How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?
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How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?Well i'm one of these people who bite their skin off on their fingers!
anyone who's done this before, any tips on stopping urself? i get to points where most of my fingers sting because i've ripped them to shreds!
its an annoyingly bad habit,and i knda need to stop before july, as i'm going trekking in india and i've been told never to put my fingers in my mouth! which is hard for me!! lol -
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?Apoc i have had the same problem for absolutley years. I've stopped now though, although i do sometimes pick at my fingers when i'm particularly stressed or particularly bored. I stopped by whacking plasters on my fingers until they were fully healed and it didn't look so sketty, so i was happy to leave them alone. I also practiced spinning pens in my fingers and stuff to keep my fingers busy. You're not alone dude!
edit: typo -
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?try that nail biting icky tasting stuff?
stopped me doing mine .... it is rank... cant eat with hands even when its first put on...
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?I covered mine in plasters to let them heal as much as possible (on the basis that if there's no bits to pick and peal off then I won't do it) and occupy my mouth with something else (chewing gum, my pen - I guess chewing gum is better).
I still do it - nowhere near as much or as badly though and only when I'm really stressed.
Good luck with stopping =) -
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?i've tryed that...but i cant find it anywhere, my sister used to have it for her nails, but that was years ago...where do i get it from?(Original post by x-pixie-lottie-x)
try that nail biting icky tasting stuff?
stopped me doing mine .... it is rank... cant eat with hands even when its first put on...
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?I do it aswell!! It doesn't look as bad in the pictures but it's worse, some of them often bleed. That stop biting nails stuff never bothered me.
http://www.beforedark.co.uk/theronkinator/finger.JPG -
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?Dandelions work as well as that 'icky nail stuff' I realised. I dont think there is a cure to it though if uve been doing it along time or its your nervous habit or something. Ive thought bout trying plasters but I'm sure people would just think you had warts
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?i used to do that but sometimes its just one of them habits that you grow out of. try walking round with hands in pockets or keep something in your hands like a bag so theyre always never free, or try it for an hour a day, then 2 hours a day and keep increasing it
and when youve finished, reward yourself 
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?People just asked me why I had plasters on so many of my fingers. I don't think anyone assumed I had warts(Original post by AllyPally)
Dandelions work as well as that 'icky nail stuff' I realised. I dont think there is a cure to it though if uve been doing it along time or its your nervous habit or something. Ive thought bout trying plasters but I'm sure people would just think you had warts -
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?I think I just associate it with my cousin from when I was a child who had very warty hands(Original post by HacklyFracture)
People just asked me why I had plasters on so many of my fingers. I don't think anyone assumed I had warts -
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?Man that must hurt, I have eczema on my legs (which bleeds a lot when I scratch) but I bet that hurts more.
Put cream on it like E45, it tastes horrible, although my dog loves it. He licks my legs anyway when bleeding or not, it's an instinct thing but he loves licking them with E45 on.
Also put on the same sort of stuff they use to stop biting your nails, whatever foul gunk works though. If you hate a particular food like mustard or Marmite then put that in with the E45 and see if that takes the edge off the urge.Last edited by JMonkey; 02-05-2009 at 22:00. -
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?Again revisiting my childhood. The 'juice' from the inside of the stem tastes truely awful if you get that on your hands. Obviously if a dog has p***ed on it then the taste will be even worse(Original post by wallflower*)
How? do you just rub them on to your skin?
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?I use to have the same bad habbit, i think mine was nerves.
I have a job where i have to wear gloves 12 hours, so im not able to bite them, so maybe try wearing gloves, I tried that horrible nail stuff, but after time it appeared to wear off, or i got used to the taste lol. If i drink and get stressed I dont bite my nails, but do rip them off which is bad lol good luck x -
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?http://www.mentholatum.co.uk/product-stop-grow.aspx(Original post by apocalipse117)
i've tryed that...but i cant find it anywhere, my sister used to have it for her nails, but that was years ago...where do i get it from?
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?I do this too, it's called Dermatillomania and is usually caused by anxiety/nervousness. What would be best is to identify when you do it and why so that you can try to identify events/feelings that trigger it. This is a bit trickier than it sounds though and can prove difficult on your own.
There are many websites with useful help and advice and you'll be able to find others too, this one is particularly good - http://skinpicking.proboards.com/
Oh, and the nasty nail stuff you can buy from somewhere like Bodycare but beware it transfers onto anything you touch - including food!
Best of luck! -
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Re: How do i stop ripping up my fingers!?WHAT? There's other people out there like ME? Omg...(Original post by lowrax)
I do this too, it's called Dermatillomania and is usually caused by anxiety/nervousness. What would be best is to identify when you do it and why so that you can try to identify events/feelings that trigger it. This is a bit trickier than it sounds though and can prove difficult on your own.
There are many websites with useful help and advice and you'll be able to find others too, this one is particularly good - http://skinpicking.proboards.com/
Oh, and the nasty nail stuff you can buy from somewhere like Bodycare but beware it transfers onto anything you touch - including food!
Best of luck!
Anyway, OP, like yourself I am a horrendous skin biter/picker around my nails or biting my nails... I regularly infect my fingers from picking at the cuticles. The thing is, I've been able to stop from time to time but as soon as something happens to damage the apperance of my ok fingers/nails I start again.
Maybe it is an obsessive disorder, I could understand why because once I've started I can't finish until I've "neatend" the nail I've been attacking which usually involves making it bleed....
To stop, well I've tried the nail biting stuff (you can buy it from boots/superdrug), but I hated the fact that I couldn't lick my fingers after eating nice food or whatever (I suppose in your case this wouldn't be a problem). The only way I've managed to stop before (of course, I've managed to relapse again) is to become obsessed with making my nails look ok. So instead of biting my nails I filed them. And I bought a nail and cuticle cream that I rubbed into my fingers instead of biting them, which also helped remind me as it had a funny taste if I absent mindedly put my fingers in my mouth. A lot of it though is controlling your mind. You actually have to be determined to STOP. Will power is needed. Hence why I spend a lot of time stopping and then starting again.
Good luck.
and when youve finished, reward yourself 
