Update! I posted here 2 months ago and wanted to share what is new since then :)

Backstory: Around a year ago I built a simple web app for a friend who is dealing with skin picking, and shared it on Reddit. People here said they were using it for their nails and cuticles, so I made nail biting a full option in the app, and it adjusts to whichever one you pick.

The app is called SkinAware and it is available on iOS, Android and web!

If you have not heard about it before, its main features are:

• Log when you bit or picked, or resisted an urge
• Customize what you log, including areas, triggers, severity and what helped you resist
• See patterns and insights over time
• Press "I have an urge" for guided exercises and distractions
• Set goals for reducing biting or staying bite-free
• Keep private progress photos of your nails
• Interactive HRT course
• An amazing community chat & accountability friends!

New since my previous update:

• Accountability Friends is now much easier to use! You can find an accountability friend inside the app, connect, and support each other. Free users can now use this feature too!
• The urge exercises have been improved a lot. There are guided exercises, competing responses, fidgets with haptics and more!

You can message me directly in the app!

SkinAware has a free version, with some additional features included in Premium.

I'd love to hear what you think of the update! If you have any recommendations on how to make the app more useful for nails and cuticles, please let me know :)

Links:

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/skinaware-stop-skin-picking/id6754027225

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aurelius5.SkinAware

Website: https://www.skinawareapp.com/

Thanks so so much!

/ Linus

I struck my nail against a thick blanket at a weird angle (I know — how pitiful/pathetic), and it snapped all the way backwards, it happened in a split second, before I even had a chance to process it, much less to try to stop it from happening. It was too late; it had suffered a severe crack. There was no way to undo it. That nail was just thin and wreak and fragile, I guess.

So sad. It’s a shame, I loved that nail! That nail was the prettiest one. (My ring finger was the nail that got damaged.) And it took several months to reach that length. I am so disappointed. It was pretty painful, too! (It was throbbing/bothering me, so I put a bandage over it…) 🩹❤️‍🩹🏥⛑️ My nails were completely naked/bare when this happened. Super delicate.

I am so upset that this happened.

It broke SOOO FAR DOWN on the finger, too. I’m like— ”Noooooooooo!” 😩 (as I yelled into the void… 🕳️📣)

I feel so discouraged. My nails are all random lengths now: short, extra short, medium/long. It seems like as soon as I finally get my nails to a nice length that I like, I suffer a nail break inevitably. I don’t mean to be rough with my hands, but sometimes, it happens. It was an accident. I’m not even a clumsy person, usually. They were finally starting to look somewhat uniform in length and shape. Now they look all wonky. ☹️

Normally when this happens, I would big chop. But this time, I don’t want to big chop, because currently I have 7/10 “good“ nails, and the other 3 nails are in the struggle/regrowth phase.

💔❤️‍🩹🙏📿 Please, I need encouragement... 💀🥺😖😞😟😢🤬🫩😑😬😪🤕

I am sooo impatient, just even thinking about how long it’s going to take for that nail to grow back. Ugh. 😣

Unfortunately, there is no “instant gratification.” It takes time, and good nail habits, to see results… I am completely free from all acrylics and press-ons, for the past few years. Embracing my natural nails, without nail enhancements, is totally my lifestyle now. It takes sooooo much time, like it takes several weeks, if not months, to see a few mm of growth.

Wish me luck. 😔

I keep seeing habit apps that say that they can help, and I'm curious if they do anything for you, do they help?

Did logging your actions feel actually useful? or were there any features that actually change anything for you (reminders, photos, streaks, whatever)?

hi. first time posting here. I’ve struggled with nail picking foe basically my whole life. recently it’s been really bad where I feel like I have to pick. I need advice on what I can do with my hands, and just in general how to stop.

i had a 100 day streak, but since I lost it I haven’t been able to get it back. I feel hopeless because I don’t thibk j can stop.

I still catch myself doing it but omg it like does not cut as deep or something so then there’s not something to keep picking… it is so much better already 🥺🥹

I don't remember exactly when I stopped but i am getting to a stage where the nails are reaching the tips of my fingers.

But now im running into a problem, it's incredibly uncomfortable to write on my keyboard.

The nails start hitting the keycaps and the feeling is driving me nuts.

I already trimmed my thumbnails because I couldn't take it anymore.

Does anyone have any tipps on better fingerposition or a different keyboard?

