It helps knowing that I am not the only one, but I still wish there were more suggestions here on how to quit! I have been biting my lips since elementary school...so for almost 30 years now! I pick and bite until they bleed, and I still won't stop! Today my lips are so sore I can hardly talk or eat! I too, seem to do it more when I am stressed. I know it can't be healthy. I am scared I am causing permanent damage that will lead to cancer. It is so weird how satisfying the habit has become. I enjoy the pain. I think that when I am really stressed and my mind is reeling, the pain allows me to focus and forget about the stresses, even though its just in that moment when I am hurting myself. I want to stop because I don't want to really hurt myself, but biting is truly like an addiction...and it's somewhat euphoric in that moment while I am engaged in self mutilation.....ugggg...I don't want to be a freak!
OMG! i thouqht i was alone., i'm 17 years old and i've been thru some touqh times in my life., so that is a mjor factor to why i do it.,but i do it on a daily basis., i can't remember the last time i went a whole day without chewinq or pickinq at my cheek., i do it till it bleeds., i think i noticed that i do it in my sleep somehow. Especiall durinq a test or if i'm nervous about somethinq major! but at least i'm not the only one., but i want to and need to know how to stop? suqqestions?
I started this when I stopped biting my nails when I was 18. I am 27 now and I do see defined lines around my lips, lines leading from my chin to my mouth. The lines are the same places where my mouth stretches when I bite my lips or cheeks. So I can say it really does cause premature wrinkling, as I don't really have any other wrinkles. I chew gum as much as I can, but I still catch myself doing it when I am chewing gum.
Wow!! i cant stop laughing at how many of us "chewers" there are. really, i thought i was alone. i always thought it was so weird. i have tried to stop before but couldnt. i just want the skin on my lips to be smooth just like everyone else. i too have heard that it causes cancer, so that is why i want to stop. but ive also noticed that when i chew gum (which is A LOT), i dont chew my lips. i think i will keep doing it. thanks everyone for the input and im glad we're not alone!
hey guys. I had this habbit up until last night. I figured the only way to quit is tellibg your sub concious mind to do so. Repetition is the key to learning so what i did was, i kept repeating in my head that i will stop biting my lips n cheeks, and if i do without notice, my sub concious mid would stop me. After an hour of repeating this, it magically stopped. It's all in our heads to be addicted and you can all get it out. Good luck and i hope my advice works. It sure worked for me within 1 hour and i had been biting my lips n cheeks non stop (literally) for the past 3 years. Good luck everyone! 1love.
hey guys. I had this habit up until last night. I figured the only way
to quit is telling your sub-conscious mind to do so. Repetition is the
key to learning so what i did was; i kept repeating in my head that "i
will stop biting my lips n cheeks, and if i do without notice, my sub-conscious mid would stop me." After an hour of repeating this, it
magically stopped. It's all in our heads to be addicted and you can all
get it out. Good luck and i hope my advice works. It sure worked for me
within 1 hour and i had been biting my lips n cheeks non stop
(literally) for the past 3 years. Good luck everyone! 1love.
Sorry for double post. i posted the earlier one with my iPhone and it didnt seem to show posted until i checked with my PC. Good luck again :D
Same here! I can't believe I never googled this before since I am SO bad about bitting the inside of my lis & cheeks. (Doing it RIGHT NOW!) Especially the bottom lip. I try to be aware & stop right away as soon as I notice myself doing it but it seems like a compulsion. I even catch myself doing it in meetings & in public which I never used to do. I think it has cause me to look like I am frowning when I am not. like some of the other people who have posted; I am also afraid of cancer.
The skin around the outside of my mouth has even been affected because some times I will push on it too hard on it, trying to get at a rough area on the inside & it bruises my skin or causes an ingrown hair to develope.
I'm sure this is a compulsion so maybe if we look for things to help with that it will help us to stop.
Thanks to all of you for sharing about this. I really thought I was alone in this!
