Bad habits?

[kiezel]

I always try to leave my hair alone so it can grow and absorb the natural oils, but it seems that whenever I don't wash my hair every day, it gets really itchy.

Aside from that, I have the horrible habits of biting my nails and picking/scratching at my scalp. Does anyone have any suggestions about these things? :(

[Sarahlabyrinth]

No, I used to bite my nails at school until one day I told myself it was a silly thing to do and stopped. I used to dig into my scalp with the corner of my fingernail until it bled. The pain of that took my mind off other painful things which were happening at the time. Used to sit in the gutter as a child and slice my arms with broken beer bottles too - thank God that part of my life is over.

My current bad habit is eating 3kg of chocolate a week:( Not happy about that at all! I really want to get rid of this baaad habit, it is going to catch up with me healthwise otherwise. Oh and spending too long on LHC!

[Loveisaverb]

Well if you plan or even want to stretch washing your hair, you go through an awkward stage of your hair being greasy and itching as well. But overtime, which can take a few weeks to a couple of months you hair gradually gets used to the new routine.

So you could start out if you want to of course, washing your hair every other day and take it from there. As most people washing your hair everyday, is not good for it. You could also day dry shampoo or baby powder as well. Through you may just have a dry scalp or dandruff for an itching scalp.

As for the other habits, you could try painting your nails as when you bite them they taste horrible and for picking try to get your hands doing something else or try to keep your mind on something else.

[freznow]

I've had a HORRIBLE time trying to stop biting my nails. People would tell me "You're a determined person, why don't you just tell yourself to stop?" Didn't work.

What DOES work is keeping them healthy. I put cuticle oil (I just use olive oil and Vitamin E) on nearly every day, clip them once a week and file afterwards. Occasionally I buff them and polish them. Keeping them healthy and free of rough parts on the skin and nail makes it harder to bite. I still do occasionally, but if I notice I try to keep it to one finger or take a moment to apply cuticle oil. Having something else to do helps redirect the thoughts.

[Dang3rousB3auty]

Maybe if you paint your nails really nicely you won't want to chew on them?? Or there is stuff you can put on your fingers that is supposed to taste really bad and make you not want to chew on them. Are you picking and scratching cause it is itchy or is it just a habit? If you need to wash your hair everyday to not have an itchy scalp then by all means don't suffer.

[Rufflebutt]

I have a bad habit of sleeping with my hair loose and wearing it down too much. You'd think the tangles would teach me otherwise, but I never learn.

[Rufflebutt]

I would also like to add that I feel lucky to have never experienced the nail biting habit. My nails are way too hard to even attempt to bite. I'd break my teeth!

[tmb1975]

This is gross, but...picking and chewing my lips. It's a habit I've had since childhood. They have always been dry no matter what I do and if I don't get rid of that thick layer of dry skin, it drives me batty. My second grade picture is perfectly nice until you see the full 8x10 shot where I'm sporting a scabbed-over top lip. Attractive!

Lately my other bad habit is examining my ends and trimming off anything I find peculiar, and there have been a lot of peculiarities lately despite several good cuts. I wonder if my hair was like this when it was long and I was oblivious, or if it's new. I am getting more and more obsessive about the state of my hair though.

[Lauram]

Hair twirling. It's not as bad since I'm wearing it up all the time but I have little patches of shorter hair that aren't long enough(thanks postpartum hair loss!) to make it up, and I play with them.

I occasionally bit my lip/cheek ..I'm currently out if that habit though

[kiezel]

...picking and chewing my lips.


I do this too!! And it gets extremely painful sometimes...

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I think I'll try the nail polish trick...we'll see how it goes.


SarahLabyrinth: I'm really sorry to hear that you've gone through that...and I give my full support to people who have or currently self harm. You're super-strong for pulling through, keep it up. :)

[hybrise]

A friend of mine used to chew her nails constantly. She tried painting her fingers with Tabasco but as a lover of spicy food that didn't really work. What did work was that spray that people use to keep cats from chewing cords and plants.

It's basically concentrated rosemary and BOY is it potent! It doesn't wash off either, my little brother pranked me by spraying it all over my toothbrush (I almost threw up) and I had to throw my toothbrush away. We sprayed some stuff sitting on the counter with it and it was like a warzone, nothing that touched the counter could touch anything that went in your mouth. The taste just does not go away.

We sprayed it on my friend's fingertips and she was done chewing within a week. She still occasionally picks at a hangnail but nothing like the constant nibbling she used to do.

