How to get rid of the habit of biting your lips, why do people chew their cheeks?

Reasons for the habit

The bad habit of biting your lips doesn’t just appear. It can form at any age, but usually it is the period of childhood and adolescence. In most cases, the habit indicates problems of a psychological nature.

The main reasons for the habit:

Lack of parental attention. The child receives little love from his parents. He needs his mother's hugs, kisses, and praise. He has a bad relationship with his family. Instead of love and affection, he usually receives punishment for bad behavior and bickering. In such cases, the child involuntarily begins to slightly bite his lips, and may also gnaw on the inside of his cheeks. After some time, this unconscious movement turns into a habit.
Negative emotions. Adults bite their lips or cheeks when they cannot control their emotions. Some are hysterical, and there are those who simply silently bite their cheeks in the hope of getting rid of emotional discomfort. The habit may occur when stress is experienced at work. The person reacts too emotionally to this situation. He is overwhelmed by frequent anxious feelings and, in order to calm down, he bites his lips and cheeks. In this way he inflicts pain, wanting to quickly bring himself to his senses. Sometimes a person bites his cheeks even while laughing.
Desire to get rid of rough skin. In frost or strong wind, lips become chapped. Their surface becomes rough and the skin cracks. This creates some discomfort. Some people end up chewing off the flaky crust.

Another reason when they bite from the inside of the cheek is that the person is in thought. This simple action helps keep him focused on the problem and not lose focus. After he has thought through all the important issues, the action stops.

If a child had a good, carefree childhood, then he will not have the bad habit of biting his cheeks. Otherwise, you should first find out the reason why this disorder was formed and later try to eliminate it.

How to get rid of the habit and stop biting your lips and cheeks?

"Why do I bite my cheek when I'm worried?" - this question arises more often among children and adolescents, but it also happens among adults. The habit arises from nervousness. To unlearn gnawing your cheeks and lips from the inside is the task of the person himself.

If there are reasons for a nervous disorder, then sedatives will help to cope with them - tinctures of valerian, motherwort, peony, herbal preparations, for example, Novopassit.

Warm (37-38 degrees) soothing baths at night will also help - pine, with sea salt, with essential oils (lemon, orange, chamomile), with herbs (valerian, calendula, oregano, mint). Take a bath for no more than 15 minutes.

It is also necessary to eliminate other reasons:

to get rid of bruxism during sleep, use a special mouthguard that will prevent strong clenching of the jaws and protect the teeth from abrasion,
correct the bite of teeth by wearing plates and braces systems,
correct or remove incorrectly positioned wisdom teeth,
restore damaged teeth, eliminate defects in fillings and dentures.

Consequences

Biting your lips indicates that a person is very worried, worried, stressed, or experiencing other unpleasant sensations. He develops small wounds. The lips begin to become inflamed, and this is fraught with the fact that they begin to react to spicy and salty foods, cold and hot water. This creates an unpleasant feeling of very chapped lips.

Another negative consequence is the possibility of contracting an infection. Microwounds are an excellent environment for the development of bacteria that lead to skin inflammation. As a result, various diseases can form and actively develop, one of them is cheilitis: unsightly herpes appears, which also worsens the appearance of the lips and face.

For girls, bitten lips mean the inability to apply lipstick due to the excessively red border of the lips. The cosmetics will lay down in an uneven layer and will further emphasize the unsightly cracks. This is especially important for women whose professional activities involve communicating with people.

Symptoms when biting the cheek

Upon examination, the patient will present the following complaints:

pain at the site of biting the cheek mucosa;
difficulty in daily oral hygiene;
wound formation;
pain when eating;
pain while talking.

Objectively, the doctor detects a local inflammatory process at the site of injury and an uneven surface of the mucous membrane. The typical location of the wound is the line where the teeth meet on the side of the cheek. If the biting is constant and does not have time to heal, then the disease enters the chronic stage. As a result, ulcerative and erosive processes form.

Important: some of the long-term consequences of cheek biting are decubitus (bedsore) ulcers and leukoplakia.

A decubital ulcer forms at the site of regular injury to the buccal mucosa. It requires mandatory consultation with a dentist and selection of treatment. Leukoplakia is a chronic pathology in which keratinization of the oral mucosa and inflammation in the stroma occur against the background of exogenous irritation.

Correction

Getting rid of the habit of biting your lips is difficult, but it is possible. This will take 10–40 days.

The first thing to do is to find the reason for this habit. You need to listen to yourself, focus on your behavior. You will notice under what circumstances you start biting your lips. You need to try to control yourself and not commit such manipulations.

It is important to learn to control your actions and emotions as well. In moments of strong emotional outbursts and when thoughtful, try to restrain yourself from biting your lips. Remember what the consequences of this addiction are: inflammation, cracks, burning sensation on the lips.

