I just chipped my bottom incisor tooth. This is the second time this has happened this year (first time was my other bottom incisor) and I know exactly why it happened. Biting and chewing my cuticles (and lips) has been a lifelong habit of mine, and using my incisors to chew on the skin means I'm putting pressure on teeth that are not meant to handle it. Over 30 years of a bad habit and this is what happens.

This is a warning to everyone else, too.

ive been biting my cuticles since since I was a kid and I even bite behind my fingernails as seen in the photo and sometimes it bleeds and hurts a lot, note I have adhd and fidget a lot not on my meds i hate them. I manage to stop biting for weeks or a month max and then im back biting again, I feel stressed when I dont bite and I bite when im anxious or stressed. any tips help please

Título: ¿Cómo puedo dejar de hacer esto con mis dedos?
Llevo años con el hábito de arrancarme/morderme la piel de alrededor de las uñas, sobre todo cuando estoy nerviosa, estresada, aburrida o distraída. Muchas veces lo hago sin darme cuenta y acabo haciéndome heridas como las de la foto.
Hay veces que yo me doy cuenta que lo estoy haciendo pero no puedo controlarlo. Paro 1 segundo I al otro estoy volviendo a hacerlo.
Quiero dejar de hacerlo de verdad, pero no sé cómo romper el hábito. ¿A alguien le ha pasado y ha conseguido dejarlo? ¿Qué os ha funcionado?

Ultimately, it was Invisalign that broke the habit.

Hello! I'm needing recommendations for an anti-bite application that'll really stop the bite. Id really like it to be travel-friendly, something I can put in my purse without worrying it'll spill over. I really loved the Biter Be Goner, it was portable and the flavor was very wrong, it actually helped me so much. But now it seems it's unavailable. I've tried a couple others but found the taste to be not strong enough and washed off easily when washing my hands. Please and thank you for your recs!

I'm pretty sure my fingers started bleeding at work today while I was cashiering. Customers, for some reason, didn't point it out wtf??? And when I put some bandaids on (blue bandaids of all types ofc :/), like 4 total, it just felt like too much and I was highlighting them more lolol. Didn't help that the band aids just kept coming off. Just tried to pretend they were paper cuts 😃 That's so upsetting though because I like being fast and efficient rip. I used to wear gloves but istg I've become weirdly paranoid (maybe my meds causing more anxiety than helping with it lol) about people being allergic to me or something so I stopped since like 7 days ago but at what cost damn

Connecting this habit to a reward.

My front teeth have gotten shorter over the years. The extreme focused force that is exerted when trying to bite the dead skin is actually pretty massive in terms of PSI. I don't want to mess up my smile more than I have, and that has helped. But I think about it in a positive way, if I don't bite, my smile is better.

Furthermore, I play classical guitar so I care a lot about my nails. I learned that constantly removing the cuticles harms nail health.

Tl;dr: this habit is harmful, but if you can find a way in your head to make it a reward thing, you may be better off. "If I don't bite, my teeth don't get shorter" etc.

Hope this helps someone out there. Goodluck folks, this shit is super hard

For my own sanity, I have to know if there is anyone here or anywhere that has successfully treated and stopped their morsicatio buccarum.

I have had this brfb since I was a child. I do it so much that I have TMJ in one of my jaw joints, and a mild underbite. The skin around my mouth is more wrinkled than it should be for my age because i always have my fingers messing with my mouth or lips/mouth moving in weird ways that wrinkle the skin. I get headaches a lot from muscular tension and wake up with a sore jaw a lot.

I find rough skin with my tongue, then jam my bottom front and top front teeth together and peel and chew the insides of my cheeks and lips constantly. When I am able to get a good "piece" of skin, the feeling of chewing it repeatedly it between those two bottom/top front teeth gives some type of relief I can't explain. It's literally an addiction I think. I go into these trances where i'm just doing it for hours and thinking about different stressors or honestly even JUST THINKING in loops at the same time.

it gets worse when i'm stressed or anxious, but its ALWAYS something i'm fighting. I hate that I do it and feel so ashamed. My lips are always rough and my inner cheeks are always peeling. It makes me feel insecure and gross. I worry it will begin to affect my relationship, because while he is sympathetic to my struggle, he finds the act itself gross and annoying, literally so do I. It makes me feel insecure to kiss him because I hate my lips.

I've started to get depressed over how much I struggle with my own brain like this, and I've tried so many things. On rare occasions, there are these small moments of peace in my mind and body, and I feel the relaxation of my jaw, and the lack of temptation to chew, I quickly notice this, and then I mourn because I know it is fleeting and within a minute or two, I will be thrust into a never ending cycle of temptation, morbid satisfaction, pain, and shame.

I just need some hope and advice on how to stop it and get rid of it for good. And encouragement because its exhausting to deal with. Have you been able to stop it?

i was doing pretty well when i was wearing press on nails but since i took them off (just over a month ago) my skin picking/nail and skin biting have been progressively going downhill.

Hi, I believe this started about a month or two ago and it hasn’t been getting any better ever since. I think this started when I probably had a cut on my finger. I was cleaning some old car parts with cleaning white vinegar and some might of got in the gloves. It did sting really bad; I washed my hands asap and didn’t think anything of it afterwards. About two weeks ago I went to the urgent care and the doctor said it wasn’t infected because there wasn’t any puss. She then prescribed hydrocortisone and said to apply it twice a day. So far it hasn’t been improving. If i don’t apply hydrocortisone for a day, there will be small little blisters that would form then pop and crust over. When the blisters pop and clear/yellow fluid comes out, it would get really itchy. The area is always red and puffy and does feel warm. The skin looks like it is healing but then start to flake off. I have made an appointment with my doctor for next friday and hopefully she can help determine what can cause it to not heal. I’m hoping for some advice and if anyone knows what this is called. Thanks in advance.

huge improvement compared to my previous post (https://www.reddit.com/r/calmhands/s/DLbaCWfA7s)

working on strengthening my nails a bit more with the Sally Hansen diamond strength and using petroleum jelly to help with the dead skin. feeling good :)

i really want to go get my nails done (gel nail tips) but i’m afraid they’ll turn me down since this is what my nails/fingers look like…

I have been taking care of my nails and not picking for about a week. Thank goodness my skin is healing.

This was my hands a week ago. I started to pick the back of my fingers too. But now, I’m way better. I'm scraping the dry skin off the dreads with fine-grit sandpaper and applying a potent healing cream. I saw this tip on Reddit, and it really helped me.

Skin surrounding it feels tight and tender. The cut itself is like a big ball of flesh. It started from me cutting into my skin too much from a picking session and now it’s like it won’t scab over and is leaking clear and is super puffy. My finger feels tingly and itchy and at points it throbs

I have been a habitual nail biter for well over 20 years. I have quit for small periods of time before, but this time I am DETERMINED. I don't have a great "before" picture, because I was embarrassed of my nails and kept them out of most photos. But here is my progress so far! I am trying to keep nail polish on (especially strengthener) and trying not to pick under my nails to allow my nail beds to grow. Post your progress pics to keep me motivated, please!!!