Anxiety, Stress, and Lip/Cheek Biting

we are all in it together im 35 been bitting the inside of my cheeks for as long as I can remember. I have noticed the degree of this habit comes and goes . I also use to bite my nails really bad I dont do that so much anymore. usually now I only bite them if they break off and im just trying to even it out. BUT I do bite the sides of my fingers they get a thickness around them I just feel the need to bite off. younger more flexable I did my toes the same way. I have a white line all the way around my mouth and I pick at the front inside of my mouth. I do bite at my lip especially if they get chapped in the winter. Other ticks I will scratch my head for blemishes any spots of a pimple or dandruff build up. I pick at my eyebrows and eye lashes pulling out loose hairs. ( my daughter has picked up this habit) I have tried to stop bitting when i realize im doing to too much and when i make a concious decision to stop i notice my jaws feel sore from all the workout of feeling around my cheeks and picking at it with my teeth. I do not think high stress or anxiety is the cause more of a habit. people use to say when I bite my nails it was a nervous habit and i was like im not nervous i enjoy doing it. gum is short lived treatment i will be bitting my cheeks again and not even realize it until i have been doing it for ahwhile. I have thought it may also cause some of my extra weight if im not bitting i feel like i need something in my mouth chewing.

I also suffer from cheek biting. I just started biting my cheeks and my lips about nine months ago when I left a long term relationship. I also started right after getting rid of an addiction to a drug Marijuana. I have done it now for almost a year and at time I find that I do it even when I am smoking. But mainly when I get bored, irritated or I am around people and I get nervous. I do it to the severity that my whole mouth just hurts and starts to bleed. I have heard that it is from anxiety. I would definantely agree with this because I have always had anxiety issues when I was a kid. I thought that starting smoking marijuana again would stop me from doing it but I found that it just makes it even worse. So I quit that again. I feel that I do it for comfort and I do it more when I am angry or trying to concentrate on something hard. I have heard that you can bite your cheeks to the point where you will expose nerves and veins this came from a family member who had experienced it. I do not want it to go this far so I am seeking help for it and possibly getting on some anxiety medications. I will let you all know how it works for me. I wish everyone good luck with this being it is a form of mutilation because of anxiety. Sometimes I feel like I feed off the pain of it and also the bumpy feeling I can relate to that because when it is bumpy feeling I also bite more often and scrape with my fingernail to try and make it smooth. But then I wake up the next day to it even worse and even more dead skin. Wish everyone the best. Good Luck.

I was recently at my dentist's and he told me that I had better stop chewing the inside of my cheeks. I only started about six months ago when I gave up the nail biting... switching one bad habit for another. I have been nail biting since I was five years old and only stopped for a year when I had a very stress-free job! I am over 50 now and have a lot of stress on me! I have a mouth guard that was made for me by my dentist a few years ago because I was grinding my teeth at night. I hated wearing it but now I find that I am wearing this guard during the day at home because I can't chew my fingernails or the insides of my cheeks when I wear it. I have to go to the doctor tomorrow to see if there are some signs of cancer in my left cheek because of my chewing. Has anyone who posted four years ago about their "cheek chewing" habit, developed cancer? My dentist did say that the constant multiplying of all those cells inside my mouth is creating a health hazard in my future if I don't stop now. Who doesn't have stress in his or her life? I guess it is how we deal with it that will help or hurt us?

I go to dentist on tuesday and am terrified because I am biting my lips and cheeks to absolute shreds. Now I just want to cancel my dang appt. I've been doing this since I was 6 and am now 47. No cancer. Yet.

I am getting rid of the same thing. Everything about evening out the smoothness, stress, or not even realizing when I do it. My girlfriend is the only one who knows that I do it. I made it a resolution to quit. I told her so that is motivating for me. I am also chewing gum a lot more now. I also am a brass player so it motivates me even more because I need to keep my mouth in really good shape. I haven't done it for a week. That is A LOT to say because I've been doing this for about 10 years. I just make sure I do what ever I can to not bite ANYTHING unless it's food or gum. 

easy stop..........chew gum on both sides of your mouth at the same time. I know it sounds dumb....but try. Then try to bite. difficult eh? keep it up. Chew gum... BOTH SIDES!

I am also a person who does this very often! I started when my dad left my family in a bad situation. I know this is due to stress obviously. I would do it from the time I would wake up to when I went to bed. Then being in school during this time didn't help with the stress level. I have tried gum, which worked at first but then i began to ignore my gum and chew my cheek again. What really helps me, as a previous post mentioned, is to have people around me make me stop when they notice this. My boyfriend is really good at it. Now when I'm around him I do it less to avoid being lectured! He even has threated (jokingly) to get and use a taser on me when he notices this haha! But I hope we can all stop this at some point in our lives!!

