Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
2112931 tn?1335098402

Do you bite your cheeks and lips a lot?

Just curious, do any of you bite your cheeks and lips a lot?  Is this a symptom as well?  I noticed that I have been doing this a lot in the past few months. Since I'm not dx yet, I wondered if this was a possible sx or maybe I'm just weird. LOL.
20 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
Yes, lots of cheek and tongue biting here, especially during sleep. My jaw shuts with force while I'm asleep, often smashing my tongue or part of my cheek to bits. During daytime while having a meal I bite my lips frequently, HARD, and I also often manage to bite the bottom side of my tongue, how weird is that? I tried to do it deliberately once but couldn't manage  to do so.
These symptoms started a few years ago, alongside a long list of other symptoms which point to MS.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have bummps in my cheeks and I bite them 24/7..idk why I just do.can I die from biting my cheeks
Helpful - 0
2112931 tn?1335098402
Aww. Mary you are so sweet and I feel really bad for getting defensive. I didn't even think about the intentional cheek biting when I posted this question. I hear that you are a great knowledgeable source in this forum and I value your opinion. No forgiving is needed, as you had no bad intentions. You are only trying to help. It's all good. Thank you Mary. :)

I'm so happy to have found all of you. Sometimes you all are the only ones I can talk to. Thank you everyone. This is a scary time of my life.
Helpful - 0
1045086 tn?1332126422
I’m so sorry Sandy that I offended you here.  My intention was neither to accuse nor to demean.  We usually come out loud and clear in this community with encouragement for any question people have.  In fact, we firmly believe the only problem questions are the ones that go unasked.  

Perhaps we had a mutual misunderstanding here?  I know I misinterpreted your original description.  I did think your reference was to a nervous habit rather than the painful accidents of chewing.  Could be my error arose from watching my husband gnaw on his oral mucus membranes most every day for nearly 40 years now.  He is irritating.  You surely are not.

I actually intended to offer a little light hearted reassurance and an alternative cause when I responded.  Please forgive.

Mary
(Who is offering a big time thank-you to all those members who made up for my short-comings on this one.)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I haven't chewed gum for over one year because of biting my cheeks almost every time. I haven't shown brain lesions yet for MS, but having to be my own advocate now, I am reading everything I can on MS & the symptoms are so similar that I really think I'm on to something. I haven't read anything about biting the cheeks, but if you are like me, the sores do not heal very quickly. Try to get something called Mary's Magic Mouthwash from your dentist. It is prescription & it actually really works; not sure where the strange name came from.
Helpful - 0
2112931 tn?1335098402
Or.... Maybe I'm just stressed and eating too fast. Maybe I'm chomping on my gum carelessly due to stress as well. I eat more when I'm stressed and depressed. Not a good thing to do cause I will get more depressed if I gain weight. It's a lose lose situation. LOL.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I think the cheek biting question is interesting.  I have also heard of this and experienced it with Lyme Disease.  I wonder if it's the same issue in both types of patients. Perhaps it's related to numbness or tingling in the mouth or cheek.  Or perhaps it's just related to the anxiety from the illness.
Helpful - 0
987762 tn?1671273328
COMMUNITY LEADER
LOL ooh sorry but coincidences happen some are funny and at the moment the left side of my face and inner cheek is numb, jaw spasm have twisted my bite again so i'm constantly finding ridges or lumps in my inner cheek with my tongue, why because i'm unwittingly biting my cheek, hense funny coincidence.

Though i do think Mary is again spot on with what she's saying, [try not to shoot the messanger :{ ] Often obscure sx are only a coincidence or anacdotal and not factually founded and really if you google MS sx you'll find that many sx do end up being 'urban legends', still doesn't make them true sx of MS, just saying now!

What Alex, Dennis and I are talking about is more related to spasms, though oral the principal is basically the same, there are a few comorbid conditions that are stand alone conditions and can also be found in people with MS (pwMS), again that doesn't mean if you have xxx sx its an MS sx.

