HOW I STOP: When I notice myself beginning to chew I tear off a piece of paper towel, and fold it several times until it's about an inch square, and place it between my lip and teeth. Once I have something preventing me from chewing I normally stop for a while. I find that with gum I'll subconsciously just shove it in my cheek so I can keep chewing my lip. I will use that method if I'm in a public place where having paper in my mouth would look weird, but I'll usually just flatten the gum and use it like the paper towell, instead of chewing it.I've been chewing for as long as I can remember. I've literally chewed through my lower-lip once in middle school, to give you an idea of it's severity. I also suffer from trichotillomania (pulling out my eyebrows and eyelashes), which is another compulsive behavior disorder. I found that all conditions were lessened when I was taking anxiety medications.
this sounds exactly like me i always want it to be smooth and the more i bite the less smooth it gets. I also use my fingers to push my cheeks forward so i can reach it with my teeth. It is an addiction for me and I'm trying to quit so I find myself chewing pens and biting the skin around my nails which is also not good. I always want something to do with my mouth.
I bite the skin on the inside of my mouth occasionally but nothing really deep.. today after an adderrall binge i chewed a tiny whole about to size of a .177 BB in my lower cheek / lip and i think what are fat vesicles are squeezing through the little whole. i can push them back in through the whole with my tongue but they slowly come back out. What the hell do i do. i feel like it won't heal because the fat things constantly stick through the hole just a little bit and i can't stop playing with it. Should i gargle with saltwater and peroxide or do i need stitches or what? HELP!
I don't do it out of nervousness or stress. I just DO it. I'm doing in right now as I'm sitting at my work desk. I do it when watching a movie or sports. It's just a habit. But it DOES need to stop.
**No one seems to address the fact that when you're biting so much, the skin area around the mouth on the OUTSIDE gets fairly irritated/red. I'm always afraid it will be permanently stained, but it seems to go away. The visible irritation (it doesn't actually itch or bother physically) does stay for a few days at a time.
***Another myth I was hoping to put to rest/find more info on is if all this biting has led to my facial skin to grow droopy and saggy. Anyone else feel they have this problem? Or maybe my facial skin is just really stretchy. And I mean STRETCHY.
I've met two other people who have this. Each of us also has the habit of using our fingers to push the cheek around and off to the side to get harder to reach areas. It was when my friend and I first caught each others eyes while both doing it, that we realized how strange it looks to people who have no idea what you are doing. That thought makes it easier to stop in social situations.
at home, I find myself doing it more when I am stressed, or deeply concentrating on a project. Once I realize I've been doing it for an hour, it's hard to stop even though I'm now aware I'm doing it.
Ihave premature lines on my mouth from doing it, and am 26 years old. I have bn told I started it when I was about 4.
Oh my goodness. I'm freaking out. I ran into a pic that said that biting the skin around your nails and biting your lips are signs of anxiety disorders. Well I do both. So I searched signs of anxiety disorders. I have met up to them all. I don't want to ask my mom because she thinks that if someone else has something I think I have it. But that's not true. I'm dead serious about this. I also noticed. All of you are adults. Is it normal for a kid to have anxiety disorders. I'm only in middle school. Somebody please answer if you can!!!!! Thank you!
My daughter who is now 9 has been biting inside her cheeks, inside her lips and the sides and tip of her tongue until the are raw and bleeding since she was in preschool. We have tried candy, stress balls,elastics, toothpicks,straws,gum..etc..nothing works..we have been to therapy also. She asked me to look it up on the internet again to see if anyone might have some new suggestions.
My boyfriend told me I tend to bite my lips and cheeks until they bleed and I'm spitting the blood and pulled off skin out . He points it out quite often and it generally only occurs when I'm in a stressful situation or over thinking something I shouldn't be fully worrying about .. When I was younger , it started out as chewing my hair , then went to scratching , then to chewing my fingers (nails) as well , when I finally stopped all of those , I began picking at my skin or sores , or pulling the skin off of my lips . With each one of those I realized I was doing it , but with the lip biting , I don't even notice it until someone catches me doing it , which leads to a split and sores from the inside of the bottom of my lips all the way to the outside of them . If any of you have any tips on how to catch it , or stop it , that would be completely helpful .
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