Anxiety, Stress, and Lip/Cheek Biting
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Guest
i just found this forum and im so glad im not alone with this problem i try so hard to stop but then i just do it again without realizing it and i hate this habit ive been doing it for a long time and my husband hates it! i talked to my dentist and he is going to make a night guard for my teeth thats usually used for people who grind their teeth at night but i cant think of anythng else that could help me stop. so, im going to wear the night guard every time i start biting and HOPEFULLY this will work. i want to stop so bad but its impossible!!! if anyone has a better idea please share!!! : 
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Guest
I am 51 years old and can remember biting my lips (the insides only) and cheeks when I was 19. It seems like the older I get the worse the habit becomes. I know that stress is most likely a contributor but only to a certain extent. It's a habit - plain and simple and I don't know how to quit! My trigger is when I'm awake!!! The only time I'm not biting is when I'm asleep but even then I wouldn't doubt I do it in my sleep. I have bad wrinkles around my mouth like a smoker and my face is always "moving"!!! It's a vicious cycle. My teeth blame it on my tongue and my tongue blames my teeth so no one is happy. I keep thinking about getting a clear small mouth guard that I can use to keep my teeth from being able to grab skin. Maybe using something like that will force me into losing the desire. I am glad to see that I'm not alone in this habit. I certainly don't talk about it to the general public. I'm sure they see it happening and wonder what the heck I'm doing that for!!! Good luck to everyone in finding their own cure!
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Junior
| Guest wrote: |
I do this ALL THE TIME. I'm 26 now, and I probably started in middle school. It's gotten pretty bad, too. I'm convinced I want to stop but the urge overpowers my will. I've started to have my husband call me out when I do it, but I'm doing it again within minutes of him telling me to stop. I now do it when people aren't around...driving, in the shower...and I tell myself to stop while I do it. I feel like an addict of sorts since I try to sneak it behind people's backs! I slightly clench my teeth when I sleep, and when I wake up my teeth have made numerous depressions in my mouth. I get a joy out of chewing it all off in the morning or scraping it off with my nails. What's odd is that I think I'm fixing it by trying to make it smooth, but it never gets smooth! I feel like I have an inner-restlessness or psychomotor agitation/hyperactivity. If I'm not biting at my cheeks and lips, I'm feeling for blemishes on my skin, scratching my scalp, or tugging at my cuticles around my finger/toe nails. I've almost convinced myself I'm a crazy person! I'm certain I look retarded with my lips all crossed over on my face while I try to tug at loose skin in the back of my mouth, or even using my fingers to push my cheeks closer to my teeth, but the satisfaction of tearing off a minuscule piece of skin always wins. Chewing gum doesn't work for me. I use it as a prop for people to THINK I'm chewing gum, but I'm actually chewing my face. I hear attempting to leave the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth or behind your front teeth helps, but it's created a busted taste bud. I'd hate for the only way to quit to be taking prescription medications. I sometimes partake in the mary jane, and I'm afraid that smoking and cheek biting is going to cause cancer. I'd hate to get cancer for something this stupid. -andro |
i dont know what to say i do the same thing!! i feel like a crazy person too. its pretty funny actually! i even went to the dentist so they could look at it to make sure i wasnt causeing horribe damage!! all he said was take up another habbit and quit chewing on your mouth. i cant stop though! ive also started making my husband call me out on it! its not working though!! i just want it to stop and go the hell awway
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Most Valuable Member
Vangie, what you're doing is a nervous tic. It's actually anxiety related and it's known as a compulsion. Do you think that you can talk a therapist about it? I think that would be your best strategy. What do you think?
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Junior
after seeing all these posts i know its anxiety. i was seeing a theraist in arkansas but i just moved again and its taking forever to find one. im trying really hard with all the other probs i have. but like i said everytime ive called they are either booked for a whole month of they have to reveiw my case to see if im worth seeing. im waiting right now to hear from some i called friday and they said they would look it over adn give me a call back. well it two here now and nothing!!! getting irrttated.the only thing is getting on here and just reading stuff and posting stuff. whats funny is it started out by me biting my lips then moved to the cheeks now im doing both again....sucks i know i look like a effin tard doing this and i cant stop.unless i take a xani adn im trying to stay away from them. havent had one in like 5 days now. dont want to get adicted to something else since im just now coming off an addiction. well this cheek biting crap is addiction too. sometimes i can go all day not doing it then as soon as i say wow ive been doing good...i START lol.just wish a stupid therapist wouls see me already i have crap i need to get off my chest and talk to someone but.....they suck
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Guest
Yes I do this too. Actually it's gotten very bad, so I practically can't eat anything now because of the pain. Well what do you want to do huh?? There is a proven method though - and listen close. You just have to find some other compulsion to shift the energy over to. When you are enough addicted to the new OCD you won't have do to the biting, and hopefully the new thing will be some physically unthreatening behavior. I heard this just about now and I'm thinking about what new compulsiveness I should choose... I've had some sort of compulsion all my life - actually the first I got when I was three yrs, now I'm 18. That anxiety talk is such crap I can't believe it; some people are more compulsive than others, I mean it's impossible that I have been walking around with anxiety since I was three years old.
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Newbie
Yes I do this too. Actually it's gotten very bad, so I practically can't eat anything now because of the pain. Well what do you want to do huh?? There is a proven method though - and listen close. You just have to find some other compulsion to shift the energy over to. When you are enough addicted to the new OCD you won't have do to the biting, and hopefully the new thing will be some physically unthreatening behavior. I heard this just about now and I'm thinking about what new compulsiveness I should choose... I've had some sort of compulsion all my life - actually the first I got when I was three yrs, now I'm 18. That anxiety talk is such crap I can't believe it; some people are more compulsive than others, I mean it's impossible that I have been walking around with anxiety since I was three years old.s
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Guest
Wow, I always thought I was the only one who bit their cheek. I've done it for as long as I can remember along with tongue chewing. I do the same thing with the tongue and looking for rough spots. I've never really considered myself an anxious person, yet I bite my cheek, chew my tongue, bite my nails, and occasionally eat paper. I've been able to kick the two latter habits although I'm not sure how to beat the former two. I tend to do them together. If I'm not doing one I do the other so I can't do one more to stop the other habit. I've tried chewing gum but I don't like it because it makes me hungry and makes my tongue feel weird.
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Guest
I have bit my cheek for 10-15 years, even when they are bleeding. Like many of the posts before, I believe it is stress-related. I am looking into alternative therapies such as hypnosis to try and stop. The literature seems split as to whether cheek biting does/does not lead to oral cancer.
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Guest
I recently realized that my biting happens when I'm stressed and have found that keeping gum handy helps during the day and wearing a small retainer (you can also use a sport mouth guard) at night to stop grinding and biting. Unfortunately, I usually don't realize when I'm doing it but keeping gum handy helps to prevent it and popping some in as soon as I realize I am doing it helps too.
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