Anxiety, Stress, and Lip/Cheek Biting

I suffered for more than 3 years with this...I was pregnant...then my mom passed away. Basically, I was stressed and my mouth biting was how I soothed my pain. How did I stopped? Cold turkey! I started chewing gum a.k.a. gave my teeth something else to do. I began taking advil pm which helped me to sleep better at night... so I wasn't so tired in the days...which is what usually led to me biting the sides of my mouth. Over time I didnt even realize that I had stopped, not until one day I felt the smooth insides of my mouth. Haven't done it since. This was more than 5 years ago.

I am also completely aware when I'm doing it as well. I espcially like when it bleeds, if its not smooth I'll make it smooth, when it gets smooth. Almost healed I bite down with my teeth and open up an old canker sore.This is what I call them, they look like them to I've been doing this since age 5.

It is so reassuring to find others who also suffer from this terrible habit! I've been biting my lips, especially my lower lip, every day for at least the past 4 years. They are constantly swollen, with reduced sensitivity I think due to scar tissue. I always have to lick my lips as they are too dry, and bite and pick to remove the rough peeling skin or because I'm nervous or concentrating or awkward or anything basically! I find it especially difficult when I bite lots and they start peeling as I am at uni, so everyone sees me with ugly lips (causing me to bite it off which repeats the whole cycle). I think I developed this habit after stopping self harming and gouging out the skin of my thumbs, so it's just one bad habit replacing another.

I desperately want to stop, so thank you for your advice!

The only thing that I found to help was getting a fidget/spinner ring, and using that every time I felt anxious or wanted to pick as it kept my hands busy. Still nothing to keep my teeth busy though (don't want to use chewing gum as it damaged your stomach lining).

We can get through this! I tried a free hypnosis video on YouTube to stop dermatilomania which stopped me from biting/picking for half a day (a record for me) but then I started again :(

It's like I wrote this!

I'm so glad that I found this site with these comments, bc it means that I'm not alone. For a while I couldnt find anything about it on the internet.

I started when I was 11 and accidentaly bittened into my cheek. Now I'm 23 and still doing it and it's going worse- I bite my lips Now also.
I too have discovered that it goes worse when I'm stressed, then it's quite creepy to watch as I'm doing it very intensly. I look like a mental patient.
I have also discovered that when I do it, my mind kinda goes blank and I cant consentrate on stuff. Its really interrupting my everydayife and I try to stop..
Also nobody has mentioned it, but it damages your teeth aswell. The constant grinding will wear out your teeth much quicker, one of my frontal tooth is shorter than my other, and they are more sensitive also.

The only Time I didn't bite was after my tonsils operation. My whole mouth was in such pain that I could barely eat. It lasted for one month, until I bit accidentaly to my cheek..AGAIN! -.-

I think I'll try this mouth protector thing, or this latex thing. I'll try whatever to get rid of it!!

I have noticed the same thing, I wear invisalign and it does help a lot because it is uncomfortable to bite with invisa. When I leave them out and I'm not eating it's bad news, I can't stop chewing my cheeks, but it really helps when they are in

I have done this for about 30 years and read an article with a few suggestions. It hurts my temples if I do it too much and obviously it doesn't look good. It was suggested that you look out for the times you do it most. Mine was when I sat down watching TV and was still. It also suggested biting on a straw at these times. I do this now and it worked almost instantly for me. I do it very occasionally now when anxious I think so I just get my straw back out ! It is almost impossible to stop when you start biting no matter how hard you try but this was extremely good advice for me and very much appreciated : )

I do this too, I bit my lip so much that it bleeds but I don't stop until till I feel satisfied. I hate it because 1-2 days later I have a huge cankersore

I always bit my lip when I can't sleep or when I am bored. Maybe even when I am nervous. I just hate it because of the pain it gives me a few days later. I can't eat, talk or drink. It totally sucks. In fact I have a canker sore right now because last night I bit my lip again. I have been doing this since I was 5-6

I find chewing gum all the tip keeps me busy from biting inside my lips! Uh this is such a bad habit that I can't wait to stop!

try to chew gum all the time. It will keep you busy and you wont try and bite your lips

It's called orajel, they use it for toothaches etc it numbs the area and doesnt hurt. Plus it tastes foul and numbs your tongue if you try to run your tongue across the area

I am really scared because i chew the inside of my cheeks constantly and also smoke cigarettes and drink im 32 and i cant stop i tried gum i guess oragel is next

It's to do with anxiety,it happens when you get very anxious or scared.i do it a lot and I believe the only way to stop is to fix your problems what ever they may be.i know I do it ALOT when something's just happened e.g fight with a girlfriend or having a lot of pressure from school/work

Sorry I wasn't more help but that's all I know

I used to watch my mom bite her lips when I was in elementary school, thus began my addiction. Not only do I bite my lips but inside of my checks as well.. And also the skin around my fingernails. I'm 33 now, so I have plenty of experience with the pain it causes. It feels so good in the moment and I really enjoy it, until it's gone too far, which is about 90% of the time. I want to stop, my husband wants me to stop. I am worse when I have coffee or something... Even though caffeine doesn't wake me up, it sure gets me to gnawing!! I know this is an anxiety issue except I don't notice if I do it when I'm anxious or not. Somebody mentioned mouth guards and rubber bands to try to stop but eventually would take the mouth guard out and take the rubber bands off and have at it... I'm the same way, I can try Carmex and still gnaw my way past it. I don't even take the time to wipe it off bc i still have good intentions that I'll eventually stop since i have the Chapstick on... But I don't. Right now I sit here in pain from a mouth ulcer I caused about a week ago, it still hurts badly. This is exhausting and painful. I'm tired of sores in my mouth, on my lips and around my fingers. I want to stop so bad! I feel y'alls pain and desperation to want to know how to stop, I just don't have faith that it can be stopped. It was easier to quit smoking than this!!

I have been bitting My lips for as far as I can remember, at the age of 5-10 i used to bite my toungue like crazy, i rememebr sleepless nights from the pain and ulcers, but I managed to quit bitting my tounge, however I started bitting my lips, I'm not 26 years old, and I have been bitting my lips non stop for over 15 years.

It used to be a small localised bite, then over the year my lips became numb and hard to form ulcers and I started bitting wide areas and sometimes the whole lip for hours, it is now filled with fibrous tissue, when i move my toungue i can feal it like multible small beans or beeds on the inside of my lips, my lips has become so large that i feel it is annoying my teeth, and I troubles clothing my mouth, it is driving me crazy and i feel like digging it out, yesterday I keep biting and sucking my lips so bad, that My lips look like I got a punch or something, right now I'm all in pain and I can't close my mouth, still I'm fighitng the urge to bite again!

I really thought I was the only person who did this. I'm the exact same way as everyone posted here. As soon as I wake up and my tongue feels rough spots I go to town. I don't even think about it until I'm at work and I'm pushing my finger against my mouth and I can't be doing that at work! I use burts bees chapstick to heal the wounds quickly. I've probably ingested so much of this stuff it's not healthy. I used to bite my nails but somehow got started on this for the past few years. I have a lump inside my bottom lip. I've never had it looked at I really don't think it's anything harmful. I can go a few days with my insides being smooth then all the sudden I bite and mess it all up again. I have found chewing gum helps as a distraction but I can't always be chewing gum.