloved grandmother left for Florida 64 years ago. She had always worked on her nails orally and this was the connection my three year old mind devised to maintain her comfort in my life. I have tried stopping many times but often I end up using the nails to enjoy scratching. I have always gone back and enjoyed the feast that the fast has produced. I am allowing myself to keep the habit since unlike other habits, it does not cause cancer, it is free and saves me the expense of getting my nails done plus they are self-renewing!
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Excellent article.
My only caveat would be to be careful and the strong chew where you snap through the nail suddenly and the tips of your teeth clap together. I chipped a tooth this way. Dentist told me to stop chewing but instead I just got more careful.
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Yes! I call it non-compulsive nail biting and I feel its quite rare.
Strange to see someone share my exact sentiments about it.
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What are you supposed to do with the chewed nail? Eat it? Spit it out? Is it okay to chew toenails?
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@Liz When she was a kid, my sister used to chew her toenails in an effort to avoid chewing her fingernails, which she thought was gross. (I think she's probably outgrown that habit by now.) I was never so limber, although I can still fold myself up nose-to-knees.
When I was a kid, I would often bite the chewed-off nail down into crumbs with my incisors so I could swallow it, particularly if I was in class. My nail-biting got so bad, I took to nibbling the nail folds instead, and only if I had a really strong urge.
As an aside, Sylvia Plath once wrote in detail about the pleasure of picking her nose; as a Sylvia-obsessed teen, I remember reading this in her jounal. (It never quite equals the perverseness of Erica Jong's writing of defecation in Fear of Flying.)
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@Liz If you can get your foot to your mouth, more power to you..
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Chew into small pieces and swallow or remove the nail from your mouth and toss it away.
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I stopped this life long habit when I realized I had worn a small groove in one of my top front teeth. Also I suspect that my adult problems with TMJ was from the constant aligning of my top and bottom teeth to nibble my fingernails.
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