stop chewing the inside of my mouth

I have gone a long time without doing this and then as soon as I was about to check it off my list I got the overwhelming urge to. Silly brain.

I don’t think chewing gum, which I’ve tried, really does the trick, because it keeps my mouth and tongue in motion – I don’t think that’s good. Therefore I’ve decided to wear the plastic nightguard thing (or whatever this dental care device is called in English) during the day. I will try this for a month… It’s possible to talk almost normally, so it’s fine… as long as phone conversations or speeches aren’t required. ;-)

Been doing it for so long, usually doing when I’m not required to carry on conversations, when I’m on the computer at home, when I’m in a more relaxed state. I always thought it was related in some way to my anxiety disorder. Who knows. I thought there was a name for this habit, but I’m not sure what it was, something like rickets or something.

im trying to break a habit of chewing the inside of my mouth but most of the time i dont even notice that im doing it… until my mouth starts bleeding. i chew my cheeks all of the time and i end up having to get a napkin or something like that to hold in my mouth and i hate that…. i need help to stop or ill mess up my teeth and have scars all through my mouth… any suggestions??

I started chewing AGAIN. This time, it wasn’t even because I had bitten myself on accident-I just slipped into it out of nowhere. I suppose out of carelessness. Does anyone else get to a point where the chewing takes over your entire day and you put things off and waste literally hours just sitting there chewing? You think you have good intentions (“I just want to make it nice and smooth in there and then I’ll stop tomorow”) but you just keep going. This sucks so bad and I hate knowing that it’s this easy to start up again. If I just push the side of my mouth with my tongue, it hurts so bad. I really dug deep. UGH.

As I write this, I am doing it. AHH!
I have a lot of anxiety and nervous energy, and I think that is why I do it. I also tend to do it more when I am stressed out.
I have jaw problems (TMJ) and sometimes I chew the inside of my mouth for so long that my jaw starts to hurt and I get a headache! Since I can’t chew gum (for that reason), I have a hard time figuring out a way to stop.

No bitting at all…one thing is for sure…every time I decide to write about it, I can stay w/o doing it…I’m quite sure that this increases awareness…as as everyone here says, if you can avoid the first bite…you are safe…but if you slip, it will be chewing for hours…Let’s see if I will survive the next hours, until we go to bed…and tomorrow…a week day…will keep the results here, during this critical phase…cheers, Andy.

Need to focus on stopping…I’ve been trying to find something on the web to make me stop…it’s so involuntary that it is difficult to stop…in the past days I could stay free from bitting during weekends, an sometimes during the week days…but at night, it’s getting back…I’m quite sure that meditation will help to increase awareness…and maybe there might be something on Chinese medicine that will assist with anxiousness reduction…I’m so ashamed that I can not get rid of this…I was checking something about tics and tourette’s syndrome…there is a list on an article that includes mouth bitting as a tic…see this link…
http://www.tourettes-disorder.com/symptoms/tics.html#ticlist

But point is that there is no clear advice on how to quit…well, hopefully I will find a way to stop during my vacations early August…will stay away of the messy work environment and maybe sometime w/ my wife and kids abroad will be good…

I need to find some sort of medical advice or psychological advice…sometimes I feel that I will not be able to do it alone, without some sort of medication…I’m still under homeopathic treatment, to reduce anxiousness and stress, but for that specific thing is not helping much…good luck to all of you that are feeling the need to quit that…good luck to me too!

Cheers,

Andy

Wow … I knew I wasn’t alone but I never thought this would be on 43Things! I’ve had this habit for as long as I can remember. I find it to be a figety habit – it isn’t a sign of OCD or anxiety disorders – that is no more weird than tapping your feet, just more destructive. The only thing I have found to help is chewing gum – it gives my mouth something to do but I still find myself chewing the inside of my mouth so this isn’t working too well. I’ve tried to make myself stop, but it is such a strong habit and one that is quite unconsciously done that I don’t know how to make myself stop.

My God, That’s so hard…it’s been very difficult to control…sometimes I can take through the weekends, but on the week days I totally destroy my mouth inside…it’s involuntary that I really don’t know what to do…need to refocus on NOT doing it. I would really appreciate if one of you could send d tips on how to stop…I need to get my mouth guards back! Cheers.