If anyone has researched about this and have found some way to stop it .... Could you please post it? ..... I am very desparate to stop this habit i open to try anything!
Thanks!
I have the same issue and I've suffered with it since I was about six years old, when I was taken away from my grandparents. I never really noticed it when I was little until I was about 9 or 10 - I chewed the inside of my mouth so raw on my bottom right cheek, I hit a nerve. And for some reason, chewing on the inside of my mouth felt unbearably good. As if it were releasing some sort of hormone that allowed me to feel better. At that point, I continued to cut through my mouth using my teeth even though the nerve was exposed. I ran my tongue along it over and over again and kept trying to pull it between my teeth. Eventually, I did, and I tried to bite down as hard as I could. That was a very bad idea. I started crying immediately, though there was no sobbing - my tears were so silent. I continued to try again, and again, and again, but I couldn't bite all the way through it. Eventually it healed over, but the right side of my cheek always feels strange compared to the left. I consider it now to be a form of self harm but catch myself unconsciously slipping into it now and then, even at the age of 19. It's such a strange form of OCD but I have it. A lot of people do. I find that the best way to cope with it is to suck on ice after you realize it because it cools your mouth off and numbs the area - and for some reason, when it's numb, the urge to chew through it just disappears. Another way I've found for coping it is to drink a lot of orange juice and get as much Vitamin C as possible - for some reason when I do, I don't chew on it nearly as often. Good luck!
Hi me too! Im 18 and whenever im upset or angry or even just reading a book or watching telly i start to completely shred my lips and cheeks with my teeth. the more i do it, the more rough the skin gets, the more i do it again! i also have a compulsive urge to pick at my face. is there a name for this? i would like to know how to stop it before i do myself lots of damage :-|
I just came across this thred and after reading all of the responces I felt as though i were about to cry... lump in the throat and everything. I have just started doing this, or at least just noticed it and i felt so alone and so.... abnormal... worried.... freaked out....stressed. I work for a total as****e, who is also bipolar so he has bad days and worse days. it has really taken a tole on my mental health. Ive begun shaking( hands) , eating less, blinking a lot, and the cheek and lip chewing thing. I dont chew so far as to make a hole in my cheek or cause bleeding becuase i am so hyper-vigilant that i notice it withing seconds and stop, but 10 minutes later im back to it. I am also a smoker and usually i get that oral fixation that i need to do something with my mouth when i am not smoking ( which i am also trying to quit) but now i am biting my cheeks weather or not im smoking, eating, drinking, chewing gum, pretty much anything. I want to know so badly how to stop these urges, and not just the action. but i am at a loss for how. In any case weather or not it gets better, i wanted to thank each and every one of you for sharing your story. because even if i cant stop this horrible habbit, it makes me feel better to know that im not alone. xoxo
I found this board after realizing I have yet again chewed a hole in my lip. I do suffer from anxiety and have for a while. I don't remember when I started doing this compulsive chewing, but I know it's been for a real long while, as long as I remember. I feel so awful after I do this and I am really scared after reading some of these posts. I did not know I could get cancer from this stupid, morbid compulsion. I have tried chewing gum but I honestly have no idea how to stop. By the time I realize I'm doing it, I've already drawn blood.
Another random question, can I get oral cancers easier if I smoke after this happens? Now I'm more worried than I was earlier....
Ugh. I have been doing this for as long as I can remember. I'm only 20, but I can recall biting as far back as elementary school. I used to bite until I had huge sores on the inside of my cheeks. I've tried to quit a few times, but it never works! I was terrified of oral cancer a few years ago, but it was only enough to get me to stop for a day or two! It's maddening! And it looks ridiculous!
I've been biting my lips and the inside of my cheeks since I was a kid, to the point where I'd have huge sores. It made eating and drinking diffcult not to mention it looked gross. I've gotten a little better at controlling it during the day, chewing gum helps. So does keeping my lips glossed. I still do it a lot when I'm sleeping though. I tend to bite my upper lip because the sores are less visible and they hurt less.