As I've said in many posts, I got put on antidepressants recently and it's been pretty life-changing. It has pretty much entirely stopped my extreme lifelong habit of nail-biting overnight. I was such an extreme nail biter that when I ran out of nail I'd move to the cuticles, I was almost always bleeding from my fingers, and one of them was always liable to be infected. This is a good thing, however my nails are now longer than they've ever been, and because I've been nail-biting for so long I never had to worry about it. I have no fucking clue how to get shit out from under my nails without hurting myself, and as a heavy smoker that's absolutely horrible and disgusting. How do you guys clean your nails?

  • came_apart_at_Kmart [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    4 months ago

    damn, i should prob go on antidepressants just for this.

    anyway, there was a time when i didn't chew on my fingers like a wild animal and i also was digging in the ground all day with my hands for root vegetables, so under my nails were a nice length but always getting jacked up with dark dirt crammed up underneath so i looked heinous. the trick i learned was, when you're in the shower, act like you're scrubbing your scalp through your hair with your fingertips and maybe a little drop of soap or shampoo or whatever if you hair allows. that does like >95% of the work in a few seconds. i'm shaved bald up top, so i use my beard for it when my fingernails get cruddy. anyway, after that i had one of those nail brushes (linked elsewhere) to finish them off, which i did in the shower with some more soap. all in all, doing it once a day in the shower, it took like 5-10 seconds to keep both sets nice.

    the skull is nature's brillo pad.

    • LeylaLove [she/her, love/loves]
      hexagon
      ·
      4 months ago

      Yeah, it's been massive. I really can't understate how massive of a difference anti-depressants are. I reached out to all my family last night, I finally have the energy for everything. Idk if it'll make that big of a difference for you, but personally I cannot imagine my life without Zoloft now.

      That is such a good idea. I need to shower more anyways, I used to be really good about it but after my last depression episode it's inconsistent. I have super long and thick hair so that'll probably work pretty well

    • sloth [none/use name]
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      Can confirm this is a real technique, if your nails are super dirty just wash your hair with your fingers.

      Between showers I use a wooden coffee stir stick, responsibly sourced.