Consider hypnotherapy.  If you are asking the question on behalf of a child, then hypnosis is an ideal therapy for them: it's fun. My observation of school kids who bite their nails is that they are of a nervy/anxious disposition, so I'd theorise that even relaxation therapy alone (and counselling re their underlying worries) would go a long way towards curbing their destructive habit. Some chew the skin till it bleeds. (If you want my complete answer, I'd say the habit probably has a lot to do with the child's home environment, too.)
John Savage.

I also tried the horrid tasting solutions without success (you just end up biting more carefully don't you?).  You don't say what kind of false nails you tried though.  I tried the 'glue-on' nail tips, which just made the 'chewing' a bit more challenging.  However, I then tried some acrylic extensions, and they were so rigid that as soon as I attempted to bite, the sensation was so different I was immediately prompted not continue.  Three weeks later the extensions were off and I've never bitten since - over ten years ago.  I've enjoyed long natural and sometime synthetic nails ever since.
Jennie.
At 23, though, I am very self conscious during the times when I've gnawed. It just doesn't look....adult. Or professional, or attractive, or anything. there's nothing justifiable or excusable about it IMO opinion so I feel guilty. :) And try not to call attention it it, and promise myself that next time when i get them grown I will not bite.
Jill

I empathize with the nail biting problem. I was a nail biter through childhood, and ever since my teens (I'm in the range of mid twenties now) I have been on a kind of binging/purging cycle where I grow out absolutely beautiful nails, and they get past my fingertips, and I trim them neatly and maintain them for a while....then in a flash of stress I bite them to the quick. And keep them bitten down while resolving to grow them back out...after forever it seems, they grow back and the cycle begins again. It really is a stress/worry factor for me- i simply do not get the urge to bite my nails, and I don't even realize I'm, biting them until it's too late. It's not conscious because if it was, I could control it.

I am 21 and still bite my nails. I bite them until they are very sore and even then I have to force myself to stop or I will continue until they are even worse. I have been doing this since I was a child. No one ever tried to get me to stop, nor did they seem to care that I did it. I don't feel anxious or anything. I'm not sure why I do it or why I can't stop. I have tried many many times but in the end I start biting my nails again. Any suggestions?
UndrnthTheStars@comcast.net
30 Nov 2003

I think nail biting is hereditary... I am a nail biter, as well as my two daughters (ages 18 and 10). I don't know why we do it, we just can't STOP!!!
Michelle
30 Nov 2003
iaksakkath@comcast.net

I can't believe that there is actually information on this! I am in my 40's and I finally have nails (with the exception of one that I picked down to the knuckle). My parents tried everything. I tried everything as an adult. I bit them so bad that they would bleed and yes the skin, too. Sometimes they would hurt so much that I really was in pain for most of the day after I mowed them down. When I got my braces on I started a new habit....picking my nails. (I couldn't bite them but tried). After all of this time...I look back and realize that both habits were learned behaviour. First, the nail biting from my older cousin, who lived downstairs. (I even tried to copy the way she walked, which was from the outside of her shoes in...hard to describe but another bad habit) and the picking from a dancer that did it, who I  took dance class with. She too was older and I just fell into the habit. Unless, you go through this yourself you can't imagine how terrible this habit can be. As A dancer and in school... I was always hiding my hands. It consumed me. I now have nails (with the exception of one that I picked) I religiously went to a nail salon to have those sculptured ones put on. I used to pick them off in the past, but I was determined not to this time. I also went back, as soon as they were getting loose so that I wouldn't again pick them all off. After about 6 months now, I decided that I would try to go it alone without the fake nails and so far so good. Yes, this was learned behaviour for me but I was also a child/adult that worried and still worries a lot. To you parents out there. Good luck with your children. With all of the information out there today...get this habit corrected early. Again my parents did all  that they could (other family members also got into the picture) With the vast network of information out there today, etc, etc,  etc. do something about it NOW! You can't imagine how terrible this habit is unless you have gone through it yourself.
Lenore
30 Nov 2003

I've been biting my nails ever since I was a toddler now I'm 35 and still can't kick the habit. I have a 7 yr. old daughter that started about the same time I did, and I keep telling her not to put her fingers in her mouth and to stop biting her nails for many years. At first I pushed her hand away from her mouth when she was still a toddler; I don't want her to continue any longer because it'll become harder to quit the older you get. Now, that I read your article I'll try some of the techniques the columnist wrote about to see if there's a chance to kick it once and for all.
farabiundo@net.com
30 Nov 2003

I am 39yrs old. I am a male. I have been biting my nails as long as I can remember. I just cannot stop. Sometimes I let them go for about 4 or 5 weeks then I gnaw them away to nothing. It's disgusting and embarrassing. My nails are also very frail and thin when i let them grow for those few weeks. I could almost rip them off with my fingers. I just cant stop. Any suggestions for me?
Mike
30 Nov 2003
mike_davis75@hotmail.com

I am a third generation nail biter. I have siblings I barely know and didn't grow up with who bite and I have others I am around all the time who don't... the ones that do and don't are from my parents of a his hers ours family...and genetically it works out. I think there is a genetic predisposition. Not because of stress management etc. We all function @ different levels of character type. It really seems inborn... any studies to support... if not... I think it's a good one.
IAMDDSMD@comcast.net
30 Nov 2003

I bit my nails until age 32,  when I quit cold turkey because my 3 year-old son started biting his.  I don't think I gave him the idea, but I certainly wouldn't have been setting a good example if I continued.  I don't know if this is considered a "shame" effect or not, but it worked for me.  I haven't bitten my nails in over a year.  I still play with my fingers nervously alot, and rub my nails together, but they stay out of my mouth.  My son is still biting, but I know enough to understand that someday something will trigger him to want to stop.  I just hope it's before he's 32!