So on that train of thought, it really depends on why your biting your cheek etc and its absolutely true that habbit, anxiety and dental issues are the top 3 common causes, "Other causes of cheek biting include stress, as a side effect of teeth grinding, TMJ problems, jaw closure problems, muscle dysfunction, etc."

http://www.epi2001.org/cheek-biting.html

I understand biting cheek, tongue but lips not sure how that one can happen apart from it's often connected to nervous habbit, or from fits etc though i'm open to anyone knowing of something else on that one. :-) um my son still bites his cheek, tongue and [drum roll] fingers but thats because he's still trying to defy the laws of physics and inhail his food lol

Chill................JJ
  
Helpful - 0
2112931 tn?1335098402
Maybe I should get a guard to wear at night. Hmmmm. That's a thought.
Helpful - 0
2078115 tn?1333926565
Yes, I do that quite a bit, but [personally] I'm reluctant to attribute this to MS.
Helpful - 0
2043642 tn?1333916315
I've got many MS symptoms and bitting my cheeks and lips also. I think it is MS related because it disappears for a time and then happens again.My doctors didn't find evidence for sure, but I've got so many common feelings with this forum! best wishes, Tessie
Helpful - 0
645800 tn?1466860955
I think when I bite my tongue or cheek it is my MS like Alex, though I have never mentioned it to my doctors.

It doesn't happen very often with me so why bother talking about it with them,more import things to worry about.

Dennis
Helpful - 0
667078 tn?1316000935
Not everything is Neurological.We have talked about this in the past. It can be MS and it may not be. In my case it is. My dentist says he has several MS patients who do before the neurologist said it was MS. I bite my tongue and my inside cheek several times a day.  It is both annoying and painful. He made me a guard. My doctors say in my case I have clonus and involuntary spasming of the muscles making me bite with out control or warning. The doctors love to hit me in the face with the reflex hammer to test it. They can tell if it is neurological or something else with this test. I finally asked why everyone was hitting me in the chin.

Alex

Alex
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
ok wrinkle thrower here (must be the heat today but I've donned my cooling jacket. 85 and no AC will bring it on.  the wrinkle thrower that is.

haven't been stressed, don't chew gum, so discount those two theories for my personal cheek biting.  I'll probably remember now to check and see what I am doing when I do it!

don't take Mary's comments as criticism, she's a wealth of information and what she says is true.....but we do share our funky symptoms and somehow it makes us feel less freaky if someone else also does it!  
Helpful - 0
2112931 tn?1335098402
Also Mary, I am not blaming anything on ms. I am only asking if this could be a symptom. some of us are new and scared and have just been told that we might have ms and we come here to ask questions for support. How can you say I'm trying to blame it on ms?  I never said it was ms that caused my cheek biting  I am just asking. Everyone else here has been very kind and supportive. I'm just beginning the diagnosis process. Sorry for making you feel that I was blaming something on ms that you feel is me causing an urban legend.
Helpful - 0
2112931 tn?1335098402
I haven't been dx yet so, I'm not on any medications. I only bite my cheeks when I chewing gum or eating. Maybe I'm eating too fast. Maybe I chew my gum too fast when stressed. Maybe I'm more stressed lately and that's causing it. Idk. I just thought I would throw this question out there to see if others have been doing this.  What is pwms?  I'm not one of those people that bite their cheeks without food in their mouths as a nervous habit. I have seen people do this but I don't.
Helpful - 0
1045086 tn?1332126422
Thanks Jane.  I think your analysis is most likely correct.  

Every once in a while, a PwMS will post about a 'symptom' or experience that seems to strike a universal cord with other forum members.  At times, that experience has even taken on an urban legend type of importance.  It can end up giving the impression that things PwMS experience are MS symptoms even if they are, in reality, totally unrelated.  We need to guard against looking for MS around every corner or giving the disease more credit (or blame) that it deserves.

Are you on any medications?  Many of them make the mouth and lips dry and could contribute to an impulse to bite the lips or mouth.  Just another idea.

Mary  
Helpful - 0
1936411 tn?1333831849
I have not had that experience. Knowing the basics of MS, I am having a hard time imagining how it could be a likely symptom. Of course anything is possible, but I'm thinking it's much more likely to be a symptom of stress or anxiety, which most of us on this forum deal with in abundance due to our health issues.

Someone else may have a theory or insight i'm not thinking of.

Best,
Jane
Helpful - 0
2063887 tn?1337829746
I do that a lot too, but also never thought of it as a symptom. :)

Chris
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have noticed an increase in it yet but did not connect it to MS,
interesting.  will have to start watching when it happens!

Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Multiple Sclerosis Community

Top Neurology Answerers
987762 tn?1671273328
Australia
5265383 tn?1669040108
ON
1756321 tn?1547095325
Queensland, Australia
1780921 tn?1499301793
Queen Creek, AZ
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
In this special Missouri Medicine report, doctors examine advances in diagnosis and treatment of this devastating and costly neurodegenerative disease.
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
Discover some of the causes of dizziness and how to treat it.
Discover the common causes of headaches and how to treat headache pain.
Two of the largest studies on Alzheimer’s have yielded new clues about the disease