Aww, I'm sorry your dad left you. It was not your fault. I do it off/on and bite cuticles too. I'm a mess that way and it makes your face look so ugly sometimes. My husband will mimic me when he is mad lol. He has his own tic so I'll get him back. Dentist did not freak out at me last night, but I did warn him I cannot stop. Good luck to us all. Worse when I read or watch tv ugh. I also have this weird thing where if I'm in a group of people, like a circle I yawn like a madman and everyone thinks I'm crying ugh. Weird.

Biting my cheeks while reading this. :/

I've not trawled through all the comments on this topic, but from what I've read so far, I'm so glad to have found so many words of advice on something that's been a problem for me for most of my life! I am now 40 and have been biting my lips/cheek for as long as I can remember. I remember, in my teens, writing about it in my diary, promising myself on numerous occasions I would stop, then not being able to... and feeling stupid now and then for not being able to break this habit.

My partner of 20 years has put a label on it - she/we call it "wibbing" - which also includes any other physical/body-related habits, such as habitually tensing muscles, twisting my hair around, etc. She is very supportive, but doesn't like to kiss me (understandably!) when I have sores/white bits on my lips and would love for me to be able to stop. I have occasionally been able to stop for months at a time, but the last few weeks it has returned with a vengeance. Cold weather and illness exacerbate it - when I am more physically aware of my mouth/lips - and also stress, although it can also re-occur pretty much randomly.

Before reading the above, I was unaware of the cancer link, which is quite shocking and makes me more determined to find a way to stop! Also there is the effect on teeth - when I have been to the dentist over the last 2-3 years, he has asked if I grind my teeth and made me a bite guard... but I was pretty much sure then, and I am more so now, that it is the cheek/lip-biting that has caused my teeth to wear down, rather than grinding... but I felt too embarrassed to mention this to the dentist! I really don't want to damage my teeth any more, and I certainly don't want to get cancer, so I am EXTREMELY DETERMINED to put an end to this!

I'm going to try the gum. And relaxation techniques. And maybe Dr Pepper lip balm! And... anything else in particular anyone has found works?

Incidentally this has become more of an issue since becoming a dad. I really don't want to pass on my bad habit to my 4-year old little girl! I have occasionally noticed her copying me, and I am determined to stop before it becomes a habit for her.

She isn't do it to copy you, she is doing it b/c I believe it is heriditary or a tic or something genetic. My son twirled his hair, I bite and son bites nails to stubs. Ugh. This all sucks either way. My dentist didn't even make a comment but I did warn him ahead of time.

I agree there must be a genetic predisposition to this sort of thing. She does twirl her hair & sometimes bite her nails - and I never bite my nails! The former, in particular, is a much more acceptable sort of "tic" - especially for a girl, I think - which I'd much rather encourage than something potentially more damaging and/or is less socially acceptable. As well as the possible physical damage, I just want to protect her from being picked on!

Strangely, after reading all these posts, I was able to stop. It's only been a week, but I stopped. I've chewed the inside of my lips for decades and have the wrinkles to show for it. I've stopped for periods before, but started again. One key for me is to stop my tongue from 'searching'. Like most of you, I want the surface to be free of any noticeable texture, so my tongue searches, then finds an anomaly then the teeth come in to 'fix' the surface. Well, we all know where that goes... So, regardless of the texture, I stop my tongue from searching. It's hard when there are bumps, etc, but within a week, my entire inside surface is now smooth, hence, nothing for my tongue to 'find'. Still, if I notice my tongue searching I stop it.

By the way, the 'mooshy' skin is a kind of scab that is formed as the skin is healing from the biting. This mooshiness goes away in about a week and leaves a nice, fresh, healthy surface.

Again, I was only able to stop recently as a result of googling this, then reading all these responses. It seemed to help me take charge of my tongue's searching and then all else seems to heal once you stop your tongue. At least for me. Note: I've never bitten through my mouth or lip, but very rarely I've drawn blood.

Stop the tongue! Best of luck to all of us.

I have the habit of chewing on the inside of my bottom lip and peeling the skin off of my bottom lip. What I find helps is putting Blistex Medicated lip balm on my lips everytime I start to chew or peel them. It stops me from chewing or peeling for a little bit. Granted it is a bad habit and frequently I still do it but, if I just get some stronger will power and keep putting the chapstick on all the time, I'm sure the habit might eventually get kicked. If you guys have the same problem as me, try putting on chapstick a lot. Everytime you feel you are going to start chewing or peeling or maybe right after you start, to prevent more chewing/peeling.