[KittyBird]

My scalp tends to get itchy about 3 days after washing, and I also pick/scratch it a lot. My solution is to put a drop or two of oil on my fingers and massage it into my scalp every day, it helps with the itchies. I usually use a mix of coconut, castor and tea tree oil, but safflower, apricot and avocado oil works well too. :)

[spidermom]

Go ahead and wash your hair as often as it needs to be washed. I tried to go a week on a few occasions, but the discomfort is not worth it to me, so my hair gets washed every 3-4 days.

I used to wash it every day, but it didn't need it. It was habit. I broke it slowly by going every other day at first, then every couple of days. Now I wash it when the scalp hair looks darker and piecey.

I've heard a good way to break the habit of biting nails is to carry a nail file or emory board with you at all times. If you find yourself putting nail to teeth, stop. Smooth your nail with the file/board instead.

[BunnyKitten]

What DOES work is keeping them healthy. I put cuticle oil (I just use olive oil and Vitamin E) on nearly every day, clip them once a week and file afterwards. Occasionally I buff them and polish them. Keeping them healthy and free of rough parts on the skin and nail makes it harder to bite. I still do occasionally, but if I notice I try to keep it to one finger or take a moment to apply cuticle oil. Having something else to do helps redirect the thoughts.

I cured my nail-biting the same way. :) The most important thing for me is to make sure all of the nails are smooth and even without sharp edges, because those are the things that usually trigger me to bite. Occasionally, though, during times of heavy stress, I just snap and destroy every nail on my hand :(. This happens pretty rarely, but I still wish I would stop.

My current bad habit is picking and scratching my face and scalp. I don't have acne anymore, but there are days where it kind of looks like it. I'm slowly getting over that now, which is good, but I'm a little worried that I'll replace it with another bad habit later.

[heidi w.]

I always try to leave my hair alone so it can grow and absorb the natural oils, but it seems that whenever I don't wash my hair every day, it gets really itchy.

Aside from that, I have the horrible habits of biting my nails and picking/scratching at my scalp. Does anyone have any suggestions about these things? :(

Perhaps you have Seborrheic Dermatitus? In my blog, I have a thing on S.D., if you'd like to read it.

Paint your nails with that stuff that's a nail polish, clear, and tastes terrible if you chew your nails. Problem solved. IF you have S.D. you'll need to cease itching your scalp. Sounds weird but it's true.

heidi w.

[vanillabones]

I actually feel guilty about this today, I washed my hair yesterday at this time, and I want to wash it again before work tonight, it just looks BAD and needs to be washed :( almost daily I guess!

I chewed my nails my WHOLE life... hardcore gnawed... I quit cold turkey a few months before I found this site. I just stopped and started keeping them nice. I have had no urges whatsoever. Maybe I will quit cigarettes one day like that, hehe.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Thank you Kiezel. That was not a time of my life that I would care to repeat. These days I have so much joy in my life, I am truly blessed!

[Musiclover94_12]

I have soo many bad habitats, biting my fingernails, picking at scabs, picking at toenails, and worst of all picking at my split ends!!! But I'm working on stopping all of these this year, its time I get back on track.

[rtree721]

My bad habit would be washing my hair too much. I try to go every other day but out of habit I just want to wash it everyday.

[kiezel]

I finally found that clear nail polish works....but rather out of my fear of ingesting the chemicals. xD Go figure.

[WaitingSoLong]

I stopped biting my nails when I was 20...my mom bought me manicure gift certificate and I didn't have any nails to manicure. I felt bad so I stopped biting them (I was also pg with my second child). I was surprised how fast they grew out, just a couple months. I have never bitten them since. When I DO (hangnail or whatever) it hurts my teeth really bad.

I also used to pick my scalp. I have lots of nervous habits but I won't get into them all. I stopped than when I cleared up my scalp. It took an embarassing moment: 2 of my kids had lice and I went over to my MIL's for her to check my head. As she was checking my head for lice (I didn't have) she told me I have red spots and something all over my scalp and I should see a doctor for it (she was a nurse). I never did see a doctor, but I started trying medicated shampoos. That's when I found out I am allergic to coal tar. ANYway, nothign worked. I tried many different shampoos (just regular) and sometimes it owudl clear up but I never found a pattern. Anyway, I have been oiling my scalp pre-wash for a month+ now and all my spots have gone away and I don't pick anymore. :shrug: I didn't t hink I was picking AT something, but apparently I was, then picking at the scabs fromt he picking (like I do my acne).