Other recommendations to help you overcome your bad habit:

№	Method name	Description
1	Quiet lifestyle.	Try to protect yourself from stressful situations as much as possible. It is important that positive emotions prevail. If this cannot be avoided, then learn how to relieve stress in a pleasant way. You can go for a relaxing massage or go to spa treatments. It is convenient to carry out aromatherapy and color therapy at home. Sometimes a regular bath with warm water will help.
2	Reward for successfully overcoming a problem.	For any success you need to reward yourself, especially when fighting a bad habit. Set yourself specific deadlines within which you need to take a certain step towards overcoming the problem. If you managed to hold out, reward yourself with something pleasant - a trip to the cinema, a cafe, etc.
3	Proper care.	If the cause of bitten skin is excessively dry lips, then it would be advisable to purchase a moisturizing or nourishing lip balm. It is applied at night, before going outside (especially in winter or when the weather is windy) or at any other convenient time, and the balm is also used before applying lipstick to make cracks less noticeable.
4	Taking vitamins.	If the habit of biting your lips occurs due to vitamin deficiency, then you need to take a course of vitamins. It is especially important to increase the amount of vitamins A, E and group B. If vitamin deficiency occurs in winter, you need to introduce more fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. Vitamin A is found in pumpkin, carrots, sea buckthorn, and bell pepper. Vitamin E is present in spinach, eggs, almonds, soybeans, and peas. B vitamins are found in pork and beans.
5	Sedatives.	Such drugs will help if the cause of lip biting is psychological stress. Among the most popular remedies are “Soothing”, “Valerian”, “Fitosed”, “Persen-Forte”, “Novo-passit”, “Corvalol”, etc. But it is not advisable to buy any of the drugs without consulting a doctor. Remember, self-medication can be dangerous!
6	Keep a success diary.	This method will help not only get rid of a bad habit, but also raise self-esteem, improve your mood and teach you how to achieve goals. Every day you need to set a specific task for yourself and at the end of the day write down the results in your diary. In addition to making notes, you can take and attach photos of your lips.
7	Visualization of dreams.	Be sure to imagine what beautiful, well-groomed lips should look like. To do this, it is better to find a photo of your lips and hang them near your workplace. This will be some kind of motivation.
8	Speaking affirmations.	These are positive statements that are aimed at gaining motivation. You need to compose them yourself or find ready-made ones, print them and hang them in a visible place. Another option is to learn by heart. They should inspire, energize and help train willpower.

How to stop biting your lips and cheeks on the inside. Getting rid of the habit of biting your lips

The habit of biting lips is a problem for most adults. Thinking about the problem, worrying and worrying, they bite their own lips. It looks unaesthetic. This way it is easy to cause infection and inflame the skin.

You can get rid of such a habit. You need strict control over your actions and detailed psychoanalysis.

Possible reasons

We use our lips to express our feelings. There are people who have developed the habit of biting their lips or cheeks. This expresses their feeling of self-doubt and worry. This facial gesture shows that a person is puzzled by something, feels fear and is nervous about something.

The habit begins in childhood. Its causes: lack of attention, lack of parental love, frequent stress and nervous breakdowns. By biting his lip, the child tries to hold back tears or anger when he is scolded. He does this when he doesn’t know the answer in class and is nervous about it. He bites his skin every time he experiences negative emotions. If the baby does this regularly, then the action becomes a habit. And being of a conscious age, he cannot get rid of it.

Biting the skin helps calm you down. In this way a person tries to cope with emotions. When he makes this gesture, he feels better and calms down faster. They believe that physical pain sobers up and helps you come to your senses.

The habit of biting your lips is a way to get rid of rough skin. In a strong wind, lips often become chapped, the skin becomes flaky and irritating. And instead of lubricating it with a moisturizing balm, the person once again chews off the rough skin. But often this brings discomfort. Lips can be bitten until they bleed, which will lead to the formation of cracks.

Consequences

Bitten lips look unattractive. Especially if wounds with blood are visible. Even beautiful lipstick won't help hide it.

Other consequences:

Inflammation. Infection can occur through cracks. Especially if you have another bad habit - biting your nails. And herpes on women’s lips looks ugly.
Discomfort. For a person with bitten lips, every meal will be problematic. There will be a burning sensation and pain in places where there are wounds. Especially if the dishes are salty and spicy.
Skin condition. Due to constant biting, the skin will become rough.

Problems with the lips and chewing on the inside of the cheek can cause problems throughout the mouth. This negatively affects the condition of the teeth. Microbes penetrate the oral cavity and begin to multiply instantly. The result is plaque, caries, ulcers on the inside of the lip.

Self-treatment

It is imperative to get rid of bad habits. This develops willpower.

Learn to control your actions

Pay attention to what you do in moments of stress and anxiety. Motivate yourself

If the process could not be stopped in time, you can come up with a light punishment.

