I'm a biter

[sadflower]

hello all -
Just wondering if there are any others out there who compulsively chew or bite the insides of their cheeks? I've been doing this since I was in elementary school. Never paid much attention to it really, it was just something I did. Most times I don't even notice I'm doing it. Yesterday I noticed the insides of my cheeks are pretty scarred up, which must mean I've been chewing a lot lately. So I googled it and found a lot of people do this, and it's most probably a nervous habit. Bad thing is now I have anxiety over something that is caused by my anxiety. wow. I also read that it can increase your chances of developing mouth cancer, although it did say it was a pretty slim chance, but you know worriers. Slim is good enough to send me into a tailspin. Great, now I have to worry about cancer! And consciously thinking about NOT chewing is causing me more stress and worry. I find if I tell myself "No, don't chew" I just wind up grinding or clenching my teeth, which I have also done for years I think. I tend to grind my back teeth in a circular pattern. That can't be good either
I have been extra stressed lately, and today was not a very good day. Had to fight off a panic attack while at work and have felt like crap ever since. Anyone else have these compulsions??? How do you stop?

[ThePhoenix]

I can relate to you in a way because had a similiar problem very recently.

I dont generally bite my cheeks out of habit but I went through a time where I had a run of mouth ulcers over a couple of weeks which made me really anxious, although I didnt tie it to the fact it was a time of great stress.

Anyway in my anxiety over the mouth ulcers I started biting my lip, this of course made the ulcers worse because it was getting retraumatised! When I made the connection with that I stopped biting my lip but became preoccupied with the inside of my cheeks and if it was smooth, of course the inside of our cheeks are not perfectly smooth but I became paranoid about this and then without thinking started running my toothbrush over the inside of my cheek. I barely remembered doing this until much later. So of course my toothbrush ripped up my cheek something fierce so I became terrified all these things were related to mouth cancer as well!

I went to the specialist who looked in my mouth and said it was fine, the only thing he could see was some scarring on the inside of my cheek which was harmless!

Ultimately the odds or developing mouth cancer from cheek biting are VERY low and unless your a smoker or heavy drinker as well they are even smaller. If you can stop the cheek biting the scars virtually fade away anyway.

A couple of things you can try: Hypnosis to stop the habit, or replace the habit with something else, for example gum chewing is a good one!

Goodluck, you will be fine!