Many nail-biters get into the habit of biting their nails out of nothing more than boredom. ("There's the nail. I'm bored. I know what I can work on....")

Nail-biting is usually attributed to stress; but as a former adolescent who went through a nail-biting phase, I can testify that for me, and for other former nail-biters I know, the habit stemmed from boredom. Since boredom can be stressful in its own way, I suppose stress could be said to have been related to my own habit. (Still, I have to say it certainly didn't feel the least bit like stress when I bit my nails out of boredom.)

On Mayo Clinic's website's, "Ask a Skin Specialist," Mayo Clinic dermatologist, Lawrence Gibson, M.D, responds to the question of whether nail biting causes any long-term damage by noting that "most nail-biting is merely a bad habit that most people break". Dr. Gibson notes that "constant, severe, nail-biting can be a sign of anxiety or compulsive behavior." An article in iVillage's Parenting channel notes that by adolescence as many as half of all children may bite their nails.

Nails grow fairly quickly. There's usually at least a little bit of nail to bite; and when the nail has bitten to the point where there is little left to bit, there's usually a rough edge that can "benefit from being chewed smooth". Because nails that are bitten are usually soft as a result of it, they are prone to becoming frayed or torn. Frayed or jagged edges invite biting because nail-biters generally aim to bite the nail until there is nothing left to bite.

A nail-biter gets in the habit of needing the nail to be "down to nothing", and particularly need there to be no tiny, out-of-line, pieces to destroy the smoothness they grown to prefer.

Bitten nails can be so short they result in the finger tips' having rough skin at the corners of the nails, and nail-biters often feel the need to bite or tear off these small pieces of skin as well.

Many nail-biters are so accustomed to super-short nails they become uncomfortable once the nails begin to grow. In other words, there are times when nail biting isn't some out-of-control inability to stop a habit. There is also the element of simply prefering super-short nails because they're what the nail-biter is used to. Because nail-biters know that beautifully manicured nails are not an option for them they often simply feel free to bite (rather than cut) their nails to the length that feels most comfortable for them.

Nail-biting is common in school children because they spend a lot of time sitting at their desks, Nail-biters often only bite their nails when they're sitting quietly and only bite at other times when there is a jagged edge to remove.

Some children will go through a phase of nail-biting until they decide they'd like to stop. Other people (children and adults) may have difficulty stopping the habit.

It is unlikely that a friend can help a nail-biter stop the habit. Stopping most habits usually rests solely with the person who the habit.

Washing the hands in heavily perfumed soap may help. So can applying a product like hand sanitizer or hand lotion. Perfumes can be the most objectionable-tasting products to apply, and had lotions offers the added benefit of helping to smooth tempting rough nails and skin.

Girls and women can try applying artificial nails, although this isn't always the best approach. Nail-biters often find long nails too aggravating, and artificial nails can dry out the real nails. Healthy, strong, nails (no matter how short) are less tempting to bite than soft, torn, nails.

For girls and women, applying nail polish isn't always a good approach to stopping nail-biting. Some girls and women try nail polish, but a nail-biter will be too tempted by both thick, peelable, nail polish and a single layer that invites scraping with the teeth. Nail polish and remover, like artificial nails, can dry out and damage nails, which, again, contributes to one of the causes of being tempted to bite.

There is one trick that can effective: If a nail-biter truly wants to stop the habit (many girls decide they'd like to have pretty nails) s/he can try the trick of deciding to bite only the thumb nails. It is easier to decide to bite only the thumb nails than to decide to stop all biting at once, because the person is not expecting himself to overcome his urge to bite - only to select which nails not to bite. It's always easier to gain partial control over a habit than to gain complete control over it all at once.

Whether the nail-biter is a girl or woman who would like to grow long nails, or a boy or man who simply wants to stop the habit, biting just the thumb nails allows for manicuring the other nails properly. Manicuring the eight unbitten fingernails can help curb the urge to bite in two ways: 1) When nails are no longer soft and/or jagged they can present less temptation to bite, and 2) Once the individual sees his/her hands looking more attractive that can offer incentive not to bite.

Also, deciding which nails to bite, rather than just automatically biting all of them, can help the nail-biter experience some sense of control over his habit.

One might ask if the nail-biter will need to start biting the other nails once the thumb nails are down to nothing. While there are are no guarantees, very often the individual who truly wants to stop his habit will be able to control himself at least enough to stay with the thumb nails. True nail-biters don't need much nail to bite. They will generally work away at whatever is left, regardless of how bitten down it is. When there's no nail left they'll just chew or bite the damaged skin. Sometimes it doesn't make much difference which chewed down nails they work on.

When the thumbs-only approach is one that seems to work, the individual may continue to bite the thumb nails for some time; but that's better than biting all ten nails.

If the nail-biter can stay with the thumbs-only approach for a while the unbitten nails will become stronger, less soft, less likely to tear, and less more difficult to bite. Sometimes it is enough just to change the nature of the nails enough to essentially turn them into something very different from the thing the biter once found so tempting to chew.

Once nails have reached a normal length (even if short) and return to a normal condition, the thumbs-only nail-biter may want to use a nail conditioner to keep the nails healthy. Chips and frays should be clipped off as soon as they happen. (Former nail-biters may benefit from keeping a nail clipper with them at all times. Once even a strong nail is put in the mouth it can be softened enough to tempt a former nail-biter.) This is when girls and women often benefit from adding a base coat and polish.

Over time the thumbs-only nail-biter may just stop biting those nails as well. It's easier to stop biting two nails once a person has stopped biting the other eight. On the other hand, if the nail-biter continues to bite the thumb nails that habit is not such a big problem; and sometimes a thumbs-only biter can develop the control to refrain from biting those thumb nails in social settings.

I would suspect that the tricks I've offered may not help the individual who bites his nails as a result of anxiety or compulsive behavior; but nail-biters who are over a certain age usually know if their habit is "just a bad habit" or something more.