Ways to get rid of the habit of biting your cheek and lips:

Pamper yourself after every small victory. If you manage to spend the planned time without biting the skin on your lips, give yourself a little encouragement. This could be a sweet, half an hour of rest, a walk. Relaxing treatments like going to a spa or massages are excellent motivation. Taking vitamins. Deficiency of essential vitamins and minerals negatively affects the skin

It is important to start taking the appropriate medications to get your lips and mouth in order. You need to drink the whole complex

For a list of medications, you should consult a dermatologist or cosmetologist. Sedatives. If cheek biting is caused by nervous breakdowns or mental disorders, calming pills will help. They improve the condition of the nervous system, making it easier for a person to find harmony with himself. Be sure to contact a neurologist for an appointment. Proper care. This is especially true for girls. It is necessary to use special creams and ointments. Before going to bed and going outside, thoroughly lubricate your lips with a moisturizing balm or hygienic lipstick.

Folk recipes

Even if a person takes a vitamin course, lips need to be looked after externally. Special masks and balms that can be made at home will help with this.

The first recipe is an oil-based balm. To prepare it you need to take:

Shea Butter;
wax;
cacao butter;
almond or coconut milk;
cocoa powder.

All components are taken in the amount of 1 tsp. First, the wax is heated in a water bath, after which it is mixed with all the other ingredients. The product is placed in a lipstick tube or in a small container with which it will be convenient to spread on the lips, and placed in the refrigerator for a day. After this, the product should be applied as needed or when the lips begin to dry out. Shelf life – up to 6 months.

Another recipe is a balm with honey. They take 1 hour. l. honey and 1 tsp. butter. A prerequisite is liquid honey. The components are not heated, but simply mixed. The product is applied to the lips before going outside or before going to bed. It will help you quickly get rid of dry lips and can be stored for up to 2 months.

Both products are harmless and can be used even during pregnancy. The only contraindication is individual intolerance.

Specialist help

Sometimes you should consult a psychologist. It will help put your nervous system and thoughts in order in order to find harmony with yourself.

In the treatment of persistent biting of the cheeks or lips, several therapy methods are used:

cognitive-behavioural;
group;
individual;
psychoanalysis;
NLP.

All of them have one goal - to eliminate the reason due to which the habit of biting lips and cheeks from the inside was formed. The only difference is in the approach to treatment.

Cognitive behavioral therapy and psychoanalysis are very similar: the patient is initially asked to think and respond to the following:

why I like to peel my lips;
how do I feel after this process;
Is it getting easier for me?
who said it would last forever;
what will happen if I change this habit to another;
Do I understand the consequences of my actions, etc.

After this, the doctor asks the patient to imagine a situation that causes him stress. He carefully observes the patient's reaction and the nature of his actions. This will allow you to understand how strongly developed the habit is. After this, the psychologist asks you to switch to something more pleasant.

The peculiarity of cognitive behavioral therapy is that its main part is homework. The doctor may ask the patient to find a hobby to learn to distract himself from problems and psychological stress. It could be:

reading an interesting book;
playing sports;
meditation and yoga;
visiting cultural events;
trips;
communication with other patients, etc.

The purpose of homework is to find yourself and enjoy life. This will have a positive effect on breaking the habit, lifestyle and personal growth of the client.

In group classes, in addition to general pastime, patients are taught breathing techniques. The basic rule is to take a deep breath through your nose (3-4 seconds), exhale slowly through your mouth (2-3 seconds). Usually 5 breaths are enough to come to your senses.

In addition to a psychologist, visiting a dermatologist and cosmetologist is mandatory. Experts will prescribe a specific course of vitamin preparations and give useful advice on how to care for your lips.

A cosmetologist will help you change the appearance of your lips, and a psychologist will help you put things in order in your head, thoughts and soul.

How to stop biting your lips and get them in order. Tip 2: How to stop biting your lips

Any bad habit most often does not bring pleasure, but rather, on the contrary, brings only inconvenience. One such manifestation is the habit of biting lips. What should be done to forget about this manner forever?

You will need

- expensive lipstick,
- cream,
- hygienic lipstick.

Instructions

Pay attention to exactly when you bite your lips. Try to identify patterns

Most often, people bite their nails or lips in moments of stress or when they are thinking about something, or are distracted, for example, by watching a movie. Write down on a piece of paper when you noticed that you were biting your lips. Give yourself the task of carefully monitoring yourself in these moments.

The reason for the emergence of such habits has a psychological basis.

Quite often you can observe the following pattern: children and adolescents who were deprived of attention or those who were often scolded by their parents are more prone to the habit of biting their lips. Think about how long ago you started biting your lips, and whether this is related to any childhood fears

Try not to bite your lips in stressful situations, but replace these manipulations, for example, with deep sighs. This, firstly, will help you calm down and come to your senses faster, and, secondly, it will gradually get rid of the annoying habit.

One way to wean any creature from something is to develop a conditioned reflex. Apply some cream to your lips, for example, preferably one that tastes unpleasant. Every time you try it while trying to chew your lips, you will feel an unpleasant taste. After some time, you will forget that you ever suffered from such inconveniences.

Another option is to buy expensive lipstick. You will remember that your lips are made up and gnawing on them is, to say the least, offensive. Of course, this method is more suitable for women. Men can use hygienic lipstick.

Constantly moisturize your lips: both special creams and hygienic and decorative fatty lipsticks are suitable. If your lips are moisturized, the desire to bite them will be much weaker, and, therefore, you will do it much less often.