How to stop myself from biting/picking

[girafferafferaffe]

I went to the dentist this week because I had got so anxious about one of my teeth. It was the first time in over 10 years I'd been to the dentist (don't judge me!) and it took everything I had to go. I cried at them which was really embarrassing. The tooth I thought was a problem isn't actually a problem.

Anyway.. she asked if I grind my teeth. I don't grind my teeth at night, but I do constantly bite the insides of my cheeks, and bite the skin around my nails in a constant anxious habit. The dentist just said 'try not to' (as if it's something I want to do haha).

Does anyone have any good ideas to try and stop me from doing this? I don't even realise I'm doing it a lot of the time.

Interesting problem. Too bad the dentist didn't have any suggestions.

Try one at a time.

For your nails, try wearing gloves whenever possible. Maybe you can wear them around the house a bit, and as it gets colder you can wear them outdoors, too. The old-fashioned way, which I think they used to do with children, is to put quinine, or something that tasted awful, on the fingers.

For your cheeks, see if you can train yourself for a few weeks to place the tip of your tongue between your front teeth.

@MsAmerica thank you for your suggestions. I will definitely try both of those. It's hard being told to just 'try not to!' She wanted me to buy a night guard for my mouth for £120 and I was like I don't think that'll solve the problem...

I have no answer but I also do the same as you. Constantly bite and pick the skin around my thumbs (only my thumbs weirdly) and I also bit my nails. I bit the inside of my cheek too! I only recently realised these were anxiety related even though I don't feel anxious 🤷‍♀️
I have been reading about fidget rings and am going to get one for each thumb to see if that distracts me from the picking. Maybe you could try something similar?

Oh a fidget ring sounds good. I did think about a fidget thing to hold but haven't looked in to it any further.

Distraction is good. Knitting or crochet or puzzle book. I also do it when driving so started listening to audio books.
I’ve also had my nails done which has helped. And keep applying handcream so I don’t get dry bits.
Mindfulness and breathing exercises are also good.

I pick and bite and I also find knitting and crochet helps as it keeps my hands and my mind occupied - knitting is recommended to soldiers to help with PTSD.
I also find chewing gum helps stop me biting my cheeks.

I do the same and realised some years ago that both habits were related to anxiety. I started the cheek sucking/biting when I tried to stop the finger picking, but both habits reduced when the cause of anxiety reduced. I now chew gum to try to stop cheek sucking/biting, especially when driving. I'm having a hard time at work at the moment and have been finger biting again.

I'd also welcome any suggestions as my fingers look awful and it's really not good to bite them until they bleed (sorry if tmi!)

I think it takes me absolutely ages to even realise that I'm doing it and by that point my cheeks and fingers are totally raw. At least it isn't just me I guess! I do do things like puzzles but maybe I should try knitting again. I could do it years and years ago but never carried on.
Sometimes I can't even pinpoint what im anxious about. I've done CBT for it but that only really focussed on my 'inner voice'. So im a bit nicer to myself (in my head) but it doesn't actually stop me from being anxious.

@LifeOfBriony the knitting helps. If my hands are busy I can’t chew them!
@girafferafferaffe I’ve done CBT and I’m also on meds. Both have really helped.

I bite/pick/chew/teeth grind...

Things that help me are:

• Having nails done with shellac so they're thicker - harder to pick with blunter nails
• MASSES of blutac to fiddle with
• minimising dead/dry skin anywhere because that is peak picking fodder

Good luck. Its a rough one. Thinking of you x