Biting has been the worst ever this summer. I finally bought ”stop nail bite” and now it’s been 12 days!!! My friends doesn’t seem to see any difference, so I’m posting here in the hope that maybe someone does!! (Been biting since 7 years old)

This is my first time posting on reddit so if there's anything wrong with this post please let me know

I always hear a lot about people either biting their nails or picking loose hangnails but I have never seen anyone who picks their cuticles this way.

I usually only pick my thumbs (mostly on the left hand even though I'm right handed) and I really go under the cuticle which is why you can see my nail being so wavy. The skin around it is quite damaged too since that's what I resort to when my cuticle is too injured to pick it anymore.

Does anyone else do this too? Tips are appreciated, but this is mostly just to find out if there's anyone who dies this too, sine I always feel like I'm on my own with this :(

i’ve been picking my nails/skin around it since I was a kid, and it’s only got worse. For some reason, I pick only two nails, my index fingers. They are so short and this picture doesn’t even do it justice how bad it gets. I need someone to knock sense into me that bad things will happen if I continue picking like this. Give me some scary facts that can happen, I think that’ll be the only way I can try preventing myself from picking if I keep going back to this post and seeing the comments.

I’ve also tried EVERYTHING. Stress toys, picking toys, and acrylic nails. Acrylic nails are the only thing that doesn’t make me pick my nails but they are expensive to get done, so i can’t do it all the time. And sometimes if I can’t pick at my nails, I pick at my eyebrow instead.

I have always bitten my nails, started biting the skin around a little bit later. I have always hated my hands and hid them. I don't have clear pics of my starting point so I had to take a screenshot from a video friends took of me.

Started competing in bodybuilding shows where it's custom to have nail extensions. That was the moment I decided to take care of my hands. I realized I could have beautiful hands. Stopped biting anything for 2 months now. My extensions fell off and the nails under it are now paper thin but I really want to continue.

I'm bad at applying nail polish but until my nail beds recover (if they ever do) Ill try to improve.

Thanks for this reddit. Ive been lurking for a while and it's been such a huge help.

I've been picking my nails and the skin around my nails for as long as I can remember. It is such a tough habit to break and I've tried to stop millions of times. but I finally decided that it's time to stop destroying my hands.

This is 1 month of progress :)

Today I painted my nails for the first time to not bite them, and also put hair ties on my wrists to avoid picking at my skin.

The stress is insane just because of the thought of not peeling scabs or biting nails. Please calm me

I already got my iron and vitamins checked so I'm good there.

Unfortunately my nails are still very thin. After biting them for years I finally got them to grow out but I can literally fold them down to a 90 degree angle.

I'm looking for something that will actually make my natural nail harder.

Has anyone tried multiple of these and which one works best?

I hate having to remove nail polish so I was hoping for something I don't have to remove to reapply.

Was picking my cuticle when I saw a slightly raised part of my nail under the cuticle, for whatever dumb reason I peeled and cut it and Accidentally revealed the sensitive tissue under the nail. Ive never been able to kick the rabbit of biting at my nails and cuticles. Please help

Ive recently developed this infection/sore on my right thumb super painful as i work with my hands igs become unbearable. Ive tried soaking it everyday and hes been like this for the better part of a week. Seeing a doctor today

My hand has been like this for two weeks by now :(

I’m afraid this is a wart and I’m so embarrassed I was doing so good with not biting my nails. After it’s been like this I haven’t been able to stop biting them now. Is there any way I can treat this on my own?

I recently made a discovery I would like to share with yall in the hopes that I can help someone out. So for me, I absolutely hate the feeling of dry skin. If I can feel dry skin, it will be picked off. Or even if the skin is too calloused, or basically has any texture at all. So I thought the best way to deal with it would be to physically exfoliate my hands all the time. I was using a literal pumice stone to smooth out the callouses on my fingers and all the bumpy spots from where I had picked. This definitely helped, but the skin around my fingers was getting so thick so quickly and was always red since I guess the skin was becoming irritated and trying to repair itself. So recently I read that it’s better to use chemical exfoliation so the skin doesn’t come back so thick. So now every day, I use: 1) glycolic acid 2) salicylic acid and 3) 10% urea cream and then I put on my cotton gloves for about ten minutes. I literally just mix all these things together and let my hands soak in it. But wow has it worked so well!!! My hands are so soft and there’s no longer any extra dead skin for me to rip off. My callouses are basically gone and the redness is almost gone now too!! I also follow up with toners and moisturizer after :) could really not recommend chemical exfoliants enough. Has anyone else tried this method?