During Britney Spears’ highly publicised meltdown of 2007, I read one article that’s always stuck with me.
“Sporting chewed-down nails, a shaved head and an intense expression,” the article wrote in its description of Brit after she smashed up a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella.
Britney’s messy nails were a sign of disorder, mental instability and a lack of discipline, according to this article. And although I generally don’t take life advice from tabloid magazines, the stigma attached to adult nail biting has stuck with me over the years.
The habit is seen as childish, undisciplined and unhygienic. And rightly so: nail-biting can expose you to tons of germs, lead to skin infections, and mess with your teeth. Knowing these things, it seems ridiculous that I—an on-paper grown-up in my mid-20s—would keep picking on my poor nails whenever I was bored or stressed.
But despite the shame, nail-picking stayed with me into adulthood: long after I stopped over-plucking my eyebrows, parting my hair in a right ponytail with two strands at the front, and committing other style sins of the ‘90s. I just couldn’t shake the habit.
Top Comments
I had a friend who was always chomping on her nails. I told her Mum I would cure her. She had immaculate hands apart from her nails, though what there was of them was always clean. Or so she thought. I took a scrapping from under one part nail and placed it under a small microscope I had. Then let her see what she was chewing on and she could see small microbes. From that day to this she has never bitten her nails again and that was over 30 years ago.
I quit when I was 22 and got engaged - my mum said, "everyone's going to want to see your ring, better stop biting your nails!". They aren't always long and painted, but I haven't bitten them in 18 years.