Something to think about: nails have TONS of germs, because they are porous, you can't really wash them out or sterilize it out so you are putting that in your mouth when you bite AND on your scalp when you pick with your chewed up nails. Mouths also have lots of germs, which you are adding to your nails. You could be perpetuating something on your scalp from this.

Washing every day usually leads to more washing. Most people have to wean themselves off washing because the whole sebum thing, you are stripping it off your hair every time you wash. At the very least, I suggest a sulfate free-poo.

[cldunzie0215]

Does anyone know if "crunching" your hair is bad for it?
I use hair products that don;t necessarily make it ..crunchy, persay, I love them..but they leave just a bit of..crunch -to it. When I figured this out..I became addicted to pulling it or stretching it just the tiny bit to hear that crunching sound.... I really really hope that's not bad for my hair! I've been trying so hard not to damage at all....and If i've been damaging it the whole time...ahhhh.

[millyaulait]

I kicked my 20 year old nail biting habit, my new bad habit is picking off my nail polish. :lol:

[Kayla Nyx]

I had a really bad habit of chewing at my lower lip and the inside of my cheek. DBF and my mom also do this. Though, once I had gotten my braces a years or so ago, I can no longer chew at my cheek, and I've been using moisturizing chap stick to soften the skin on my lip. And with my braces it is VERY hard to chew at my nail, I still find a way to.. I've been wanting to grow them out for so long, but once they get a certain length the tips start peeling away. I have very thin nails. and it drives me batty. I've tried wearing nail polish but I end up picking it off.

[Smiley Sunshine]

I have a serious nail biting habit too, which I'm currently try to defeat by painting my nails! Seems to be working so far! :)

[cldunzie0215]

So is crunching your hair bad for it.? If so, I need to kick this habit ASAP.

[Ealina]

Hm, my bad habit is that I touch my face when I watch tv or read. I had a month or two when tried to wash my face with just water, but that touching made it impossible to keep my face clean, so now I'm back to cleaning products again.. :rolleyes:

[EtherealDoll]

Wearing nail polish stopped me from biting my nails when I was 13 or 14. And cutting them short was helpful, too.
My bad habit is biting my lips. Lipstick and lipgloss don't stop me from doing so. I don't know how to get rid of this habit.

[Ambystoma]

I bit my nails for around 27 years, I tried everything to stop but the only thing that worked for me was to get acrylics for a few months - you can't bite those! It cured me of the habit and now I have lovely strong natural nails. It might be a little expensive, but if you go to a place that knows how to do it without damaging your natural nails, it's a good option for us stubborn biters!

[mckellyn]

I used to bite/pick my nails, and it's not easy to stop! However, I was able to stop just a few months ago, and now my nails are long and beautiful! How I stopped was I started taking REALLY good care of my nails. I shaped them, filed them, cleaned them, and buffed them everyday, whenever I had down time. After I while, every time I went to pick or bite a nail, I'd remember all the hard work I put in, and this would stop me from biting it.

Now I keep up generally the same regimen, but not with such staunch attention.

I do have a bad habit of scratching my scalp, though, and I keep to stop that! I also have a tendency to play with my hair when it's down, so I try to keep it back most of the day, and at night.

Anyone overcome scalp-scratching or hair-playing? I think it's just about awareness and realizing what you're doing when you're doing it... but it's hard!!!

[AineMuirne]

I touch my face too much and pick at blemishes. And I chew my cuticles/fingers. Both of these are abysmal habits that I need to break. D: I'm working on the face habit, and I'm getting better about it.

I stopped biting my nails when I was around 9 and replaced it with the finger biting. I'd rather have my nails look like crap, but I can't go back to nail biting, lol. I have no desire to bite my nails.

[elthea]

Regular nail polish didn't fix my nail biting habit, but I got a scented polish that smelled of licorice. basically, even though the polish tasted bad, I didn't remember I had it on till I already bit the nail. The scented polish reminded me when I got my hand near my mouth. If regular polish doesn't help, the scented polish might. Also, keep a little nail file on hand. ANY roughness always triggered me.

My terrible habit is eating at the computer. I recently lost a lot of weight and I am slightly terrified I'll gain it back, so I'm calorie counting a little compulsively, but I know that will fade with time -- I need to make good food habits NOW while the terror is still in me!