why cant i stop biting inside of my mouth? is it stim/ocd?
hi!!
why cant i stop biting the inside of my mouth and tongue?
im 19 years old and for as long as i can remember (i think round the age of 11?) iv had this problem were i have to keep biting the inside of my mouth and tongue. im not sure exactly why. im not sure if its just a habbit, or a compulsion, or even a stim? sometimes im aware im doing it, like when im bored. and anxiety and stress deffinatly make it worst. but other times i cant stop myself, and i end up making my mouth bleed. iv also started to notice that all the biting has started to worn down my front teeth :O
iv tried numerous times to stop. but the longest iv gone without doing it is a few weeks.
and sometimes the only way to make myself stop for even a short while is to eat something, or bite my hand.
does anyone know why i do it? is it a stim, a habbit, or a compulsion? is it ocd?
if anyone can explain, i would greatly appreciate it
thanks
I have a similar habit with tongue and lip biting, I found out that I did so when there was injury to the skin, the pain it gives is actually pleasurable. And because of this pleasure, it is a source of sensory stimulation. I only stop when distracted be something else and that the injury has healed.
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"When you begin to realize your own existence and break out of the social norm, then others know you have completely lost your mind." -PerfectlyDarkTails
AS 168/200, NT: 20/ 200, AQ=45 EQ=15, SQ=78, IQ=135
I started doing this my freshman year of highschool randomly in geometry class. I don't know why I remember but it was the last period of the day and we were lined up ready to leave class and I just started biting. I've done it ever since, only stopping for a small amount of time (month or so) in between then and now. I'm 21 now so roughly 8 years. I still do it, sometimes the inside of my mouth, sometimes my lips. There's no pain or blood and I don't like the rough feeling of my mouth/lips after. I cannot stop doing it though.
For me its a stim, but if the pressure of biting down on something causes a relief feeling in your teeth / gums then go to your dentist and check that you don't have any teeth coming through (wisdom?) or any dental work needed.
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Mhmm, it seems to be fairly common with us on the spectrum. It is a stim. Try chewing gum, find it works like a charm most times. When it wears out and needs to be spit out I find that the stim is diminished, even extinguished for a period.
Suppose it is also a habit. If it bothers you habits are changeable through awareness. Have broken a few habits over the years, this one comes and goes and causes no harm so find gum the easiest. But if you choose to be conscious and aware of the action you can breath, remind yourself to quiet the movement in your mouth and focus your thoughts. Over time it should abate.
Though us aspies seem to love stimming, often wonder if culling a stim in one area creates it in another. We just have to let our stim out! Suppose its finding one that fits most comfortably. Like they say, "Keep calm and stim on."
I used to do this a lot as a child, and only sometimes do it now. I remember distinctly (and still have this same feeling) that there's a particular sense of pleasure from the pain that comes from biting the inside of my cheek. It's a unique kind of pleasure and pain that I don't feel anywhere else in my body.
mystranger
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: 5 Mar 2012
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 25
Location: Albuquerque, NM
I've done this since at least middle school. I've bitten my lip, inside and out, and briefly my tongue. There were a few times I swear I almost bit straight through my lip. I have scars on the inside of my mouth in two areas and one on my lip from this. I find the more stressed I am, the more likely I am to nibble. Sometimes it's just a quick nip while I'm writing a paper or playing a game, or it could be a full out taking chunks out of my inner lip. It used to be worse during tests. The pain was actually quite nice, almost pleasurable, and I would (and still do) use the pain as a focus.
I do chew gum and it certainly keeps my mouth busy and helps me not want to chew, but I do have moments still, and I'm 28. I'll sometimes take a taste bud or two while thinking, or pick around my scars. All you can really do is realize you're doing it and switch to something else, either gum, paper, pencil, whatever you have. I used to take the paper clips holding my papers together and hold them in my mouth but I can't do that very well now thanks to my countless amalgam fillings. ~ZOT!~
OliveOilMom
Veteran
Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Age: 60
Gender: Female
Posts: 11,447
Location: About 50 miles past the middle of nowhere
If you take any sort of stimulants such as ADHD meds, that can cause it. It can also be habit and when you catch yourself doing it, make yourself stop. Try the thing where you put a rubber band on your wrist and when you catch yourself doing it you pop yourself pretty hard with the rubber band. Also, see if you can get some kind of mouthpiece that will keep you from doing it and wear that at home and when driving, etc. After a while when you can't do it, you should be out of the habit. Also, try gum.
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I do this all the time, always have, just because its squashy and it feels nice lol! I have a permanent ridge all around where I can reach to bite. I also bite my hands.
I feel the need to bite my lip when something gets my teeth on edge, like the squeak of a towel *shudder*! I bite my tongue when Im feeling allergic for releif.
Im NT Ive never tried to stop to be honest, just bite the other side if it gets painful.
I think I started a similar post a while back?, my problem is I keep pushing my tongue hard against the inside of my lower teeth, I hate doing it, it makes my tongue hurt and feel as if its much too big for the inside of my mouth.
I first started doing it after I had had my teeth cleaned at the dentist as I had built up a bit of calcium? on my front lower teeth and it felt different, now I cannot stop, especially when I am stressed, Iam even thinking of seeing a hypnotist to try and stop.
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