proud2begeeky

I’m 24, and I’ve been biting my cuticles and the skin around the tip of all my fingers at least since I was 10. I also bite the knuckle of my right middle finger, a new addition as of about 16. I remember trying to stop once in high school—I decided to do one hand at a time, so I stopped biting one hand entirely (I don’t remember which), and I did great until the new skin started coming in, and it didn’t adhere properly to the old skin. It just kind of grew over in a bubble. And then any little thing would snag it and I’d just have a loose flap of skin, which of course I had to bite off… I couldn’t just leave it hanging there… And that was the end of my foray into quitting. But as of about a month ago, I came up with a new plan, and it seems to be working. At any rate, I’m further now than I was then. I’ve been slathering neosporin on each fingertip (admittedly, this works for me because my problem is almost entirely around the nail; I’m not sure how well this would work if you bite a larger surface area), and putting a band-aid on it each night. Then I leave it on as long as I can the next day (meaning until I need to do something that will get my hands wet, require manual dexterity, or require me to be in public and inside longer than I can reasonably get away with wearing gloves) (I’m a property manager, so this part admittedly may not work as well for someone with a more normal job). During the day, I’ve also been using neosporin by itself to rub into the spots I usually bite. I’ve heard lotion recommended, but I prefer neosporin because I find it heals faster with neosporin than with lotion and also because lotion has alcohol, which stings if you have been biting; neosporin does not. End result: after about three weeks of this, my fingers look almost normal. They’re still pink at the tips, but much less than they used to be. There’s still scar tissue on my knuckle, but I get the feeling that’s just staying there as a reminder, and it’s paler and softer than it was. I’m not marking this goal done until I’ve been a month without the band-aid every night treatment, but this is really working for me.

Umm… I drive now. I think this is a good thing.

Exceptionally time-consuming, but equally satisfying.