It worked!! Habit-tic nail deformity

[u/deb0711]

I have been waiting to post on here for 6 months!!

I came across this forum on Reddit about 7 months ago! And realized Hi! 👋 its me I'm the problem and my bad habit-tic! 😂 At the time I was about 10 years in having deformed looking thumbs that I was sooo embarrassed about. I would hide them, paint them and would never want anyone to point them out. I always picked at them, while driving, watching a movie, if I was nervous, anxious you name it I was picking at my thumb skin and nails. The worse it got the more I would pick, they bled most of the time and would always hurt. I saw this thread and saw some progress pictures of a few members and read their recommendations! I was shocked to see how many people were suffering with the same self harming habit. I tried the super glue method, it looked horrible and I'll be honest it almost added to the urge to pick. But after about a week it became better and a reminder to not pick or stop it when I was doing it unconsciously. Fast forward 5 weeks which is the first few pictures, then a few months and then I noticed the nail growing straight again. The nail grew out, and the ridges and bumps grew out, it encouraged to keep going and the last few pictures are what my thumbs looks like now! I can't tell you how grateful I am to have found this thread and community! I hope others see these progress pictures and are hopeful for their healing process. It works and it can be done friends!! I go get them done now, I can hand something to someone without being self conscious which is just so small but makes a huge difference!!

[u/WinoVista]

Is there any hope of getting normal looking nails when it’s been 15 years of having ridges?

[u/Admirable_Election37 → u/WinoVista]

I did it my whole life up until my early thirties before I finally stopped. There are some very fine white lines where the ridges used to be indicated there was some permanent damage but they are mostly smooth and nobody can tell there was any major issue there.